Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

old strings — October 25, 2023

old strings

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The other day, my grandson said to me, “Papaw, when I am seventy, I hope to be as healthy as you are.”  I said to him, “Sounds like you don’t wanna set the bar too high, do you?”

Old age is tough, but there are a few things that are almost as unpleasant – such as old strings! 

I have a favorite guitar that has fallen out of favor because it is strung with old strings.  They once vibrated with energy but are now dull and listless.

So, what steals the life from a guitar string?   Those on an unplayed guitar will corrode from oxidation and humidity.  

Strings that are played will gather dirt, body oil and dead skin cells.  This gunk works its way into the windings of the string and hardens into a stiff, brittle mass.  This nastiness chokes the vibration out of the string.  And then there is the metal fatigue from all the stretching.

When the strings look dirty, feel rough, sound dull or are out of tune, it’s time to change them.

So, I did.  It’s a tedious task which I have performed maybe a thousand times in my life. 

I put them on, let them stretch and tuned them up – and it was magic.  Pure sweet magic.  They were perfectly intoned, and there was a brightness and a zing that wasn’t there before.  The guitar resonated and reverberated beauteous sound that carried on even as the last chord began to fade.

I played for two hours straight and was in danger of thinking that I was an excellent guitar player – all because of the new strings.

New strings are wonderful, but my life is more like the old ones.

The Lord strums the strings of my heart, and I worship Him.   But my worship can be tainted.  The right words come from my mouth, but my mind is elsewhere. 

I sing of holiness even though I lost my temper 10 minutes before.  I won’t sing loudly because I am concerned about what the guy next to me will think.   I grumble because the song choice isn’t my choice.  I sometimes mouth words that I don’t really mean.  I worship because I am expected to – not because I am compelled by His love.

I am afraid that my worship looks dirty, feels rough, sounds dull and is out of tune.  Time for new strings.

They are coming says the Scripture.  Paul gave us this hope in Ephesians 5:25-27, “…Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word, so that he may present the church to himself as glorious—not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.” NETBible ®

Because of Christ’s love for us, He died on a cross to make us holy so that when we arrive in heaven, we will be glorious – no stain or wrinkle or imperfection of any kind.  There will be in us no impurity to compromise us or shallowness to embarrass us.  There will be nothing to distract us from the Lord. 

Like the news strings, the Lord’s hand will pass over our hearts, and beautiful, magnificent untainted worship will sound.   I am thinking that He will relish this worship even more than I enjoy my new strings.

But why should we deny Him that joy and defer it until we get to heaven?

Get alone and grab your phone.  Pull up your favorite worship song – and sing it – to Him.  With no one to impress; with no ulterior motive to derail you; and with the song of your choice – sing with your heart.  Worship Him.      

A PRAYER: Lord I am sorry that my life sounds so sorry.  I want my worship to bring joy to You both now and in heaven.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.  

*Guitar info from Acoustic Guitar (website), How Guitar Strings Age—and How to Know When to Change Them. 

whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on! — October 18, 2023

whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on!

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It’s ironic!  We work hard to achieve a state of stability and security in our lives, but then the Lord comes along and shakes things up. 

But good things can come from such a shake!

Consider our cruise for instance.  My wife and I have done only one cruise in our almost 50 years of marriage.   It was expensive, but I found a way to help defray the fare.

As we strolled the deck, we passed by the casino.  No, I didn’t gamble, but I noticed an arcade machine – the one where you drop a quarter in, it falls onto a moving bed of quarters and hopefully pushes a few of them off the cliff and into your pocket.   They call them “coin pushers.”

I thought to myself, “Hey I bet some of those quarters randomly drop off due to the movement of the boat and the engine vibrations.”  So, I probed the slot and sure enough there was 2 quarters there. 

I decided check on it throughout the voyage and I became $12.00 richer by the end of the trip.  All that shakin’ helped me bring home the bacon.   

Good things can come from such a shake!

This is certainly true in the spiritual realm. Abraham came to faith in God and then passed it down to Isaac and then to Jacob.   

Jacob’s 12 sons then took up residence in the foreign land of Egypt.  They found favor there for many years.  But as time marched on, they were marginalized and then enslaved. 

