Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: god

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!

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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.  

who tempted the devil? — May 14, 2025

who tempted the devil?

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Lucifer was created as a beautiful holy angel, but he sinned and fell from his lofty position and became Satan the diabolical tempter.  But who was it that tempted Lucifer to sin? 

There was not an evil entity that preceded him – no one to poke and prod him to sin.  Evidently, it was his own independent self-will that set itself against the Lord.  The devil made the devil do it!

This caused me to wonder about Gethsemane.  There, Jesus asked God to remove the cup He was expected to drink.  The cup was a metaphor that represented the trauma that was to quickly come.

There would be the betrayal, the mockery of a trial, the whip lashing, the crown of thorns and the nails in his hands and feet.  On the cross He would suffer an insatiable thirst and find it extremely difficult to catch a breath.  Only then would He die.

Worst of all – the sins of the world, past, present, and future would be piled upon Him so that for the first time in eternity the Father would turn away from His Son causing Him to cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Matthew 27:46.

Jesus knew it was coming, and he dreaded it. Three times He prayed, “My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me!” – Matthew 26:39.

He was honestly struggling.  Should we call it temptation?  It seems like it, but is this the devil’s doing?   Maybe not?

In the Gospels, we find Satan and his crew showing up on many occasions.   He took center stage when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4).  Jesus often interacted with demons who opposed Him (Matthew 8:31-32; 9:32; 12:22).

When Peter defied the Lord, Jesus recognized the influence of the evil one and said, “Get behind me Satan” – Matthew 16:23.  And then in John 13:27, we find Satan actually entering Judas.

It surely seems that if Satan was responsible for the traumatic struggle at Gethsemane, it would have been apparent.  But the narrative mentions only Jesus.

What was going on?  Well, the beauteous mystery of Christ is His incarnation, where Almighty God took on human flesh while remaining 100% God.

Paul described it this way, Jesus “who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature.  He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” – Phil 2:6-8.

This was an incredibly unselfish act and very necessary.  The holiness of God was needed to atone for man, but an eternal God could not die to provide it.  A man, however, could die, but had no holiness to offer.  So, God emptied Himself and took the form of a bondservant to redeem us.

Gethsemane then was the supreme test of His humanity.  He became flesh to redeem man, but when the time came, would He in His humanity choose to freely suffer to make it happen?

He didn’t need the devil to manipulate him, He had His own flesh to contend with.  Ironically it was during this test that He found His disciples sleeping instead of watching and He reminded them that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” – Matthew 26:41. Could Jesus have been speaking out of His own struggle?

How glad I am that His threefold plea to the Father was also underlined by His submission.  He prayed, “My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will” – Matthew 26:39.

He defied His very human inclination for self-preservation and humbly submitted Himself to the severe will of the Father.  Shortly thereafter, He peacefully surrendered to those who would crucify Him.  How fortunate for us that He did!

A PRAYER: Lord – thank you for freely grasping that cup and drinking of it for us

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

bluebell and the blues — May 7, 2025

bluebell and the blues

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Solomon once wrote, “There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink…” – Ecclesiastes 2:24.  So what did he think was so great to eat?  Dates and figs?  I don’t know, but, if he were alive today, he might revise his words to say, “There is nothing better for people than to eat ice cream, especially Bluebell.”  Amen!

OK – maybe we need to back up and understand the context of Solomon’s words.  The brutally honest book of Ecclesiastes was written to help us live meaningful lives.

He argued that many of us strive our way through life, and this striving is folly.  Some labor to be rich, but are never able to enjoy their money (5:10-12); Some wrangle their way to fame, and yet the humble still seem to outshine them (10:6-7).

Others strive to have power and yet the very powerful king of Israel went on record saying, “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”  (1:2) Some strive for security, but Solomon reminds us that naked we came, and naked we will go. (5:15)

And then there are some that are obsessed with our health and long life, but Solomon said, “youth and the prime of life are fleeting.” (11:10)  He often emphasized the fact that we are all gonna die (5:16). 

He sums up all our striving with the word, “vanity,” which he repeated 38 times in the book.  All is vanity

When we strive for things that we never really obtain, it is a pointless, painful experience.  Even when we do obtain them, we are stunned by the pointlessness of it all.

I was voted senior class president in high school.  I was jubilant for a day or two until I found out that honor was outweighed by the onerous responsibility.

Now before you look for Xanax, you need to know that Solomon was not depressed.  He was quite upbeat and hopeful.  The one word Solomon used in his book more than the word vanity, is God (40 times).

He tells us to consider God’s works (7:13)  to listen to His words (5:1) to fear Him (5:7) to please Him (7:26) and to remember him (12:1)   He described life “under the sun” as vanity (4:7), but He knew that we are headed to that place above the sun, in the presence of God where hope abounds (12:6-8).

Which means that the person who is rightly related to the Lord can cease to strive and enjoy being alive.  In fact, we should strive less and savor more the blessings He gives.

He encourages us to enjoy our mate (9:9), food and drink (5:18) and every fruit of our labor (5:19) When God has the proper place in our lives, we are free to do that.  

He put it this way in his book, “What does a man acquire from all his labor and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth?   For all day long his work produces pain and frustration, and even at night his mind cannot relax.  This also is futile!  “There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work.  I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God. For no one can eat and drink or experience joy apart from him.”  (2:22-25)

I am embarrassed by the phrase, “and even at night his mind cannot relax.”   It has been my experience much too often. 

What took Solomon a whole book to say, the apostle Paul said in one sentence “Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment.” –  1 Timothy  6:17

So, strive less, serve the Lord more and savor the blessings He gives.  Seriously, it is impossible to wear a frown while enjoying a bowl of Bluebell.  

A PRAYER: Lord, I need your help in this area!  Help me to rest in You!

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture passages are from the NETBible ® 

the Big Tex tragedy — April 16, 2025

the Big Tex tragedy

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Big Tex is the king-sized animated cowboy who has welcomed people to the State Fair of Texas since 1952. He was born in Kerens, TX as a 49-foot Santa Claus but later was reconfigured as a cowboy. In 1951, he became Big Tex.

He was clad in blue jeans and a plaid shirt and wore the face of Will Rogers. He would greet fair visitors with a wave and a wink and a booming HOOWDEEE, FOOLKS!!!”   The two million annual visitors to the state fair made it a priority to do a selfie with the icon.

Sadly, I was there with my family the day that Big Tex died. We were near the midway when sirens began to wail. We had no idea what happened until 2 hours later we were forced aside to make way for a funeral procession.

A large tractor slowly and respectfully pulled an exceptionally long trailer. Big Tex was stretched out upon it. He was still and silent, and wrapped in a makeshift body bag.

As he passed, the cheerful sound of the throng fell to a whisper. Big Tex was dead! An electrical fire had started in his right boot and worked its way up throughout his fiberglass body.

There was genuine sadness among the fairgoers for their beloved Big Tex.

It was sort-of a silly and yet surreal experience. I thought about the irony of it all. The flesh and blood Jesus also died but received almost no sympathy from the crowd.

He had presented Himself to Israel as their Messiah, and His approval rating was stellar. For 3-plus years He had circulated throughout His homeland healing, delivering, and preaching a stirring message of hope. 

He acted selflessly, spoke courageously, and did harm to no one. If cell phones had been in existence, 99% of his contemporaries would have had a selfie with the Savior.

But He was opposed by a manipulative and powerful minority who arranged to have Him pinned to a tree. And there He hung, just outside the city, along a major thoroughfare.

Matthew’s Gospel described what happened, “Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are God’s Son, come down from the cross!” In the same way even the chief priests—together with the experts in the law and elders—were mocking him: “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down now from the cross, we will believe in him! He trusts in God—let God, if he wants to, deliver him now” – Matthew 27:39-43.  NETBible ®

There was little grief for Jesus, just cruel and heartless mockery. Jesus died! His adversaries assumed it was all over. His body was packed away in a cold stone tomb. But 3 days later, He shattered their foolish expectations.

They had said, “If He comes down from the cross, then we will believe in him.”  Well Jesus was still alive when they said that. Yes, that would have been somewhat of a miracle if He would have set himself free from the nails and escaped.

Instead, they made quite sure He had died and was entombed. He lay lifeless for three days – and only then – only then He set Himself free – from the graveclothes, and the tomb and the iron grip of death.

Texans also assumed that they had seen the last of our beloved Big Tex. But he was secreted away and made bigger and better. He gained 6,000 pounds and was strengthened to withstand 100 mile an hour winds.  He then took his rightful place at the State Fair in 2013.

Jesus is more than Bondo. He truly lives and is clad in His resurrection body and has taken His rightful place in heaven to one day judge the living and the dead (1 Peter 4:5).

Praise His mighty name!

A PRAYER: Lord, our present grief is for the many who do not acknowledge You!

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you!

useful — March 19, 2025

useful

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She was leading a Bible club at church.  There was one little girl who was completely lost when it came to memorizing the books of the Bible.   She didn’t grow up in church.  She didn’t know the difference between Deuteronomy and a tonsillectomy.  But the leader patiently persevered and the little girl joyfully mastered the task.

The child was blessed with a richer knowledge of the Bible.  Her leader, however, was astounded that God could use her so effectively in the child’s life. She felt nearer and dearer to the Lord because of it.

God uses us to achieve His purposes if we will allow Him!  

In 2 Tim. 2:21 the apostle described Christians as being useful.   He said, “So if someone cleanses himself of such behavior, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart, useful for the Master.”

So, is this a desirable thing?  Absolutely. If we are Christians, then we are on the team.  Now when I was a kid, I played on a basketball team, or I should say I watched from the bench.  The coach almost ever sent me in, maybe because he wanted the team to win the game. 

Nevertheless, it was terrible to sit on the bench, to feel like I had nothing to contribute – like I didn’t matter.  The coach didn’t even get my name right in History class.

But God, He wants to send us into the game.

– sometimes God uses our natural abilities  

The early church was experiencing some upsetting management issues.  A man named Philip was one of seven chosen to take charge (Acts 6:3-5).  This was because he had a good reputation, he was a spiritual man, and because he was also wise with managerial expertise.  

Perhaps he was a businessman or a supervisor with the government.  He brought his natural skills to bear on the Lord’s business and the problem was effectively managed.

– sometimes God equips us in supernatural ways 

Persecution had broken out in Jerusalem so the believers, including Philip, fled town.  He ended up in Samaria where the folks had never heard of Jesus, so the administrator began to address the crowd.  And no, it was not a dry, boring message.  In fact, Acts 8:5-8 says, “the crowds were paying attention with one mind to what Philip said, as they heard and saw the miraculous signs he was performing.”

He found himself among folks who had not heard the Gospel, so he volunteered to fill the need and speak, and God was pleased, and He chose to supernaturally empower him to cast out demons and heal the sick.

Philip decided, “If there’s no one else – I will do it, and God happily equipped him to get the job done.

– sometimes we are aware that He is using us

Later, Philip was directed by the Lord to meet with a spiritually minded Ethiopian man.  Philip obeyed and told the guy about Jesus, who then surrendered to the Lord and was baptized (Acts 8:26-38).  He understood how the Lord desired to use him, and he cooperated.

– at other times we are unaware of how He is using us

The last time we meet Philip in the Scripture, he opens his home to some weary travelers – Paul and Luke and the rest of his companions (Acts 21:8). Philip fed and sheltered them as ambassadors of the Gospel.  It was a simple kindness he extended.  Yet according to Jesus he probably had no idea how significantly he was used by God (Matthew 25:35 and 40).

God uses us and when He does, there is an interesting and incredible chemistry that forms between us.  We get the sense that God values our work.  He allows Himself to depend upon what we can do.  He chooses to need us.  Our big old all powerful – do anything kind of Father needs us.  That is both astonishing and affirming.

Hey, make yourself available and He will use you too!

A PRAYER: Lord, put me in the game – please!

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

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

Scripture passages are from the NETBible®

why do you sing? — March 12, 2025

why do you sing?

/pickleheavenpress

I met a guy who had moved from Nevada to East Texas.  I thought to myself, “Oh boy!”  Nevada isn’t part of the Bible belt, maybe I have finally met someone here who needs to hear about Jesus.”

I was right.  He was in his early forties, but he had never been to church and didn’t know enough about it to fill a thimble.

He began to attend our Sunday services and placed himself into what seemed to him to be the wacky world of the church. 

He approached me one day and asked, “So what is all the singing about?  Why do you sing?” 

“Why do we sing?  Well because we sing – that’s what we do.  The audacity that you should ask!   You do know that I am a worship leader, don’t you?”

“Why do we sing?”  I was truly shocked by his question and frankly very embarrassed that I didn’t have a ready answer.

But I have thought about since then, and this is why I think we should sing…

– Jesus worshipped in song.   He and His disciples left the upper room and “After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” – Matthew 26:30.  Good for Jesus; – must be good for us too.

– The Scripture directs us to sing.   Scripturecontains nearly fifty commands to sing. Consider Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God.”

– It is one of the few things that we can give to the Lord.  The author of Hebrews wrote, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name (13:15).

– Singing etches the truth on our hearts.  When a song is built on the Scripture, it articulates the truth in a way that is memorable, impressive and repetitive.   In fact, it was the primary way to assimilate the truth until the Reformation when Scripture was finally translated into common languages and the printing press made Scripture more broadly available.

– Singing sets heaven to work.  When God’s people sing to Him in worship, good things happen.  The amassed enemies of Israel were defeated by a song (2 Chronicles 20).  The jail that held Paul and Silas was opened by an earthquake as they sang praises and prayed (Acts 16:25-26).  Most of us have also experienced a God-given peace that comforts us when we sing.

There are lots of reasons I could have given my friend.  But honestly, if I were in his shoes, I don’t think any of these would have carried much weight.  But this last one might.

When a person experiences joy, they very often will make music.  She said yes to his marriage proposal.  He drove home singing at the top of his lungs.  She was declared valedictorian and went humming along the rest of the day. 

That’s what we do when joy fills us.  There is a song in our hearts, that is often voiced with words.

The Psalmist wrote, “O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation” – Psalm 95:1 (NASU)

When I think of what the Lord has done for me and my family – the way He has been with me and worked with me and through me – it overwhelms me with joy, and that joy escapes me in song.

Chris Tomlin understands.  He said as much in his song…

“How can I keep from singing Your praise?   How can I ever say enough? How amazing is Your love?  How can I keep from shouting Your name? I know I am loved by the King and it makes my heart want to sing.”

That’s why I sing? Why do you sing?  – Or do you?

A PRAYER: Lord it’s not much but I gladly offer you my joyful song.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you always.

Scripture passages are from the NETBible ® unless otherwise noted.