Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: god

chew it and do it — October 22, 2025

chew it and do it

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Most liturgical church services begin by the minister saying, “The Lord be with you.” The congregation responds by saying, “And also with you.”  One Sunday the minister began the service, but the microphone didn’t work.  He tapped on it and finally said, “There’s something wrong with this!”  And the congregation answered, “And also with you.”

When you take something like that, out of context, it becomes a joke.  The same is true of Scripture and I should know. 

As I think back, I found that I have approached Scripture in a variety of ways. 

When I was young, I used the Ignore It method.  Scripture was contained in a big book that sat on a podium at church.  I didn’t have access to it, so it was easy to ignore.  Most of us have Bibles today, but they also sit untouched on a nightstand or a bookshelf.

I graduated to the Twist it approach.  Some of my teenage peers would share Biblical truth with me.  But when the truth did not mesh with my beliefs or my life preferences, I found ways to twist it – to take it out of context or make words mean other than what they were intended to mean.  This is a very popular way today for both non-Christians and even many Christians to approach Scripture. 

At age 19 I was born again, and I adopted a new way to handle Scripture.  It was the Feel It approach.  I got a Bible and read it voraciously, but I was concerned not with what I needed to believe or how I should live but rather on how it made me feel. I wanted to feel good, so I skipped over the parts that challenged or corrected me and gobbled up the truth that warmed my soul. 

Not one of those three previous approaches was very helpful to me. They were actually impediments to knowing and growing in the Lord.  

By God’s grace I eventually learned the best way to handle Scripture.  I call it the Chew it and Do it approach.   I have learned to chew on the things I read in Scripture, marinating my mind with the truth.  I try to understand the context of a passage and consider cultural issues of the biblical settings.  I let the words speak for themselves and I explore even that which makes me feel uncomfortable.

And then of course I do it.  I do my best to apply the truth.  I don’t understand all of it, but what I get, I do my best to obey.

This is what Paul intended when he wrote, “Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17. NETBible®

I have a self-propelled lawnmower.  I steer it while the power of the engine turns the wheels.  Recently, however, I was mowing a wet lawn and headed up a hill.  The mower quit moving forward.  The wheels were spinning.

What a realistic picture of so many people today – trying to move forward but pointlessly spinning their wheels instead.  That was me for sure until I learned the Chew It and Do It way to approach Scripture. 

I rely on Scripture to do marriage.  My wife and I have just entered our 50th year.  I relied on Scripture to do parenting.  Our adult kids love Jesus, married Christian spouses, they are serving at church and raising their children in the faith.   

I have relied on Scripture to teach me how to work.  When I was about to leave one job for another, my former bosses always wanted me to stay. 

Please understand – I am not boasting here–just simply saying that a life lived in obedience to the Word of God, is a life that works.  Unlike that microphone at church!

And “May the Lord be with you!”

A PRAYER: Lord, help me make time to thoroughly chew and to do Your truth.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

Krispy Krime! — September 23, 2025

Krispy Krime!

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I was fraught with donut guilt. Not from eating them, but from stealing them. 

You see, my friends and I had morning paper routes when we were kids.  As we biked our way at 4 a.m., we noticed a Krispy Kreme truck that was making its daily deliveries.   

The driver would hide boxes of donuts in various places so that the retailers would have them when they opened in the morning.   

It seemed like a fun game, so we tailed the truck and watched as the donuts were stowed away in cars and various nooks and crannies.   

And we then confiscated and consumed many of those donuts.  Proverbs 9:17 says, “Stolen waters are sweet.” This was especially true of donuts.

We enjoyed our donut feasts.  We longed for some milk as well, but the milkman didn’t deliver that early.

But then, several years later I found myself twisted up with guilt over the many poor choices I had made in my brief life – including the donut thefts.  My guilt finally found its way to the cross, where Jesus paid my way to heaven – His blood shed for my sin. 

Theologically and experientially, I was born again.  I was free of the burden of my sin and its oppressive guilt, and I wanted the world to know it.  So, I took my guitar and sang of God’s grace and mercy.   

But one day it occurred to me that I was not completely guilt free.  If the manager of the Krispy Kreme should have shown up at the church where I was singing – it would have dropped a load of condemnation all over me. 

I wondered if I needed to make things right with him.  So, I studied the Scripture.  

The idea of making restitution was first discussed in Exodus 22:1-15.  For instance, the man who stole an ox needed to repay the person from whom it was stolen.  Granted, this is from the Old Testament and we Christian are governed by the New.

But I also I found Romans 13:8 where Paul wrote, “Owe no one anything.”   Technically speaking I owed many folks for the things I had stolen.   

I also remembered the example of Zaccheus the tax collector, who used the system to steal from people.  When he found forgiveness from Jesus, he knew that he needed to repay those folks from whom he had stolen (Luke 19:8).

I was convicted. I needed to settle the account. So, I wrote a letter to the manager of the donut store.  I told him what I had done and explained that Christ had changed the course of my life and that I wanted to make restitution.  I also enclosed a check.   I did the same thing with anyone from whom I had stolen.  

Not long after, I began to receive letters in response to my letters – each one thanking me for my confession and restitution and each one granting me forgiveness.   I still have those letters. 

This one came from Krispy Kreme: “Dear James, Thank you very much for the letter.  You are one in a million who would admit this.  I am glad to hear that you have met your Savior and that He has forgiven you.  We at Krispy Kreme sure can do the same thing.  Thanks again.  Come in any time.” P. Lockhart, Mgr.

How refreshing and liberating.  I understand now what Paul meant when he said, “I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience” – 2 Timothy 1:3. (NASU)

And I have to say that I so enjoy having a clear conscience, that I am prompted to quickly make amends with the Lord and others when I stumble in the present.  My sins these days are not theft related, but they still stain my conscience until I make it right. 

You may not have a donut debt, but you may have a debt of another kind.  Perhaps it’s time to make things right!

A PRAYER: God, give us the courage to clear up the past

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture passages are from the NETBible® unless otherwise noted.

no fueling — September 17, 2025

no fueling

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Somewhere in the state of Kansas I pulled in to get some gas.  But the options on the pump baffled me.  There was regular, mid-grade, premium, diesel, E10, E15, E85, ethanol free and biodiesel.  I wasn’t sure which to get so I tried, “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe; Catch a tiger by the toe.”  

I remembered the story of a friend who borrowed a diesel van and unknowingly put unleaded in it.  The engine struggled to start and then sputtered when it did.  His trip was canceled, and the van’s fuel system got a costly and thorough cleanse.

The kind of fuel we put in our tank makes a difference.   The very same is true of our spiritual lives.  We who know the Lord need to make sure that we fuel our minds with the right stuff. 

The apostle Paul told us to think about that which is true, worthy of respect, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8).   Too often we put the wrong kind of fuel in our spiritual tanks and foul up the system.

We need the right kind of fuel, and it needs to go into the right place.  Suppose a teen driver jumped in her car for the first time and found the gas gauge on empty.  Would she be silly enough to remove the cap and gas up the radiator, or maybe top off the cup holder? 

Obviously not!  The fuel needs to go into the fuel tank.  Spiritually speaking, however, the fuel doesn’t always make it there.  Some of us read our Bibles and fill our minds with the right fuel, but we still lack spiritual get up and go.   

That’s probably because the ultimate destination for that fuel is not the mind, but the heart.  The Psalmist wrote, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” – Ps 119:11 (KJV).  So how does the Scripture make it to our heart? 

Psalm 119 is centered around the Scripture.  The concept of meditation is mentioned there at least 5 times.  For instance, verse 48 says, “I will lift my hands to your commands, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes” (NIV)

To meditate is to think deeply and carefully about something.  If the Psalm were written today, the Psalmist might have used the word “marinate.”  When we read the Scripture, we need to marinate our minds with it. 

We need to pause and soak our minds with what we are reading – deliberately think about the verse, each word.  What does it mean? How does it apply to you right now? 

Let me use Romans 8:28 as an example on how to marinate, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” NIV.  Let’s consider it word by word. 

“And we know” – This is a truth that we are certain of.

“That in all things” -All things: not some things, or a few things, not just the pleasant but even the painful.

“God” -Not a fictional person but a very real, powerful person in my life

“Works” -Not once worked or will work but is working at this moment.

“For the good” – The pleasant and the painful things interact with each other in God’s plan, but it results in something very good for me

“For those who love Him” –I do love Him, but how much?

“Who have been called” -He called me out of the darkness into the light

“According to His purpose” – His wise purpose shapes His plan for me.  

Marinate!  Chew on smaller portions.  Take some time and soak your mind. It’s about quality time spent not quantity.   The goal is not necessarily to memorize but to marinate your mind with the truth. 

The next time you go for a fill up – choose the premium option – the Word of God; and marinate the truth all the way into your tank.

A PRAYER: Lord, stir up a hunger in me for your Word

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you

when helping hurts — August 27, 2025

when helping hurts

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His daddy was a pastor.  The little guy had to sit through church to hear his dad preach on subjects like justification and sanctification.   One day his Sunday School teacher asked if anyone knew what “procrastination” was.  The little boy, wanting to be helpful, said, “I don’t know what it means, but I know my dad believes in it.” 

Sometimes we want to help but we unintentionally hurt the cause instead.  The leper of Mark 1 is a case in point. 

He came to Jesus pleading for healing.  Jesus touched the untouchable.  (1:40-42).  Completely cleansed of the disease, the man was ready to tell the world what Jesus had done for him.   

But “Immediately Jesus sent the man away with a very strong warning. He told him, “See that you do not say anything to anyone, but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them” – NETBible.com® (1:44).  

He gave the man three directives. 1) Say nothing to anyone 2) “Show yourself to the priest” 3) And offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded.

Jesus wanted him to keep the miracle to himself, at least until he reported to the priests and offered the appropriate sacrifice to the Lord (Leviticus 14:1-32).  Doing this would help the priests understand that Jesus was the Messiah sent from God.

But the man (previously known as the leper) had a better idea.  He wanted to help the cause of Christ by spreading the Word, but to do so meant that He had to ignore the 3 directives Jesus gave him (1:45a).   Instead of helping the cause, he hurt it.

1. He limited Jesus’ ministry: Verse 45 says, “Jesus was no longer able to enter any town openly but stayed outside in remote places.”  The multitude that heard, wanted to be healed as well.  So, Jesus, couldn’t go to the cities to seek out the lost.  The lost had to go to the desert to seek Him.

2. He misdirected Jesus’ ministry:  Yes, throngs of people still sought Jesus but for their physical healthcare, not spiritual welfare.  The message of the Kingdom of God was obscured.

3. He embarrassed Jesus’ ministry: If he had he gone to the priest, he would have been ceremonially washed and freshly dressed.  Instead, this evangelist was dirty and smelly, with tattered clothes.

4. He discredited Jesus’ ministry: Jesus told him to do what the law required.  Not only did he disobey Jesus but the OT law as well.  So, Jesus became associated with a lawbreaker and rebel.

5. He destroyed Jesus’ ministry to some:  The law required a leper who had been helped to subject himself to the inspection of the priests.  To see the man and hear his story may have inclined the priests to believe in Jesus.  In fact, this was likely the beginning of the offense that the religious leaders felt towards Jesus.  Some of those priests may be in hell today partly because of the man’s disobedience.

Though the guy had good intentions, his decision was very harmful to the cause of Christ.  

So, when does helping hurt?  When we disregard the Word of God to do it. 

Sarah wants her husband to become more of a spiritual man, so she pesters him about church and family devotions and ignores 1 Peter 3:1-2 and the need to win him without a word.   

Andrew’s parents require him to pass English if he wants to go on the youth mission trip.  But Andrew wants to serve God, so he used ChatGPT on his essay.

Ed spends 20 hours a week helping at church but ignores his responsibilities at home. 

Resist the temptation to improve on our Lord’s commands.  Make sure you know what the Word of God says.  If in doubt, consult someone who knows the Bible well.  Submit your plan of action, and your motives to the Word of God and act accordingly.   Because, if we don’t, then our helping might hurt.

A PRAYER: Lord, forgive us for thinking we have a better way.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you`

a rupture in the rapture — July 23, 2025

a rupture in the rapture

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There has been a rupture in the rapture.  Some reject the idea that the church will one day be raptured to be with Jesus.  And yet a passage of Scripture that is almost always recited at a funeral service clearly affirms it.   

The old reliable King James says, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” – 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17.

Paul teaches that Jesus will return one day to gather His church – both those who have died in Christ and those who are still alive at that time.  We shall be caught up together with them.”  The phrase “caught up” is translated from one Greek word “harpadzo” (which sounds like one of the Marx brothers).    The word means “to snatch up, or to seize.”  And note – this will take place in the air. 

The Latin translation of this phrase is “rapturo” which is where we get the word rapture.  Theologians needed a convenient way to refer to the event of 1 Thessalonians 4.  “The rapture” seemed to be more pleasing to the ears than “the harpadzo”.

If the Scripture is true (and it is) then we can agree with certainty that this event will take place.  But we find it hard to agree as to the “when.”

Some believe it will happen before the 7 years of the Great Tribulation in the book of the Revelation.  Jesus will take His church to heaven, before God pours out His wrath on the earth (1 Thessalonians 5:9)   

Others see it happening in the middle of those 7 years.  Then there are those believe that it will happen when Jesus returns to the earth to reign – as if the city were going out to greet a conquering hero to accompany him back to town.  

Mountains of books have been written to defend each one of these positions.   

Unfortunately, Paul described the event, but he left out that one single detail on which we seem to be obsessively focused – when is it going to happen?   

We assume that it will happen during the period of time recorded in Revelation, but even there we find no clear mention of it. 

I, therefore, assume that God must have had a strategically divine purpose in hiding this information from us. 

Let’s go back and notice the emphasis in Paul’s words, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (vs. 17)

Paul wasn’t concerned about when it would happen, only who he would be with.  He told us that we will meet the Lord in the air and forevermore be with Him.  That’s the climax of the passage.  His focus was limited to the joy of being united with Jesus – forever.   

Jesus, spoke of the future in John 14:3.  Surprisingly He was also focused not on the timing, but on who He would be with.  He said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” – John 14:3. KJV

Jesus with us, and us with Jesus.  That is the grand delight of the rapture.  That is the only thing that is of the utmost importance when it comes to the great “harpadzo.”  Let’s focus on that!

A PRAYER: Come Lord Jesus

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you.

out of debt — July 2, 2025

out of debt

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Once upon a time I was in a Christian band.  We called ourselves tetelestai (te-tel-es-tai).  In one respect that was a fantastic name for our band.  This was the last word that Jesus uttered as He died on the cross. It means, “It is finished.” 

On the other hand, it was a lame name for a band.  Most people couldn’t pronounce it. 

There was a time when we had won a preliminary round in a Gospel music competition.   The finals were to take place at the end of the week. 

In the meantime, they announced the names of all the preliminary winners over an FM radio station each evening.  The announcer managed to mispronounce the name of our band in a different way, each night, for 7 consecutive nights. 

Maybe we should have gone with an easy name like The Preach Boys.    

But tetelestai is a precious word.  It is a Greek word, which is the language of the New Testament.  The phrase in the middle, “teles” means to be finished.  The prefix “te” tells us that it is in the perfect tense.  This means that something was done that has results that never end. 

And this was the very last word Jesus uttered before He died.  The Scripture says, “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost” – John 19:30. (KJV)

His very last word.  Must be significant right?  Makes me wonder what was the “It” that was finished.

Maybe He was referring to His sojourn as God in the flesh.  But He didn’t say, “I am finished” but rather “It is finished.”

Maybe He had in mind the intense suffering He endured on the cross.  Certainly, He was glad to be finished with that.

Or maybe He was thinking of the saga of annoyance and disappointment in His handpicked disciples who seldom seemed to get it.

Tetelestai was a common word in the first century, and it was used often in the area of finance.

A pile of papyri documents dating back to Jesus’ day has been discovered.  These are receipts that were given to people after they had paid their taxes.  They have the single word, “tetelestai” largely written across each receipt – meaning that the tax debt had been paid in full. 

It was Jesus’ life purpose to hang on that cross.  He humbled Himself and took on human flesh, then endured 30 years of obscurity and then 3 painful years of notoriety.  At Gethsemane He braced Himself for the saga of suffering to come.  He allowed Himself to be hung on that cross because there was a debt that needed to be paid. 

The apostle Paul put it this way, “And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross” – Colossians 2:13-14.  NET

Paul portrayed our sins as being written out on a certificate of debt.  Christ took that certificate and pronounced the word “tetelestai” over it.  That debt of sin, has by virtue of His death, been paid in full.

Warren Wiersbe tells the story of an eccentric man named Alexander Wooten who was approached by a flippant young man who asked, “What must I do to be saved?” 

Wooten replied, “It’s too late.”   The guy was alarmed, “What, do you mean?  Isn’t there anything I can do?”

Wooten replied, “It’s too late.  It’s already been done!”  Christ did what needed to be done.

Ours is but to receive with gratitude the gift He died to give.  Savor that blessing if you know Him.  Seek that blessing if you don’t.  Tetelestai! 

A PRAYER: What a wonderful word of forgiveness that you left to us. Thank You Lord.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you always

Scripture references are from the NETBible ® unless otherwise noted.

sword play — June 25, 2025

sword play

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One of my heroes was a klutz. 

During the Middle Ages it was common for a university graduate to carry a sword.  No one is completely sure why, but the best guess is that it was an honored symbol of the value of education and the sharpening of the intellect. 

And yet, a sword would have been mighty handy to have in my High School days. 

Ironically swords were inexpensive back then, but leather sheaths were usually beyond the means of a student. 

So, the story goes… In 1504 the collegian, Martin Luther traveled to his home to celebrate Easter with his family.  Along the way, his unsheathed sword accidentally cut his leg, severing a main artery. 

Hmm – maybe the scholar wasn’t so smart after all!   Luther was bleeding to death when a local doctor finally showed up with a sewing kit. 

He survived, but the accident caused a change in the course of his life. He switched his major from law to theology and began to prepare for the priesthood.  For the next decade he filled himself with the musings of musty theologians who described God but who never knew Him. 

And the knowledge that he accumulated became more lethal to Luther than the sword he carried.  Academia obscured the truth. 

The prevailing teaching at that time required a person to fast and pray and receive the Sacraments, do penance and good works in order to get to heaven.  Luther was fanatical his efforts to do this.

But the more he strived to know God, the farther away he moved from Him. 

Paul spoke of this kind of phenomena in 1Timothy 3:7 – people who were, “always seeking instruction, yet never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”

Elsewhere he wrote, “Knowledge puffs up” – 1 Corinthians 8:1.  In other words, the more we learn, the more our ego tends to blind us from truth.

Like the sword that pieced his leg and nearly took his life, the sword of knowledge threatened his chance to live eternally.

But then he sought God through the only true and reliable source – the Scripture.  He wrote, “I greatly longed to understand Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, “The justice of God”… Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that “the just shall live by faith.” Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.”

He came to understand that we cannot save ourselves – it is by faith in Christ and Him alone that we are justified before God and made righteous through Him.

And with that very critical, but basic slice of understanding, Luther was saved.  Isn’t it curious that Luther was stabbed by the sword of the academy but saved by the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17).  

Thanks to the internet, knowledge is streaming today at a breakneck speed.  AI is astounding in its ability to glean the entire internet and summarize its findings on any given subject. 

Good stuff, but always we need to use Scripture, as the informational referee to either affirm or correct what we learn.  

Galileo is known as the Father of Science.  He is credited with developing the scientific method, which governs the sciences to this day.  He was a significant force in the development of astronomy, mathematics and physics.  And yet he candidly wrote, “Holy Scripture could never lie or err, but its decrees are of absolute and inviolable truth.”

Learning is great!  Learn all you can, but make sure that you judge it properly.  The absolute guide to truth is tucked away in that leatherbound book there on your desk. 

A PRAYER: Thank you for Your Word Lord.  Help me to better understand it.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you always.

Scripture references are from the NETBible.com ® 

live to tell about it — June 11, 2025

live to tell about it

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Six months ago, it happened.  In the words of Fred Sandford, “Oh, this is the big one! I’m coming to you Elizabeth?!”  Yes, I had a heart attack, but it wasn’t just any attack.  It was a widow maker. 

The left anterior descending artery (known as the widow maker) was 99% blocked and the pain was rapidly growing in its intensity.  I got to the hospital just in time, and they were able to stent the growth.  

But here’s the thing. I recently learned that, of all who experience a widow maker, only 12% survive.  12 out of every one hundred people live to tell about it.  

I read that and wept – well almost.  It made me wonder, however, “Wow God, I got through that and with no permanent damage.  Why did You allow me to be one of the 12%?” 

Then I was reading my Bible, and I got a reasonable answer from Romans 8:29.  There Paul wrote, “…those whom He foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”

Here we understand that God exercises sovereign control over all of creation.  His mastery reaches the past, controls the present and projects into the future.  

He in fact, predestines or in other words, predetermines that life should always follow His comprehensive plan.  There is nothing that has happened or will ever happen that has not been preordained by Him. 

Which is why Romans 8:28 precedes 8:29, “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

His sovereign power works for those of us who love Him.  The words, “work together” are translated from one Greek word, “synergei.”  The basis for our English word “synergy.”

Synergy is a popular word in our culture.  It involves the combined power of two things when they work which is greater than the sum of either thing by themselves.  It’s sort of like mixing Hershey’s chocolate syrup with milk.   Milk is good, chocolate is good – but together they are delicious!

Likewise, God takes the good things and the not so good things and works them together so that the end result is like a delicious gulp of chocolate milk. 

Why does He do this?  He answered that back in verse 29.  That we might be, “conformed to the image of his Son.”

That is God’s grand game plan, to progressively shape His children so that they end up with a profound resemblance to the Lord Jesus.  The Greek word for “conform” is “sum-morphus.”   Which contains the basis for our English word “morph.”

Morphing is what they do in the movies.  They take an image and slightly alter each successive frame until it becomes a whole different image.  A flower becomes a person or a frog a prince.  The process on the screen is extremely subtle.   

In a similar way God, takes our experiences and uses them to continually slightly adjust us, so that one day we blossom and bear the full and beautiful image of Jesus Himself. 

And like the movie, the process is so subtle that we are hardly aware of it at the time it is happening.  And yet, today I can look back at my 50 plus years with Jesus and clearly see that a lot of conformation has taken place in my life. For which I am profoundly grateful.

This explains life with God fairly well, every setback, all the blessings, the health challenges, the victories, the hurts, the encouragements, the failures and successes, all are divinely purposed to make us more like Jesus.

OK but why did God allow me to be a widow maker survivor?  Well, on the day of my heart attack, I went knocking on the door of heaven.  I am guessing that the Lord looked through the peephole and He said, “O my!  You are still pretty rough. I’m gonna have to send you back for some more conforming.”

A PRAYER: Lord, have Your way our lives!  Conform away – please!

This has been Jim Johnson and picklheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you always.

Scripture passages are from the NETBible.com

the burden of the booth — June 4, 2025

the burden of the booth

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It was dark and foreboding as I knelt there in that claustrophobic little confessional booth.  I was feeling trapped both by the booth and the burden upon me.  Then the small door to the other side slid open.  I could see the dim outline of Father Missimi through the screen. 

That was the cue for this little 8-year-old to begin.  I said, “Bless me Father for I have sinned.  My last confession was 1 week ago.”  And then it was time to unload my sins. 

But what could I say?  For the most part, I was a good little boy.  I was obedient to my parents, and I got good grades in my Catholic school. This created a quandary for me. 

I feared my teacher, Sister Mary Cletus.  She was hovering outside the booth expecting me to confess my sins.  Father Missimi was on the other side patiently waiting to hear them. But I couldn’t think of any sins to confess. 

And if I went to confession without confessing a sin, would that not be a sin in and of itself?  So, I decided to cooperate.  I needed to fabricate a few sins. “Go with the ten commandments,” I thought.  “Father, I took the name of the Lord my God in vain, and I did not remember to keep the Sabbath day holy – oh and I coveted my neighbor’s goods.”

And then I thought, “Wait a minute – I am presently bearing false witness.  I am lying about sins I did not commit to a holy priest, but I can’t tell him about it because then he would never believe my confessions in the future, and I will therefore be forever unforgiven. 

So, I finished up with my false confession, and he uttered his words of absolution and then ordered me to pray 10 Our Fathers, 10 Hail Mary’s, 10 Glory Be’s and to light a candle and give some money to the poor.

Oh, and by the way, Father Missimi, this post is my official confession of my bogus confession. – Smiley Face!

Confession was so difficult and confusing back then but much simpler now. 

According to 1 John 1:9-10.  John wrote, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.”

When we violate the expectations of God, we put a kink our relationship with Him.  He does not cease to love us, nor does sin imperil our salvation.  But sin muddies our relationship with God. 

When I took my dad’s hatchet without asking, and then lost it, he was not happy with me, but He didn’t disown me.  My standing as His son was always firm.  I had wounded our relationship, however, and that needed to be addressed. 

Likewise, our forgiveness is founded on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.  His blood washed us legally clean, but ongoing confession removes the spiritual, emotional distance that sin creates.  It cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

When we injure our relationship with God through sin, we need to confess it.  And we don’t need a booth to do it.  God is omniscient and knows where we are, what we’ve done and what we need to do about it. 

Neither do we need an intermediary in a dimly lit cubicle to assist.  We are to confess our sins to Him, the Lord Himself, according to John.  And the Father will promptly forgive us and restore the sweetness to our relationship with Him.

Silly me!  I once fabricated fictional sins to confess, yet John says, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.” – 1 John 1:10. A really honest person doesn’t have to manufacture sins.

Well, I have left the dim booth for the light.  And the weekly chore, I once abhored has become a sweet time of reconnecting with the Father, whom I so deeply love.  He waits to hear from you as well. 

A PRAYER: Father, forgive us, for we have sinned!

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Scripture passages are from the NETBible®

oops! — May 21, 2025

oops!

/pickleheavenpress

The street crew may have started well but then fell asleep on the job.  The center line they left painted on the street looked like the work of a myopic monkey or by me.

There are two things I want etched into my headstone.  The first is, “I should have gone to the doctor when my wife told me to.”  The other is, “I hate to paint.”   

I start a painting task with the very best of intentions.  I move the brush slowly and carefully.  And it doesn’t look half bad.  But I am not a slow and careful person, and the job quickly becomes tedious for me.  So halfway through I am painting quickly and sloppily – leaving more paint on the carpet than the wall.

What if God had approached His work with such a warped work ethic?  What if God had been impatient or careless or even lazy with creation?  What if He had made the earth but didn’t set it to spinning – no sunrise – no sunset.    

What if He spent all His energy on making Adam, leaving nothing left over for Eve?   Where would we be?  Well, we wouldn’t!

If God had not been diligent, we might have three seasons instead of four.  (However, losing a Texas summer may not be so bad)

But that’s not God, is it?  He was thorough with every detail to the end, leaving us with a marvelously balanced, beautifully detailed and self-sustaining world. 

We see this quality in Jesus as well, His peers considered Him and said, “He had done everything well” – Mark 7:37.  Everything that Jesus did, He did really well.  I wonder if He ever had to paint? 

And the Lord continues to work with such diligence today especially when it comes to you and me.  Paul wrote, “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” – Philippians 1:6.   That’s good news.   He has grown me much, but there is still lots of ground to cover.  I am so glad that He is committed to seeing it through.  He finishes what He starts.

Now, as a person made in His image, I am thinking He would have me to do as He does.  In fact, I am sure of it.  God through Solomon had this to say in Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might…”    That is God speaking to us.  “Work with all your might,” He says! – everything you got.

Diligence is a quality that God expects of us.   To be diligent is to be careful and conscientious with the work that we do.  We are exhorted in the New Testament to be diligent about various things approximately 10 times.

And then there is this truth that Paul left us that in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord” (NASU).

We are to work, being motivated from the heart, regarding every task as an assignment from the Lord. The idea is to offer Him our very, very best – to give attention to every detail, to do it skillfully, and to finish the task in a timely way, and to do it with a good attitude.  It is to do the kind of work that causes those who watch us to direct their attention to the God we serve.

We need to bring these qualities to bear on our occupations and marriages, and parenting and certainly our service to the Lord.   “Whatever we do,” says Paul.

When we work in this way, we have something satisfying to look upon with a sanctified sense of pride.  Others find value in it as well.  Proverbs 22:29 says, “You have seen a person skilled in his work, he will take his position before kings…”

Wow, I feel like I need to go and repaint that wall. 

A PRAYER: Lord, help me work better, to better please You.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture passages are from the NETBible.com unless otherwise noted.