The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Joel 2:28-32, “It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

29 “Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

30 “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

31 “The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

32 “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.”

These are strong words from the prophet Joel. He is speaking of the way of the LORD who is promising that His Spirit will invade mankind, prompting a prophecy that will come in due time. It is a prophecy that will invade the thinking of all mankind.

Numerous times in both the Old and New Testaments, the LORD reaches out to mankind saying, “call on the name of the LORD.” The structure of the invitation is sometimes worded differently, but it is always clear that the LORD’s desire is to save mankind from sin. Although the precise wording in Scripture may be structured differently, there is no question that the LORD’s purpose is to save souls from Hell and secure them for Heaven.

Stop and take a moment to think of someone you know that needs the LORD. We all have friends who are not saved. We love them and certainly don’t want them to be left out of our LORD’s Heaven. They might not be thinking about the need they have for a Savior; yet, if they don’t have Him, He doesn’t have them. Give them a call. Send them an email. Let them know how vitally important you believe it is that they accept the LORD Jesus into their heart and life.

We ourselves need to be clean and wholesome in living, which is encouraged by serious daily reading of the Scriptures and prayer. We all need to be praying for lost friends. Right now, we have that opportunity to pray. Right now, we have the opportunity to reach them. Someday it will be too late! Today just might be that final day! Don’t let it pass!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all that we need,

until He becomes all that we have.”

– Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Joel 2:1-7, “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.

7 They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like soldiers; and they each march in line, nor do they deviate from their paths.”

As noted in previous studies related to the Prophet Joel, his emphasis is upon “The Day of the LORD.” The prophet’s clear statement is: “There has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations” (v. 2). What the prophet identifies as coming can doubtlessly be identified as the early stages in our own time.

In multiple ways, we are living in “a day of darkness and gloom” and “of clouds and thick darkness.” Open, calculated hostilities result in deaths due to invidious disagreements. Nations war against each other, and innocent lives, caught in the crossfire, are surrendered to death in the process. What is occurring today was historically calculated and processed for us to read and absorb from the verses above.

If these are not those days, we have more to concern us than previously thought! Human ingenuity will not suffice! It has been “tried and found wanting.” The Creator Himself is the only Qualified One to predict the future (as in Scripture), and nothing else will exist to our prevail.

Please examine everything by the teachings of the Bible. It is our only Holy Safeguard!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all that we need,

until He becomes all that we have.”

– Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Joel 1:1-11, “The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

2 Hear this, O elders, and listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days or in your fathers’ days?

3 Tell your sons about it, and let your sons tell their sons, and their sons the next generation.

4 What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; and what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; and what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.

5 Awake, drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you wine drinkers, on account of the sweet wine that is cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation has invaded my land, mighty and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness.

7 It has made my vine a waste and my fig tree splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; their branches have become white.

8 Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.

9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests mourn, the ministers of the LORD.

10 The field is ruined, the land mourns; for the grain is ruined, the new wine dries up, fresh oil fails.

11 Be ashamed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley; because the harvest of the field is destroyed.”

Reading this passage from the prophecy of Joel is tantamount to watching evil creep upon our nation. Joel warned the Israelites of coming days of darkness and despair. Joel is not with us today, but his words continue to reverberate within our souls. Days of darkness indeed are upon us; what’s more, the worst is yet to come. Males want to become females; females want to become males. They thrive on being different and become not a little disturbed if society at large does not recognize what they envision as their “rights.”

Throughout the Scriptures, the LORD warns us against affiliation with the evils that surround us. The “comforts,” we believe, will work to obliterate the evils; thus, gradually we convince ourselves that we are invincible! “Live, and let live,” becomes the cry. Yet, the prophet cries, “a nation has invaded my land, mighty and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness.”

As born-again believers in our LORD Jesus Christ, we must give ourselves to earnest prayer. We are not to hate those who ignore the LORD’s directive; rather, we are to pray for them. We might be surprised, were we to know, how effectively the LORD has turned some from the error of their ways. Let us remember the words of Judah’s King Asa:

“LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You…let not man prevail against You” (2 Chronicles 14:11).

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

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

Dear Grands,

1 Samuel 15:1-11, Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.

2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.

3 ‘Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'”

4 Then Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.

5 Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.

6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

7 So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt.

8 He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,

11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.”

I was a long way from being exciting when I was in high school sports. Still, I listened to the coach and sought to implement his instructions. He was much older than I and was being paid to tell all of us what to do to win the game. He had positively told us to work the ball in toward the goal; however, we were not to shoot long shots! But as I brought the ball down the court, I saw an opening and took the shot! It split the net without ever touching the rim. Strangely enough, the coach never rebuked me for going against his directive.

It was different, however, with Saul. The war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man or any valiant man, he attached him to his staff. Yet, when a severe situation arose, Saul called on Samuel who was the spiritual leader of Israel and lived closely to the LORD. It was Samuel who advised Saul to “strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has…” Saul did as he was told and destroyed the entirety of the Amalekites! There was just one problem: Saul and the people had spared Agag, the king of the Amalekites.

It was then that Samuel said, “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.” Always pay attention to the LORD! He is more than a coach; He’s the Spiritual Commander-in-Chief!

Heartily in Christ

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

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

Dear Grands,

Revelation 4:1-6, “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.

3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.

4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.

5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;

6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.”

As a boy, I can well remember asking about the meaning of the Book of Revelation. We attended a small church. Our pastors received small salaries; thus, they were required to do secular labor for a living. They clearly lacked both the time and the educational ability to explain that mystical book. Even now it has passages that require deep, concentrated study.

The Scripture passage above initiates the first of five scenes that complete the Message of the Revelation. Scene One (4:1-5:14) relates to Heaven. In that Scene, the Church is Raptured (caught up to meet Christ) and receives the “Title Deed” to the Earth. Scene Two (6:1-18:24) reveals The Great Tribulation on Earth. The Anti-Christ (Satan) will reign for a short time. He will require stern adherence to his authority, and in the absence of the Holy Spirit, Satan’s Rule will be authoritative! Scene Three (19:1-21) occurs in Heaven and speaks of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the Earth. Scene Four (20:1-15) reveals the Millennial Reign of Christ on the Earth, while Scene Five (21:1-22:21) demonstrates All things as New!

Currently, the Church (i.e., all born-again believers in Christ) resides in wait for the Coming of the LORD Jesus Christ. He will come physically, while all truly born-again believers are awaiting the Rapture. Be prepared! The Rapture could come at any moment! Every person will be fixated on the life they have chosen. It will be too late then for anyone to come to faith in Jesus!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all that we need, Until He becomes all that we have.”

– Corrie ten Boom