Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: 1 John 3:2

sanctified swamp people — July 16, 2025

sanctified swamp people

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I thought about auditioning for Swamp People.  You see, whenever it rains, there is a section of my backyard that floods with water.  It doesn’t run off as it should because the ground level is lower than the rest of the yard. 

Water pools there and sticks around for as much as 5 days.   The lawn underneath gasps for breath until it finally gives up the grass ghost.   It is a swampy, unsightly mess.

What should I do about it?   I could order a dump truck load of topsoil and bring the whole area up to grade.  Then spend some serious bucks on some centipede sod and carpet the area.  Nah!

Instead, I decided to raise the level of the soil gradually!  I took bags of topsoil and lightly spread the soil throughout the area.  I then raked and watered it in.  Soon, the grass underneath began to poke through. 

I did this every couple of weeks, a little at a time, and the level of the soil gradually rose.  The water now runs off, and I have a healthy green lawn.

Gradual is also the way the Lord raises the level of holiness in us. 

The process of being processed is called sanctification.   It began the very moment we came to faith in Christ.  The Lord took a spiritual swamp person, removed his sin, placed the Holy Spirit in him and good things began to happen.   Paul wrote, “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” – 1 Corinthians 6:11.

At that point the believer is liberated from the dominating power of sin.  This is known as positional sanctification, and it is all God’s doing.    

There is also practical sanctification.  In Philippians 2:12-13 Paul wrote, “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” – NIV.   It is interesting if not a little baffling to find that both God and man are responsible for this aspect of sanctification. 

On one hand we are to take what God has given us in salvation and work it all out.  This is to take the potential for holiness we were given the day we were saved and roll it out and implement it so that it becomes an essential part of who we are.

So much of the New Testament targets this process.  I think of Hebrews 12:1, “…let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

On the other hand, Paul tells us that it is God who is at work in us.  “…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus – NIV.” – Philippians 1:6

Practical sanctification is a lifelong process.  It is facilitated through our prayers and digesting and obeying the Word of God.  It involves finding fellowship with others at church and offering heartfelt worship. 

These are the efforts that we make to facilitate sanctification.  God does His part by empowering us, teaching us and using divinely appointed experiences to shape us.   He gradually raises the quality of holiness in us.

There are times that slow, and steady are needed to get the job done.  This is certainly true of sanctification

Paul said it would culminate on the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).  This third aspect we might call perpetual sanctification.  

When Jesus reappears, or if we should die before then, the process will be completed forever.  The apostle John wrote, “We know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” – 1 John 3:2 NIV.

Hey, it’s good to know that we won’t be swamp people forever.

A PRAYER: Lord, we sure need it, sanctify away

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

less than perfect — January 20, 2021

less than perfect

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I wanted to do a rebuild on my garage.  I planned on putting up new sheet rock all the way around.  Never did it before – but if it turned out to be hideous, I planned to hang rakes and shovels everywhere. 

So, I tacked it up, taped and bedded, sanded, primed and painted.  I was pleasantly shocked at how good it looked.    My son-in-law came over to inspect it.  To my chagrin, he looked past my gorgeously smooth seamless walls, to spot the trim above the door. 

It dropped ¼ inch from one side to the next.  That is what he saw and pointed out to me.  Hmm.   I told him I did that on purpose so that people can’t accuse me of being a perfectionist. 

And I was half serious.  I typically aim to do my very best when I engage in a task.  But my best is always hampered by my limitations.  No matter how hard I try, my stubby legs will never give me victory in a wind sprint. 

Or it may just be too much trouble to do it perfectly.  I play guitar pretty well, but I decided long ago it would be way too much work to master it. 

All in all, I end up averaging a B on most of what I do.  That works for me – but I am so glad that Jesus set His heart on more. 

He wants to see nothing less than perfection worked in me – not by me – but in me.

This is how Paul put it in Philippians 1:6, “For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

On the day a person comes to faith, the Lord makes some fundamental changes.  Our old natures are put to death, and we become new people with new spiritual capacities to live in the way that honors the God who created us.  (2 Corinthians 5:17)   

Paul tells us that it was Christ that began the process and He continues to work at it on a frequent basis.  His goal for us is nothing less than flawless perfection. 

So how do we get from here to there?  Remember that guy that irks you at work?  Or what about the psoriasis that clings to your arm?  James calls things like that trials and he says that these trials are a good for you.  They refine you “so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.”   -James 1:4

But there are other tools as well in the Lord’s toolbox to help develop quality in us.  Perfection grows as we read and apply God’s Word (John 17:17) and as we respond to the nudge of His Spirit (John 16:8) and as we interact with each other (Colossians 3:16)

Some of you are saying, “Too late. I have already arrived.  Meet Mr. Perfect.”  OK not sure conceit is a part of the finished package.

This is what Paul said about this expedition to perfection.  “Not that I have already attained this – that is, I have not already been perfected—but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me.”  – Philippians 3:12

Paul was still in process as are all of us and he tells us that it will not be complete until Jesus’ return.  For then we shall see Him and we shall be made just as He is – in perfection. (1 John 3:2) In the meantime, we strive along in Jesus’ power to reach the goal.

I must say that because of Christ’s work in me, my life is of a much better quality than it once was, but I am still a far piece from perfect.   He has tamed my temper quite a lot which makes it all the more galling on the unusual occasion that I lose it.  

So, what if Jesus approached His work by using my B level mentality.   He might say, “Well I’d like to make Jim a better person but it’s just impossible – actually Jim’s impossible.”  Or more realistically, Jesus might say of me, “Nah he’s just too much work.”  

Fortunately for me and you, Jesus plans on getting straight A’s. 

A PRAYER: Lord I am glad the process in me depends on you and not me.   Have your way!

All Scripture references are from the NETBible®