Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: assurance

pizza in the passing lane — August 23, 2023

pizza in the passing lane

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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 ®

I just knowd it! — February 8, 2023

I just knowd it!

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I recently had a guy ask me a perplexing question: “Hey are you from Louisiana?”  “What!”  I asked, “Why you say dat?”

I concede that my accent is hard to figure.  I am an Ohioan who has lived in Texas for 40 years.  When I return to Ohio, and they get all rankled when I refer to them as, “ya’ll” and they wag their heads when I say “I knowd he et my “chicken fried steak.”   And they are relieved when I get in the car and say, “I’m fixin’ to go to the house.”

But when a Texan hears me speak, he says, “Where you from boy?”   When I ask for a bottle of pop – he wants to pop me. 

My accent may defy description – but Louisiana?  Makes me madder than a crawfish without a bayou!

Oh well, ultimately, it’s not where you are from that matters, but where you are going!

Where are we going?   Time moves forward whether we like it or not, and it sweeps us along with it.  So, what is our destination?  

Do we ever get in the car and say, “I don’t know where I’m going!”  OK sometimes I say that but that’s because I am old.  But, generally speaking, we don’t turn the key without having a destination in mind. 

The apostle John provided a helpful map for one particular spot.

He was writing to his spiritual “children” – those people that he had mentored and loved. In his letter, he taught them about Jesus and the faith, and how to love one another, and other themes that help a Christian understand how to live.

As he wound down his letter, he added this amazing gem of truth.  He wrote, “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”  – 1 John 5:13

Now let’s make sure we get this.  He started with “I have written these things….”  What things?  All the spiritually affirming truths in chapters 1 through 5.

It was directed to “…you who believe in the name of the Son of God….”  He was addressing those who had placed their faith in Jesus as their Savior.   They were not relying on their own efforts or merit.  Their confidence wasn’t based on their church membership or attendance.  They relied solely on what Jesus had accomplished for them at the cross. 

His purpose was revealed in the last phrase, “…that you may know that you have eternal life.”  It isn’t always that you find the words “know” and “eternal life” in the same sentence.  And yet John says that the one who had put their hope in Christ has eternal life, and they can know and be assured of it in this life. 

Some might say, “Well, No one knows what know means.”

I get you.  Someone may say, “I know Fred.”  But in reality, Fred is more of an acquaintance to that person.  They don’t really and truly know him.  There is a word for that kind of knowing in the Greek New Testament.  It is “ginosko.” 

But John uses a very different word in his letter.  It is “oida” which refers to a deep, full, true understanding of a person or an issue.  This is a convinced kind of knowing. 

So, John tells us that the person who has trusted Christ should have a deep down, in the pit of their stomach, sure as shootin’ assurance that heaven is in their future.

Ultimately, it’s not where you are from that matters, but where you are going!  If you have trusted Jesus – you are going to heaven!  I just knowd it.

A PRAYER: Thank you God for helping me truly and deeply know that I will be with you when this life has been exhausted.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.