And their faith suffered over time.  The truth had not yet been written down so everything they knew of God came by word of mouth.  There was not a special day to gather or a place to worship.  The law had not yet been revealed nor were there priests to teach them.  Their faith consisted of ancient oral traditions traded around a campfire. 

They became comfortable in their slavish routines.   Life wasn’t pleasant, but they knew what they would be doing each day and what they would eat.  They had a place to live and family around them.  It was stable.

Then God decided He needed to shake things up.  He planned to relocate them to the promised land. 

But it was complicated.  Pharaoh resented the plan and made their lives miserable.  He supplied them with fewer materials yet demanded more bricks to be made.  They were not happy with God’s shaking.

Once they were released from Egypt, Pharaoh’s army pursued them with lethal intent.  The people cried.  “Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians, because it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’”  – Ex 14:12. They desperately missed the comfort of their rut.

They were mentally, emotionally, and spiritually stuck in the past and they resented the difficulty that change brought.

But then God opened the Red Sea and allowed them to pass through on dry land.   When the forces of Pharaoh pursued them, God allowed the walls of water to fall and swallow them. 

Safe and sound on the other side, the rescued composed a song to celebrate. They sang, “The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”  They were saved from certain death, and they knew it. 

The song went on, “This is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”  – Exodus 15:2  This God of dusty empty tradition, had now become God of their experience.  Their faith which had been built on the worn stories of their forefathers had become real to them and they wrote a joyful song to tell of it. 

Sounds like they were glad in the end that God did some shakin? 

Are you feeling some vibrations these days.  It’s OK!  The Lord’s just prepping you for something better.

A PRAYER: Lord feel free to uproot me when I get in a rut.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture passages are from the NETBible ®

in the cockpit — October 11, 2023

in the cockpit

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The pilot was a dear friend, so he invited me to sit in the cockpit of his Boeing 727 as the plane was being boarded.  What an honor!  I sat down, lifted my head, and was immediately stunned.  Facing me was a myriad of knobs, buttons, pedals, levers and gauges and maybe a cup holder or two.

The view out the window was panoramic, but the view of the cockpit led me to panic.  What if I should accidentally lean on a lever and cause all the luggage to fall out.  What if I mistakenly goof up the fuel gauge so that we run out of gas midair?   What if I should bump a button that would eject the lady sitting in 26E? 

It was clear to me that I didn’t know enough to belong there.  I folded my arms and locked them tight and refused to move.  I said to my friend, “Hey this is nice! – OK I’m done!“  I went back to coach, found my seat, and sat down and relaxed for the duration of that trip, knowing that someone who actually knows what they are doing is in the cockpit.

That’s also the way I feel when I watch the news these days. I sense that I am in a cockpit of complexity that I want to manage – but can’t.

Jesus may have been describing our era of history when He predicted, “For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these things are the beginning of birth pains.” – Matthew 24:7-8

It is disturbing to be sure!  Russia in Ukraine, China poised to seize Taiwan and Hamas overwhelming Israel.   A quick Google search reveals that at the moment (October 2023) there are 32 ongoing conflicts in the world.

Jesus went on to say, “Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold.”  –  Matthew 24:10-12

He, spoke of an era of moral decay that will supersede the past; an era also tainted with betrayal and hatred and deceptive religion. 

He also cited an increase in lawlessness.  That sure seems to be apparent these days – whether it be nations flouting international law or mobs of individuals looting jewelry stores.  The casualty of this lawlessness is that the love of people grows distrustful, self-centered and ice cold to the needs of others. 

Are these the beginning of birth pangs which will soon manifest itself in the return of our Lord Jesus?  Don’t know – it certainly could be! 

In the meantime, we sit in the cockpit of complexity, fearful that we or perhaps those who lead us will touch the wrong button.   Maybe the wise thing is to leave the cockpit to someone who belongs there. 

In the book of Jeremiah, the Lord left us a little something to calm our nerves.  He said, “I am the Lord, the God of all humankind. There is, indeed, nothing too difficult for me.”  – Jeremiah 32:27.

Nothing, nothing at all is beyond His ability to manage and control.  He is the ultimate pilot.  He is omnisciently aware of our circumstances and can negotiate every storm.  It is His prerogative to change course if He so chooses.  He knows every button and lever and exactly what to do with them. 

And it is a comfort to know that He is determined to safely deliver each of His passengers.  Paul said, “For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  – 1 Thessalonians 5:9.

So, get out of the cockpit, find your seat, tilt it back and trust your pilot.   He will get us safely home!

A PRAYER: Lord we are fearful, but You are powerful.  Help us to remember that!

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Scripture references are from the NETBible.com ®

is nearer better? — October 4, 2023

is nearer better?

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I was as lost as a man wandering around Hobby Lobby.  The cell signal was strong when we started out, but the bars were disappearing as we drove on.

We reached an area where there were none, then one, then none, then two, then none.  The nearer we were to a cell tower the better the signal seemed.

But isn’t much of life like that?   Nearer is better!

This applies to cell towers, payday, dinner time, Wi-Fi routers, concert seats, the weekend, vacation destinations, your spouse and most everything except poison ivy. Nearer is better. 

Could this apply to God?   The author of Hebrews says yes.  Several times in his letter he used the terms, “draw near” in relation to God.

Hebrews 4:16 for instance he wrote, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

The words “draw near” are derived from a Greek compound word, “pros-erchomai.  It means to come to or to draw near.  The phrase was used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to describe the priest of Israel as he interceded for his people.

Hebrews portrays Christ as our great high priest who intercedes for us.

He urges us to draw near – to get closer to the throne, where the mercy and grace of God is dispensed.  To face trouble without His mercy and grace would be frightening.   Nearer is better.

The author picks up the theme again in 7:25, “Therefore, He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” 

Again, Jesus is the subject.  “Draw near” in this verse is a present participle.  For you non-grammarians, this means we should understand it this way, “those who are drawing near to God through Him.”

The gist of it is this.  Those of us who are trusting Christ to save us from sin are forever saved through Him and His work at the cross.   Nearer is better.

Then there is 10:1-2 where the author argues that trying to be holy by keeping the OT law is pointless.  The Law was a reminder of sin whereas Christ provided redemption from sin.   He concluded that the Lord “make(s) perfect those who draw near.”

In other words, when we enter God’s presence by the blood of the Lamb, we present to God a record that has been expunged – judged perfect by the law.

One more! Hebrews 10:21-22, “Since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” 

When Adam and Eve blew it, they tried to hide from God in the garden.    How different our response, because we have Jesus as our great high priest.  We are compelled to draw near to God, with sincerity and purity and with the assurance we won’t be turned away.   

When I was a little kid, I came to believe that God lived in a dark, austere, stone, church building. He was confined to a gleaming golden tabernacle which was locked.

It sat upon an ornate altar, which rested on a platform which was elevated by a dozen steps.  Between me and God was a railing – a barrier that kept the two of us apart.

In my little mind, I thought it would have been easier to approach the Wizard of Oz.  The architecture of the church was telling me that God wanted nothing to do with me, but my own heart whispered the same awful lie.   

I had no idea that four times in the book of Hebrews, God waved to me and invited me to draw near.   He wants to be with me, and He wants to be with you!  How awesome

A Prayer: Jesus thank you for eliminating the distance. 

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Scripture references are from the New American Standard Updated Version

does God answer football prayers? — September 27, 2023

does God answer football prayers?

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Football and prayer go together like queso and chips from a concession stand.
Prayer happens in the locker room, on the field, pre and postgame, on one knee and sometimes from beneath a dogpile.   There are pleas for victory and penitential prayers for the defeated.

The Supreme Court has even made prayer at a football game a constitutional right.   But the question is this – Does God answer football prayers? 

I know of a situation that makes me wonder. 

I have a young friend who is an all-round athlete – a sophomore playing on the Varsity team.   Friday night rolled around, and he was a starter.  He played the first quarter like a seasoned pro – a stand-out for sure. 

His daddy was in the stands, and like his son, he is deeply devoted to the Lord.  He says he was burdened to pray from kickoff to the final whistle.

But he was confused.  The team suffered an embarrassing defeat.  Maybe it was because his son didn’t play the second, or third or even the fourth quarter.

Did the boy aggravate the coach?  Was he injured? Why didn’t the coach send him back in?

There was murmuring in stands.  Dad cornered the coach post-game and asked.   “Why did my boy sit out the last three quarters?  The coach was stunned.  He seemed to just realize what he had done.  He said, “I don’t know. I don’t know why I didn’t play him.”

He was genuinely upset over his oversight.  He called the boy that night at mid-night to apologize.  Wow a coach with an apology – unheard of!

But shortly after the call, the boy began running a fever of 103.  He was really sick.  The doctor eventually diagnosed him with mono.

Mono is a disease that enlarges your spleen, and you don’t want to be playing football when your spleen is enlarged.  A good bump would cause it to rupture resulting in internal hemorrhaging.  10% of people die when that happens.

That daddy prayed.  He expected God to use the boy to save the game.  But God took the boy out of the game to save his life.

Our God is omniscient.  He knows what was, what is, what will be and even what could be.  He has promised to answer our prayers, most often by giving us exactly what we pray for. 

But sometimes He says no, because it is wiser and better for us to do so.

Moses had been chosen by God to confront Pharaoh.  But Moses was content to be a nobody shepherd in the desert.  So, He prayed, “O my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send!”  – Exodus 4:13. In other words, “I don’t wanna go to Egypt.  Would you please send someone else?”


 The Lord said no, and Moses said, “OK if I have to.”  So, what if God had given Moses exactly what he had asked.  The Hebrew people may still be in Egypt cranking out bricks for pyramids.

The prophet Elijah was afraid, exhausted, and hungry when he prayed, “I’ve had enough! Now, O Lord, take my life.” –  1 Kings 19:4. The Lord brushed aside his pitiful plea and instead provided food, rest and encouragement.  And the prophet was restored.  But what if God had given the man exactly what he had asked for?

Jesus was in great anguish when He prayed at Gethsemane, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Yet not my will but yours be done.” – Luke 22:42. The Father said “No, Jesus. the cross is the only way forward.”  Where would we be if God had allowed that cup to pass from the Savior?

Keep praying.  God still answers.  But be comforted when He does not answer exactly as you have prayed.  It indicates that His love for you is bigger than your prayers.

A PRAYER: Lord help us to trust Your wisdom when our prayers aren’t answered in the way we expect.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Scripture passages are from the NETBible ®

how does the devil rival a rat? — September 19, 2023

how does the devil rival a rat?

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My son and I were drafted to lead worship for the annual meeting of an international mission board.  The location was Beaver Creek, CO.  A couple wealthy board members wanted to bless the missionaries with a luxury retreat. 

Beaver Creek is an extremely posh community.  To quote their web site: “It is a private year-round resort community where luxury begins at the gate.”   It is the place where U.S. Presidents golf with corporate heads and the movie stars mix.  A home will run into the millions of dollars and the food there is Michelin worthy. 

We were lodged in a spectacular mansion along with several others, including the president of the mission board. 

And there was at least one uninvited guest.  He got up in the middle of the night, slipped into the president’s room and began chewing on his arm while the man was asleep. 

A rat, in a mansion, dining on the arm of a CEO.  Evidently even the rats live and eat well at Beaver Creek. 

Oddly enough the rat reminds me a lot of the devil!   Neither is he a respecter of persons.

“Oh, wait a minute,” you say.  “I don’t believe there is a devil.”   That could be a problem.  The devil is identified by name 35 times in the Bible.  Satan is cited over 52 times.  References span from Genesis to Revelation.  He appears by name in 24 books of the Bible, most of them in the New Testament. 

So, if the devil is a piece of fiction, then so is the Bible.  May it never be!

But how do the rat and the rascal of hell compare?

We’ll use 1 Peter 5:8-9 to find out.  There Peter wrote, “Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour.  Resist him…”

Like a rat, the devil sneaks around.  Peter told us that he is on the prowl.”  (5:8). Disguised as an angel of light, he is thrilled to poke around a church, or a family, or an individual’s conscience sifting, testing and always on the prowl.

And like the rat, he prefers the shroud of darkness.  Paul reminds us that, “…our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness.”  – Eph 6:12 Darkness is the devil’s domain (Colossians 1:13).   He loves to exploit the night.  Sure, lots of sin takes place throughout the day, but it seems that the worst, most disgusting sin happens when the lights are low.

Like the rat, the devil is voraciously hungry.  Peter said that he is “seeking someone to devour.”   (5:8) His teeth tear at the moral and spiritual fiber of our souls.  He wants to crush the fellowship with have with our Lord. 

And like the rat, the devil does not discriminate.   According to Peter he is seeking “someone” anyone to devour.  (5:8) The rat in Colorado didn’t discriminate.  He didn’t know the difference between a mansion and shack.  He didn’t care whether his prey was a president or a peasant.  

So, it is with the devil.  Money, power, position – none of it makes us invulnerable to his mischief.  Such things, in fact may create a spiritual fog, that blinds us to his incursions.

In fact, like the rat, Satan prefers a victim who is asleep – someone who passes him off as a myth .   Which is why Peter left us with bookends to his warning.  He started by saying “Be sober and alert” (5:8) and then ended it up saying, “resist him!”  (5:9)

Back at the mansion, my son eventually subdued the rodent and then treated him to a swim in an expensive toilet. 

Hey, we too need to be alert and ready to resist the devil.  Send him to the porcelain pool when he comes to chew on you.

A Prayer: Lord tune my spiritual sensibilities to recognize the devil at work.

This has been Jim Johnson with pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Scripture references are from the NETBible ®

where miracles became entitlements — September 13, 2023

where miracles became entitlements

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My wife bought us some multivitamins the other day – the kind you take when you are over 50.  I took one out and looked it over, and frankly I was offended.  It was a ghostly grey color. 

It was like the manufacturer was saying, “Hey, you don’t get a nice blue or shiny red vitamin like the kids, because you are old and grey.  So, deal with it.”  Hey, I’m surprised the vitamins didn’t come with wrinkles!

It is good to know though, that our Lord has power over aging, death, and disease. He proved it in a town called Capernaum.   In Jesus’ day, the town was a prosperous fishing village – the jewel of the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus made it His ministry headquarters calling it His, “own city.” (Matthew 9:1)

The ruins of it exist today.  It has not been buried or bulldozed away.  The foundation of the ancient synagogue is still in place.  It is the stone on which Jesus once stood and taught. 

Why did He choose Capernaum as a base?  It was located on an international highway that reached from empire-to-empire.  Any newsworthy event in Capernaum would have been carried far and wide.

The Jews understood from the prophet Isaiah (35:5, 61:1) that the coming Messiah would be known by the miracles He did.  In fact, John the Baptist once asked if Jesus was truly the promised Messiah. 

This is how Jesus answered, “Go tell John what you hear and see:  The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them.”  (Matthew 11:4-5) These miracles were the proof.

It’s interesting that Jesus performed every one of those miracles in Capernaum.   According to the Gospel of Matthew, He healed a lame man there (9:1) and also raised up from the dead the daughter of an official of the synagogue. (9:18-23)

He healed 2 blind men in Capernaum (9:27) and gave speech to a mute/dumb man there. (9:32) and we are told that He preached the good news to those there and elsewhere.  (9:35) 

So there in that tiny seaside town, it appears that every single type of miraculous sign to validate the Messiah had been performed.  He fulfilled the script of Isaiah perfectly.   And it took place before the eyes of the Capernaum populace.  No other place in Israel could boast the same thing. 

The appropriate response to those miracles would have been, “Wow Jesus, you are obviously divine, God in the flesh, and you are so holy and so, so good to us.”

So, we are yours.  We are trading in our sinful pleasures to follow You and your plan for us.  Your priorities are now ours.”

Instead, we read these stunning words in Matthew 11:23-24.  Jesus said, “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to Hades! For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you!”

The city saw a lot – but responded with little.  In their self-centered world, His miracles became their entitlements.  There was no gratitude or repentance.

Perhaps we need to challenge our own creeping entitlement mentality. 

The Lord owes us nothing – not a thing!  He, however, sometimes does miraculous and wonderful things for us anyway.  Why? To capture our hearts.

Jesus gives us reasons to believe.  He wants our hearts in exchange!   He hopes to be entrusted with our eternal soul.  He wants to help us avoid the condemnation placed on Capernaum.  

That’s who He is.  That’s what He does.  And it’s you and me that He seeks.

A PRAYER: Lord you have done mighty things.  Help our faithless hearts recognize it!

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you!

Scripture references are from the NETBible.com®

chasing the dream — September 6, 2023

chasing the dream

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As a kid, I didn’t have an alarm clock in my bedroom, but I was usually aware of the time regardless of the hour of night.  I just picked up my guitar and began to strum, which prompted my mom to yell from downstairs, “Do you know it’s 1 a.m.?”   “No, but thanks mom?”

I learned the guitar in sixth grade. As I taught myself the chords, I enjoyed putting a melody and words to them. 

My music became my voice.  I was able to sing things I was too shy to speak.  I shared my ditties and people enjoyed them.

So, I got serious about it.  When I got my driver’s license, one of the very first places I visited was a music publisher.  I tried to sell them a song.  They didn’t want it. 

This, however, became my obsession – to publish a song, have a bigtime artist sing it, to hear it aired on the radio and to reap the royalties.

Music was my god back then.  It monopolized my time, my money, and my heart.  But the path to publishing was always blocked and it was destroying me.  

When I finally came to Jesus, music was dethroned, and Christ reigned in my life.

I wanted others to experience Jesus, so I centered my songwriting efforts on Him.  People listened.  Many came to faith and others were encouraged in their faith journey. 

However, music still competed with the Lordship of Jesus in my life.  My evolved desire was to make a name for myself in Christian music. 

I put demo tapes of my songs in the hands of several uninterested artists. A studio in Nashville reviewed and rejected my stuff and I have a ream of rejection letters from publishers.  Like the donkey that stood in the path of Balaam, the Lord seemed to stand in my way.

I believed I would be content only when I had made it in the music biz.  But God deliberately withheld that success from me, that I might learn to be content with Him. 

I took to heart his words in Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord.”  He wanted me to find my joy and purpose and satisfaction in Him alone.

And over time, I learned. Jesus became all that mattered to me, and my music became a useful tool to serve His purposes – not mine.  I learned to be content using my songs with the youth group that I led.

But then a crazy thing happened.  One of my youth group kids went to college and became a worship leader.  He used some of the songs that I had written.  

One day a no-name Christian band came to his town and heard him sing one of my songs.  They wanted to use it.  He said, “Yes, Jim wouldn’t care.”

So, they did, they sang one of my songs for over two years to college students around the country, over 200,000 of them.

Eventually they were signed to a recording contract with the biggest outfit in Christian music   And, they wanted to include my song on their first album. 

It was recorded and released almost 30 years after my first attempt to sell a song. I remember the thrill of hearing it aired on our local radio station. 

It was then that I experienced the latter half of Psalm 37:4, The Psalmist wrote, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  Once I made the Lord and His will my delight, He then graciously delivered the desire of my heart without any effort on my part.

I bet you are curious as to the title of the song.  I called it “Kumbayah!”  Not really!  The title is “Have Your Way,” which was a perfect song for God to promote for it was not until I was content with His will for me, that I enjoyed such blessing. 

A PRAYER: Having You, Lord, is so much richer than having a song on the radio.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Scripture references are from the New International Version.

wrong turn — August 30, 2023

wrong turn

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I was driving in Tyler, Texas when I looked up and was stunned to see a Jeep with the Jurassic Park graphics on the door.  It was right out of the movie.  I said to myself “Oh Lord, Oh Lord – I must have taken me a wrong turn.”  

Turns out the manufacturer celebrated the 30th anniversary of the film by detailing the Jeep featured in the movie with the original Jurassic artwork.  

What a relief!  Traffic is bad enough without being rear-ended by a T-Rex or escaping a swooping Velociraptor.

But, in some ways, life for me kinda feels like I have accidentally wandered into the Park.  My world is filled with other kinds of ferocious beasts, that are salivating over me. 

They send me emails phishing for a chance to infect my world and give them power over me and my finances.  They use texts with iffy links that could wipe me clean if I click. 

I’m told to never mention the word, “yes” to an unsolicited caller, because it could be recorded and then edited so that my “yes” will be used to approve things of which I don’t approve.  I’ve got to be wary of fraudulent Facebook friend requests – designed to worm their way into my life. 

I can’t say the word “arthritis” without a dozen pop-up ads for cures flooding my phone.  And I must fiercely guard my phone number from phony marketplace callers who are simply trying to harvest it to sell.

When I was in junior high, I barely had an identity, but now I got to protect what little I have with insurance.

I am not a doom and gloom guy, but this is the way it is!  A foreboding forest of vicious people who are trying to claw their way into our lives and devour what we have. 

But what a blessing!  Yes, a blessing!   If I could adequately manage these risks, I would.  But I can’t.  These things are so beyond my control that I must entrust my welfare to the only one that can protect me.

Psalm 18 was penned by David.  It reminds us, of where our confidence needs to rest. 

He begins with, “I love you, O Lord, my strength.”  (18:1).  What a sweet affirmation of David’s devotion to the Lord.  What Father would fail to delight in such words and why would He refuse the request of the child that spoke them? 

In verses 2 and 3 he wrote, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Look at the many different words that David used to describe the safety and reliability of God. 

He called Him a rock.  When I am floundering about in rushing water, a rock in the middle of the river is a secure place on which to stand.   He used the word “fortress.”   A fortress has impenetrable walls to repel the arrows of an enemy above, before and behind.

God was his deliverer.  He got it done.  He was His refuge – a hidden but safe place away from heat of the battle.  He was his shield.  Spears were flying, but he was snugly tucked in behind it. 

The guilty one of Israel would run from an adversary to the temple and grab onto the horns of the altar to find asylum and mercy.   David found as much with the Lord.   

He followed up with verse 13, “I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.“   He cried for help and received it and was saved from his predators. 

It’s true.  We live in a Jurassic jungle, but we serve a God who controls the script.  Trust Him with your life and all the digital details of it and be saved from your enemies!

A PRAYER: Lord when the times cause us to tremble, turn our hearts to You!

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you!

Scripture passages are from the New International Version

pizza in the passing lane — August 23, 2023

pizza in the passing lane

/pickleheavenpress

I was on the road but so was the pizza. 

The customer picked up his pizza and then placed it on the roof of the car while he searched his pockets for his keys.

The keys were found, and the pizza forgotten.  He jumped in the car and took off and so did the pizza.  It went soaring through the air and landed in the middle of a four-lane highway.  A drone delivery without the drone.  

I was tempted to rescue it and have a bite, but I think it was anchovy.

Oh, stop laughing!  Most of us have done the same thing.

But listen, what if Jesus were as careless with our souls?  Would it be sacrilegious to wonder if some of us could end up like the pizza in the passing lane?

Let’s let Jesus speak for Himself on this matter.  In John 10, He described Himself as the Good Shepherd and those who follow Him as the sheep.  

When we get to verse 27, we find Jesus saying, “My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”   In those days shepherds would share a common sheep pen.   Each shepherd would entrust that stone fence each night with the safety of his sheep. 

In the morning the shepherd called for his flock.  This was a big ask for a sheep.  The flock was very secure in the pen and very vulnerable outside of its walls. 

But the sheep responded to that voice they had learned to trust.  They separated from the other flocks quartered there, to follow their shepherd out to pasture.  Most livestock must be driven from behind.  Sheep, however, happily follow the lead of the shepherd.

What a warm picture of our relationship with Christ. 

But then Jesus adds the truth of verse 28.  He said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand.” 

Powerful and assertive words!   He said, “I give them eternal life.”  The tense of the verb is significant.  He did not say “I will give” but “I give” – present tense.   In John 5:24 Jesus spoke to those who had believed saying that they “have” eternal life – also present tense.

But what is eternal life? Life without end.  If Jesus were to ever repossess the eternal life that He gave us when we were saved, then it would have never been eternal to begin with, and we could accuse Him of deception.  Eternal means forever – and if we got it, we got it. 

Then He told us that, “we will never perish.”   This of course is in reference to hell.  To perish is to die, except that hell is a place where the suffering of death is an eternal experience.  But this cannot happen to us, says Jesus, because we have eternal life. 

And then my favorite phrase of this whole section.  He promised, “no one will snatch them from my hand.”  So cool.  The Greek word for snatch (harpadzo) was used to describe a wild animal that would snag and drag away its prey. 

The devil is our predator, but he poses no threat to us.  He won’t be able to seize one of Jesus’ flock and filet them.  Not while The Good Shepherd is on the job. 

Paul said as much in Romans 8:39. He told us that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That pizza in the passing lane was purchased for less than ten bucks.  We, however, were purchased with the precious blood of Jesus. (1 Peter 1:19)  There just ain’t no way He’s gonna let us fly off the car.

So, rest easy my friends in the secure grace of God.  If you know Him – if you have trusted Him as your personal Savior – you are safe. 

A prayer: Lord it feels so good to know that we are secure with You.  Thank You.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you!

Scripture references are from the NETBible ®