The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Peter 3:7-9, “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic,

brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; 9 not returning evil for

evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were

called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.”

All of us have seen the value of a reflector of light. It’s a bright,

shiny metal that curves around the sides of the bulb from which

the light originates. Take away the reflector, and you diminish

the value of the light. Left without attention, the reflector can

become encrusted with tiny particles that are so small they are

virtually invisible. Those particles fasten to the reflector and

diminish the effective radiance of the light itself.

Simon Peter notes five attitudes that are to be a part of our

Christian lives: harmonious (agreeable), sympathetic (understanding),

brotherly (lovingly), kindhearted (tender, compassionate), and

humble (courteous). Then he notes those “tiny particles” that

hinder the LORD’s radiance through us: payback, evil for evil, and

abusive insults. Instead of responding negatively, give them a word

of blessing, because that’s how you might receive a blessing yourself.

Doing good in the face of evil demonstrates how powerful the light

of love really is!

Shine! Shine! Shine! We are seeking to polish you through prayer,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 13:7-9, “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you;

and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. 8Jesus Christ is the same

yesterday and today and forever. 9Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings;

for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace…”

We do live in a strange and convoluted time of life. Things I never heard and

would never have considered believing are being embraced as true by many

today. Take what’s called “New Spirituality.” A recent poll found that 28%

of “practicing Christians strongly agree that ‘all people pray to the same god

or spirit, no matter what name they use for that spiritual being.’” And 32%

of the same group “strongly agree that ‘if you do good, you will receive good,

and if you do bad, you will receive bad.’” Also, 52% of that same group

agree quite strongly that the Bible teaches that “God helps those who help

themselves.” None of this is biblically true! There are consequences for

sins, but “doing good” (whatever “good” means) gets no one to Heaven!

Another ungodly view today is “Secularism,” in which 10% of practicing

Christians believe that a “belief must be proven by science to know if it’s true.”

And 13% of practicing Christians “strongly agree that ‘a person’s life is valuable

only if society sees it as valuable.” IMAGINE! If our city council decided that we

were not valuable to the city, we could just be eliminated –put to death!

This is just some of what is going on in our world right now as you read this.

Paul warns us that we live in dangerous times, and we MUST NOT “be carried

away by varied and strange teachings!” Those who have made these teachings

the rule of their lives have failed to receive the profit which the LORD offers.

We love each and every one of you! And we pray that your lives will

always embrace the truths of God’s Holy and Eternal Word!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 13:5-6, “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money,

being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER

DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,” 6 so that we confidently say,

‘THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?’”

I can remember when I read Paul’s admonition in 1 Timothy 6:10, and

wondered if he were really correct. In my youthful examination of the

verse, I honestly thought I could name several evils that were not

connected with money. But I was wrong! Everything evil in this world

is connected with man’s love of financial gain. It is not money itself that

is evil, but when there’s never enough, catastrophe is just around the

corner. Jesus is all we need!

I have attached “The Big Financial Plan,” for your reading. It is one of

the saddest experiences I’ve ever had.

Keep your eyes on Jesus,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 12:7-11, “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons;

for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are

illegitimate children and not sons.

9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall

we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us

for our good, so that we may share His holiness.

11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who

have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

This is a long passage, so I will try to be brief. The word discipline (??????? paideia) means

the rearing or training of a young child. Yet, no father disciplines the child of another man.

So, if you are not trained by the LORD, He simply does not see you as His son. Our earthly

fathers discipline us while we are young, so as to develop us for adulthood. Earthly fathers,

however, are not always correct, but they do what seems best to them at the time. Discipline

is not always pleasant. I told you what to do, and you’re not going until you get it done! And

you didn’t get to go because you hadn’t done what you were told. Boy! Parents!! But as you

get older, you understand. Sometimes having to deny a child something hurts the parents

more than it does the child. True! But the child has to become an adult before that is really

believed. ~ I was disciplined pretty severely at times. Gogie was a disciplinarian par excellance!

What I later learned was that her dad used to whip her and cry while he was doing it, saying,

“Sis, dad hates to do this, but it’s for your own good. You’ve got to learn…” I don’t know

whether he cried when he whipped his boys, but he was so severe that Mimi often had to

intervene saying, “Dad! That’s enough! Stop! That’s enough.” ~ No one, however, can

stop the discipline of the LORD. Pay close attention to what He tells you! There’s no Mimi,

who can stop Him. Sin has consequences. What you may not understand now, you will

understand in the years to come. You will then be at peace with all discipline.

Pray for your parents. Pray for your grandparents. We all pray daily for you!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

Dear Grands,

Hebrews 10:1-4, “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things

to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices

which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.

2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers,

having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?

3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.

4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

I’m sure you’ve often thought about things that happened yesterday.

But, you’ve never thought about things that happened tomorrow! God

has so constructed us that we can remember the past, but not see the future.

So, you will not be shocked when Paul says that no one was or ever will

be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments. In fact, the Ten Commandments

were only ever for the Jews, and only for them until Jesus came. Paul says

the Law was only “a shadow of the good things to come.” He says the Law

can never make anyone perfect. Then why did God give the Law to Moses?

“…in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins”; but sin was never cleansed

by the blood of bulls and goats. It was only cleansed by the Blood of Jesus.

And He died only once, and ALL of our sins, past and future, were forgiven.

Yes, we still sin; and we are told to confess that sin. Confess (???????? homologeo)

means to agree with. We are to agree with what God has said about our sin,

and He looks back to our acceptance of Him (when we were saved) and

forgives (?????? aphiemi – sends away) our current sin, cleansing us in the process.

Back in Romans 6:14, Paul said, “…you are not under law, but under grace.”

So, when we sin, we should admit it to God, receive His forgiveness and forget it –

BUT, forget it so that we will not commit it again! The Holy Spirit can remove our

very remembrance of that sin in much the same way that He caused Israel to

remember theirs! Indeed we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psa. 139:14).

You are in our faithful prayers every day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas