Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: encouragement

God complex — April 29, 2026

God complex

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My SUV thinks its God!  

After years of driving outdated vehicles, I finally got myself one from this century –  a 2024 Honda CR-V.   It was a Godsend!

As I age my driving skills could possibly be diminishing.  At least that’s what my wife says. But my CR-V is keenly aware of my questionable road skills and often compensates for me. 

If a driver makes himself at home in my blind spot.  A little light in my rearview mirror alerts me.   When I forget to dim my lights for an oncoming car, my SUV does not.

My wife tells me that I tend to swerve to the left when I look to the right.  Not anymore.  Lane assist confines me to my lane.  

When I am oblivious to the speed postings, I can find the current limit displayed on my dashboard.   This SUV is making my wife’s back seat driving commentary obsolete.

When I pull up to a light, the vehicle automatically lowers the volume of the radio so the guy in the car next to me can’t hear me listening to “Baby Shark.”  The cruise control even senses when I am getting too close to the vehicle in front of me and it slows me down.  

My SUV is amazing.  It has everything but a cassette player.  

And it reminds me, a lot, of God (the vehicle not the cassette player). 

As I have journeyed my way along, I have assumed that I have controlled the vehicle I called my life.  But actually, God has been with me all along, watching the road ahead and compensating for me.

David conveyed this idea in Psalm 139. 

He wrote, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord” (1-4).  

Our all-knowing God is very aware of what, when and how we do it – even before we do it. 

He continued, “You hem me in behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” (5-6) Because God is omnipresent, He surrounds and protects us with His incomprehensible divine force field.

“Where can I go from your Spirit?” wrote David.  “Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (8-10)

No matter where we go, or how fast we travel to get there, He sticks with us. He guides us, keeps us in our lane, and even prevents us from back-ending the person ahead of us.    

“If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you (11-12). He is more efficient in handling the darkness I face than my automated high beams. 

My SUV also does makes me aware of any internal mechanical concerns.  The Lord, however, does that and more.  David wrote, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting (23-24).

Psalm 139 tells us that God assists us when we are weak, alerts us to dangers and concerns and keeps us centered in the narrow way. He is at work for us and in us whether we are aware of it or not.

And He comes with an extended eternal warranty.

A PRAYER: Lord, where would we be without You? 

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Scripture passages are from the NIV.  

an encouraging word — May 1, 2024

an encouraging word

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My wife has taken up the palette and easel to become a painter.   She is doing pretty well!  In fact, I encouraged her to send her finished art to our adult children to hang on their refrigerators.

I’m funnin’ ya’ of course, but that is certainly one way they could encourage her artistic endeavors.

Encouragement can come in the form of pictures on the ice box and other helpful activities, but let’s focus on verbal encouragement for now. 

Hebrews 3:13 tells us we all need a daily dose of it.  It says, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

This is a command directed to us and it is something that we should offer to those around us on a daily basis.

Most encouragement is kind of like milk.  It has a short shelf life.  It expires and then we have to run to the store to get more.  So, we need to encourage each other regularly.

The author tells us why.  He says, “so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”   There is a sin principle which is at work in this world.  Think of it as the sun at work on your skin.  The UV rays penetrate and damage your skin.  Get enough of it over time and you’ll end up with a leathery look.

Likewise, we are bombarded by the destructive lies and the lusts of this world.  It erodes our ego.  Over time it harms our souls and causes us to become insensitive and indifferent to spiritual things.

Encouragement is like sun block.  It keeps the UV rays of sin from penetrating and protects us from damage.

To experience encouragement, we need to be together.  Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…”

The author spoke of people who gave up the habit of church.  He pleads – don’t do that because being with other Christians is where encouragement is found.   

Sunday worship lifts us up, the message challenges us, the classes provide personal interaction and the casual conversation at the coffee table is sweet (especially if your church serves donuts as mine does). 

But Sunday worship is not enough. We need to be in relationship with people whom we know, love and trust. I have a friend who was chronically depressed.  He told me that he would often go to small group discouraged but leave feeling great.

So how do we speak encouragement to one another?

– Make it positive.  Sarcasm and encouragement do not get along.  A compliment bathed in sarcasm, is like a chocolate covered olive.

– Make sure what you say is true.  Flattery falls flat.  Don’t tell her she looks like a model when she doesn’t.  When we lie, we imply that the truth may be painful for them to handle – and they sense it.

– Our words should have substance.  To say you look nice – is nice, but insufficient.   Focus on issues of character and virtue and service.   Tell her that you are proud of the way she handled her surly boss.  Tell him that he did well when he shared his faith with his uncle.

It would be nice if we all lived home on the range where seldom is heard a discouraging word.  Ah, but we do not.

But we can change that.  We can start by being the first and most frequent to encourage others.  It’s crazy how the encouraged, will reciprocate.

My grandson was in the midst of potty training.  He would occassionally fail to succeed, but he always ended those sessions by saying out loud, “Good try.” 

I suppose that we could encourage ourselves, as he did – but it is so much more meaningful and powerful when it comes from someone else.

A PRAYER: Lord my own soul feels a little leathery, help me to create an encouraging community.

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.

shaping their reality — June 14, 2021

shaping their reality

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As a hospice chaplain I visit folks in health care facilities where I am still required to wear a face mask. 

Mine is bright orange, patterned with small tongues of fire.  It is noticed, especially in the unit where my friends are memory impaired.

One resident throws a fit whenever she sees me, “Take that off! Why do you wear that thing?” I tell her, “My boss makes me wear it, cause I’m so ugly.”

The other day, however, I encountered a resident who was impressed.  She looked at my mask and said, “I really like your beard.”   I said, “Oh – well OK – thank you!”

They both looked at the same masked face. One was repulsed and the other delighted.  

Beauty really is in the eyes of the beholder.   But what we see in others, is often controlled by our own skewed perception rather than what is actually true.  I mean if we are looking through a pair of green sun-glasses – everybody is going to look green. 

And though our perceptions of others may not be true to reality, they can reshape their reality. 

There was once a baby boy who was dubbed Barnabas, which means son of encouragement.   His parents gave him a name that would shape his character.

He lived up to their expectations.  According to Acts 4 the man was saddened by the needs of the poor.  So, he sold his land and donated the money to help (Acts 4:36)   The rich guy elevated and encouraged those poor folk! 

Saul, the reviled persecutor of the church, needed the acceptance of the church.  The new convert was already preaching his heart out.  The apostles were understandably skeptical.  Barnabas, on the other hand, refused to let the past petrify his perception.  He believed in the new Saul and used his influence with the church.  (Acts 9:27-28)

Barnabas even decided that Paul (formerly Saul) had great ministry potential and personally mentored him for over a year.  Acts 11:22-26)

Soon after, Barnabas and Paul were sent out on the first ever missionary journey.  They took along a third man to mentor.  But the work was tough, and Mark was young.  He deserted the team to go home to momma.

A second mission trip was scheduled but there was trouble according to Acts 15:36-40, “After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord to see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 38 but Paul insisted that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. 39 They had a sharp disagreement, so much so, that they parted company. Barnabas took along Mark and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and set out, commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters.”

Paul had been mentored by the son of encouragement, but he evidently missed the encouragement lesson.  He perceived Mark as an untrustworthy loser – not worth the risk.  Barnabas saw him as a kid who made a mistake but had great potential and needed a second chance. 

The two titans argued.  If Mark was present for the clash, his ego must have bobbed like a cork on an angry lake.

The rock band disbanded over the issue.  Paul went one way with Silas, and Barnabas took Mark, just as he had once done with Paul.

Barnabas evidently did his thing because Mark grew into the man that Barnabas perceived him to be.   Even Paul eventually appreciated the change.  Ten years later he wrote, “Get Mark and bring him with you because he is a great help to me in ministry.”  (2 Tim 4:11)

And then that former loser Mark, went on to pen the earliest of the four Gospels.  Thank you, Barnabas, for seeing what Paul could not. 

So, when you look at your kid, do you see the promised land or a waste land?  Do you treat your spouse as a winner or a wiener?  Does your boss sense your respect or your revulsion?  Do you cause your elderly parents to feel like burdens or blessings? 

Whether we like it or not we are actively shaping the people around us.

A PRAYER: Lord help me to see what You see when I look at others – and to treat them accordingly.

Scripture references are from the NETBible ®