The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Joel 2:1-6, “Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near…” 2 A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations. 3 A fire consumes before them, And behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, But a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; and like war horses, so they run. 5 With a noise as of chariots they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, like a mighty people arranged for battle. 6 Before them the people are in anguish; all faces turn pale.”

If you ever experience a dark and dismal day, and if you have wished for something better, you might do well to read the book of Joel. We tend to treat our dismal days as unique. But they are not unique! Bad days have always been before us, just as they were in the days of our ancestors.

The difference between a “good” day and a “dismal” day is whether our focus is upon the circumstances of life or upon the LORD who controls the circumstances. Focus is not only a key word; it is often placed there by the LORD in order to rearrange our thinking.

If we accurately assess the presence of the LORD in even the worst possible situation, we can yet fully depend upon Him either to rescue us or reveal His purpose in allowing the discomforting encounter. In either situation, we should be comforted by His loving presence and ultimate rescue.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D. Springdale, Arkansas 72764 United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Nehemiah 2:1-9, And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”

It was a simple request, and an easy one because Nehemiah and his king were friends. At the same time, it was a selfless request. Nehemiah’s countrymen were in a foreign land, while Nehemiah was living safely under the legal watchcare of his friend the king.

It’s not difficult to ask a favor of the LORD Jesus Christ if we are living according to His Word. If we are not living according to His Word, it is hardly prudent to ask anything of Him other than His forgiveness for our sin. What sin is hindering your request of the LORD Jesus Christ?

If you know and belong to Him, you should not fear to request anything. Yet, if your life is not pleasing to Him, getting things into spiritual order is the only means of gaining His favor. Why not start that procedure today?

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Nahum 1:1-7, The oracle of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2 A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies.
3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither; The blossoms of Lebanon wither.
5 Mountains quake because of Him And the hills dissolve; Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence, The world and all the inhabitants in it.
6 Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire And the rocks are broken up by Him.
7 The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him.”

Have you ever known a person so well wrapped up in the warmth of love and kindness that you doubted he could ever become angry over anything? I’ve thought I’d known a few, but in a short time, I learned how mistaken I’d been. Yes, everyone is susceptible to anger; it’s just that some conceal their feelings better than others.

Anger itself, however, is not always wrong. Our passage above assures us that the LORD is sometimes angry. We would do well to avoid things that cause Him anger! Four of six verses in Jeremiah speak of the LORD as possessing anger! Yes, the LORD Himself exhibits anger – righteous anger. Yet, still, the anger He displays is the righteous side of His Love. May He help us all to honor Him in Love!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,
(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Psalm 33:13-22, “The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men;
14 From His dwelling place He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works.
16 The king is not saved by a mighty army; a warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A horse is a false hope for victory; nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us, according as we have hoped in You.”

Virtually every day we hear of someone who has committed a sinful act, believing all the while that it has been successfully hidden from the eyes of all others. Yet, the psalmist insists that such is not true. Additionally, there’s an old adage that says,

“You can fool some of the people some of the time,
And some of the people all of the time;
But you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

Much less can anyone fool God. Read again the words of Scripture that say, “The LORD looks from heaven; He sees the activities of all the sons of men…”

It’s amazing how long some criminals seem to avoid capture. Yet, they are eventually caught. The delays do not occur because those hunting the perpetrators refuse to give up. God never gives up!

Back in 1929, the Rev. A. H. Ackley wrote a song entitled, “You Cannot Hide From God.”

“You CANNOT HIDE FROM God
Tho’ mountains cover you,
His eye our secret thoughts behold,
His mercies all our lives enfold,
He knows our purposes untold,
You cannot hide from God.”

James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America
https://thegrandsletter.com

“We will never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Numbers 32:19-24, “For we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan toward the east.”

20 So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for the war,

21 and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD until He has driven His enemies out from before Him,

22 and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you shall return and be free of obligation toward the LORD and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours for a possession before the LORD.

23 “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.

24 “Build yourselves cities for your little ones, and sheepfolds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.”

Have you ever had someone promise you something and then renege on the promise? Sometimes promises are so frivolous that it doesn’t really matter. But sometimes it truly does! The factor that often decides whether the promise truly matters relates to who made the promise and how many persons are involved.

We have a current member of Congress who, among other things, “married her brother” in order to gain her Congressional seat. It’s in the news, and now her sin has found her out!

In the Biblical situation quoted above, the Israeli tribes were to cross the river and work together to defeat the current residents. After all, that land was a promise of the LORD. But some of the tribes had already settled and had no interest in helping their brothers defeat those across the river.

All of this greatly disturbed the LORD! It disturbed Moses, too! Yet he finally came to the conclusion that there was no other resolution; therefore, he said, “Alright, but if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.”

I will leave it to you to read and discover what ultimately happened to the tribes. I want you to focus on Moses’ final warning: “If you will not do so, be sure your sin will find you out.” It truly, always will.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom