Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

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Tag: Holy Spirit

my redneck tesla — September 11, 2024

my redneck tesla

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I decided to convert an old Toyota Sienna into a camper van.  My kids thought I was crazy (and I guess I am).  I had fun doing the conversion myself.  Now folks who follow behind me on the road may be puzzled by the 3-prong household plug that pokes out of my van.   I tell people that’s where I connect my redneck Tesla to the charging station.

Power is necessary to redneck Teslas and to Christians in general.  Our gracious God understands this, and He provided the Holy Spirit to be our charging station.

So, what do we know about the Holy Spirit?   He is not an “it” or a “something,” nor is He the holy “influence” of the Father.  Seven times Jesus referred to Him as a “He” in John 16.  For instance, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13).  He is a full-fledged person possessing intellect, emotion, and a will.  

Granted, He is a different kind of person, existing as a spirit.   But He has the capacity to manifest Himself in a physical form such as He did at the Baptism of Jesus.  Then He appeared in a form that compared to a dove (Matthew 3:16).  

What’s more is that He is a “holy” Spirit – a member of our triune Godhead.  He possesses the same attributes as God.  He is all knowing (1 Corinthians 2:10-12); all powerful (Job 33:4); omnipresent (John 14:16); and eternal (Hebrews 9:14).

All three were present at the Baptism of Jesus.  The Father spoke from heaven, the Spirit descended from heaven, as the Son was dipped in the waters of the Jordan (Matthew 3:16-17)

And He plays an extremely important role in the life of the believer.  When Jesus ascended to heaven, He made sure that His replacement descended and took up residence in the life of a every born-again Christian.  The apostles and their brethren were gifted on the day of Pentecost.  Believers today receive Him the moment we come to faith (Ephesians 1:13).

His role is to teach us (John 16:14); to convict us of sin (John 16:8); to intercede for us (Romans 8:26) to guide us (John 16:13); to gift us (1 Corinthians 12:4-11); and especially to empower us.

Before Jesus left, He wanted His disciples to know that the Spirit would be sent to energize their efforts.  He told them to, “Stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” – Luke 24:49. Like an American Express Card, they were not to leave home without it.

This Pentecostal power filled their prayers so that the supernatural became a reality (Acts 12:5-8). It bathed them in courage and conviction to be bold witnesses of the risen Christ (Acts 1:8).  It strengthened their battered hopes (Romans 15:13); and provided a means with which to resist the caustic influence of sin (Ephesians 3:14-21). He empowered them, and today empowers us to live victorious lives.

And this power is continuously supplied.  We don’t need to stop every 272 miles and plug into an EV charging station and sit there baking beneath the windshield for 10 hours. 

This power is always there for us, unless we should offend the Spirit.   Because this power comes through a person, we can sometimes disappoint and even grieve that person through spiritual insensitivity, disobedience or rejection (Ephesians 4:30).  When this happens, the power goes poof!

And there amid the 12- lane highway of life, during rush hour, with the draft of semis shaking our car – we helplessly sit – powerless.   

But because He is a gracious and forgiving God, He welcomes a contrite plea for forgiveness and will respond to a request to be filled again (Ephesians 5:18).  He is our recharging station, and how blessed we are that He resides within us. 

If your spiritual batteries are full, good for you!  If not, talk to the Holy Spirit about it.   

A Prayer: Lord, more power please!

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you!

Scripture passages are from the NETBible®

from omelets to hair dye — December 8, 2023

from omelets to hair dye

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We were seated at a diner as we looked over the breakfast menu. The Grecian Omelet caught my dad’s eye – only – when he ordered, he absentmindedly asked for a hair product – Grecian Formula. My mom almost fell out of her seat laughing. Fortunately, the waitress brought him an omelet instead of a bowl of hair dye.

Ah, but I am my father’s son, subject to the same silliness.  When I send my order up to God, in prayer, I don’t always know what I am truly asking for.  I may think I do, but maybe I don’t. 

“Is what I seek the best for me?   Is it the right time to have it?  Am I mature enough to receive it? Am I even asking for the right thing?”  So many questions that befuddle me.

Fortunately, God knows me well and Romans 8:26, tells me He provided some help.  It says, “…the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.” NETBible ®

That’s encouraging!  The third blessed member of the Trinity is aware of how weak we are when it comes to our prayers.  He understands that we may not know how we should specifically pray.  So, He helps us! 

He intercedes so that the need is clearly made known in heaven and is correctly met on earth.  The verbs are in the present tense reminding us that this intercession happens on a 24/7 basis. 

The Holy Spirit is the one who says, “Father, he is asking for hair dye, but what he really wants and needs is some eggs.”

So maybe we should just say, “Well Holy Spirit why don’t you just order for me?”  I suppose He could, but prayer is one of those exercises that draws us near to God who treasures our prayers.

Consider Luke 11:9 where Jesus urges us to pray. He said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.”  NETBible ®

It’s like so many other issues in our walk with God.  We are often expected to take the first steps by faith, and then the Lord steps in and helps us accomplish what we could never complete without Him. 

Prayer is actually an underappreciated privilege.

With the Hindus, only the Brahmins, the highest class, are permitted to pray to their god.   A person could be a billionaire, or a high-powered political leader, but if not a Brahmin, they are forbidden to pray. They must seek a Brahmin, even a boy Brahmin to pray their prayers for them.

Can you imagine that?  Suppose it is the middle of the night, and your infant son has a raging fever, and you desperately want to reach out to heaven for help – but you are not allowed because you are not of the Brahmin caste.

How blessed is the Christian.  Every one of us has full access to the throne of grace.  We have freedom at any time or place to personally approach God in prayer. 

The Muslim may not pray until he learns how to do it in Arabic, for his god hears only prayers offered in what Muslims believe to be the holy language.”    

Can you imagine a new convert to Islam from Latin America.  He won’t be able to pray until he learns Arabic.  He may need to pray for help in order to learn Arabic – so that he can pray in Arabic – but he is stuck.   

How wondrous it is, that all over the world at this very moment, people of every race and culture are praying in their own tongue and our omniscient and gracious God is gathering those prayers in and answering them accordingly. 

God has made praying easy and as rewarding as possible.  So why not pray? 

A Prayer:  Lord I pray that I might pray. Help me to sweep away the self-imposed obstacles that keep me from it.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

filled — August 17, 2022

filled

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It was another blistering Texas day, and yet the lawn still cried for attention.  I filled the mower with gas and began to pursue the endless loop.  Soon after, I noticed that I had failed to screw down the cap to the tank on the mower. 

I found that 90% of the fuel had sloshed out and I was running low.  Now I may have to cash in my IRA to buy more gas.

So, I queried, “Why Lord?” and He said, “Because thou art a dummy!’  That’s what He should have said, but He had a lesson for me instead.

He said, “Do you remember back to when you first surrendered to Me?  I in turn filled you with my Holy Spirit so that you were empowered to accomplish great things for Me.  But you have made a few choices since then that have loosened your spiritual cap, and like your mower, you have been leaking.”

Goofy story – but good theology.

The Holy Spirit is that third person of the Trinity that we cannot do without.  At salvation, we are baptized in, indwelt by, and sealed with the Holy Spirit.   This is God’s unconditional provision for every believer.

To be filled with the Spirit is to submit to His gentle control.  To be filled is to be fruitful.  We manifest in our character qualities like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  (Galatians 5:22)  

When it comes to this filling, we determine to what degree we are filled by the measure of our willingness to submit.  In fact, Paul wrote as a command, “Be filled by the Spirit.”  – Ephesians 5:18

The verb “be filled” is a present imperative meaning, “be continually filled.”   It is something that should be repeated as frequently as needed. 

Why repeat it?  Because there really are circumstances that loosen our spiritual cap and result in leakage. 

In Ephesians 4:30 Paul said, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit.”  The context of this passage relates to problems with sin.  Sin is rebellion which is the flip side of submission, and it grieves God.  The freedom of the Spirit to work in and through us is diminished by it.

Not hard to understand.  Tom prayed for patience with his boss. The Holy Spirit delivered when Tom held his tongue during staff meeting.  It was a wondrous spirit filled moment. 

Thirty minutes later his wife called and asked if he had taken out the trash.  He said, “I didn’t have time.”  But he lied.  He wronged his wife and grieved the Spirit.  

It is also possible to “quench” the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19) The context has to do with resistance to doing our service to the Lord.   God gave His Spirit, in part, to empower us to do ministry.  When we resist, we throw cold water on the promptings of the Spirit.

In both instances, choices were made that resisted the work of the Holy Spirit.  Once filled, then deflated. 

It’s ironic.  The Holy Spirt as God is omnipresent and fills everything, and yet we human beings make it so that we can be less than filled.  A mystery for sure.   


We are never commanded to pray for this filling.  It has already been provided.  To enjoy it we need to confess any sin and invite the Lord to reassume His gracious control.

I am glad that my cell phone indicates to what degree my phone battery is charged.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have that feature in our walk with God? – something to tell us, to what degree we are filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit. 

Maybe the next best thing, would be to start each day with the assumption we need to be filled again.  

We might reflect it in a prayer.   “Lord, my will is to do your will.  I empty myself of my personal ambitions and ego indulgences and I welcome You to guide me through this day.  Please tenderize my heart to the nudging of your Holy Spirit. 

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Scripture passages are from the NET Bible ®

an encounter with the Holy Spirit — November 20, 2019

an encounter with the Holy Spirit

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I officiated at a wedding that took place in a spacious homey log cabin.  The place was packed including the huge loft area that overlooked the ceremony.  The decor included festive votive candles that were artfully placed throughout the house. 

During my biblical charge to the couple, someone in the loft accidentally kicked one of the candles.  It plummeted to the ground floor and landed squarely on a man’s head – burning wick, hot wax and all.  He survived it with a small bump.  

I felt badly for him, but I was encouraged about my preaching.  I mean how many other pastors can say that while they preached, tongues of fire descended from above and rested on each head.

Not only that, I think I heard the man grumbling in an unknown tongue just after he got hit!

Maybe I shouldn’t be so glib about one of the most earth-shaking sensational happenings in human history.  The day that the Holy Spirit descended from heaven to indwell His people was a watershed event.

In the Old Testament era, the Spirit was given on a temporary basis, to special people that they might perform a certain God ordained task.  

It was the Spirit of God that enabled Joseph to interpret Pharaoh’s dream (Genesis 41:38).  He infused creative ability into those who crafted the tabernacle (Exodus 31:3). The Spirit made wise Moses and the 70 Elders of Israel (Numbers 11:17). 

He breathed courage into whimpering Gideon (Judges 6:34) and fortified the spent muscles of Samson (Judges 14:6) and He imparted a host of savvy skills to young King David. (1 Samuel 16:13) I could use power like that. 

In some cases, God withdrew His Spirit as with king Saul because of his sin. (1 Samuel 16:14) Saul became like a deflated balloon, which may be why his successor David prayed, “Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me.” (Psalm 51:11)

When the Spirit came upon an Old Testament personality, it was front page news.  It rarely happened but when it did, there was always spectacular, God honoring events that followed.   Everyone else would watch and wonder and wish for just a small taste of that power in their own lives.

But then God changed the rules at Pentecost.  “Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.”  – Acts 2:2-4 NET Bible ®

At Pentecost, every believer – man and woman – received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and they were immediately filled with courage, power and new supernatural abilities.  Since then, every person that enters the Kingdom of God, has had the Spirit come to dwell.  (Romans 8:9) 

And He comes to stay for good.  We may impede His work in and through us (Ephesians 4:30) but He will never leave or forsake us. 

The Spirit was given, not simply as a badge of belonging, but as an energy source for service.  Like the men of old, the Spirit empowers us to serve God’s purposes.  Paul said, “To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all.”  (1 Corinthians 12:7)

So, what difference does the Spirit make?  It’s mostly about quality.  When we allow ourselves to be filled and controlled by His Spirit, it is manifested in the way we live and relate to others.  We will bear the fruits of the Spirit which are, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”  – Galatians 5:22-23, NET Bible ®

Unfortunately, some of us have more in common with a porcupine.  If that’s you, take a moment to transfer control of your life to the Holy Spirit – once again. 

When you said “I do” to your spouse, you surrendered a lot.  Implicit in your vows was a commitment to honor and listen to the person that you wed.   Yield to the Spirit of God in that way, and He will fill you and use you and bless you. 

And I promise it won’t be as painful as getting clobbered with a votive candle.

all chipped up — September 25, 2019

all chipped up

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james ray johnson

Why is it that some people read the Bible and can understand it, while others are confused?  How can two people read the same passage and end up with 2 conflicting interpretations?    

It has a lot to do with the missing ingredient.  Sorta like my car key! 

The keys in my pocket were heavy and pokey and would sometimes stab me just for fun.  So, I tried to reduce the glob.  A couple of the car keys had thick plastic decorative jackets on them. I took a knife and removed said jackets. 

What a difference it made!  The jingly tumor on my leg disappeared, plus, I no longer leaned to the right when I walked. 

The next day I went to use my new streamlined key, but the engine whimpered.  It wouldn’t start – which caused me to anxiously wonder, “Could there be an electronic chip buried in the jacket of that key.” 

Google confirmed my suspicion.  It was implanted to – thwart theft!  (try saying that five times fast).  Without the embedded chip, the car was a 6-cylinder paperweight.

Oh great!  I sifted through my garbage looking for that mutilated rubbery thing.  I found it and only hoped that the chip was still chipper.  I held it next to the ignition switch while I turned the key and – the car roared to life. 

Now, think of your Bible as a key and the Holy Spirit as the mysterious chip.  When we come to faith in Christ, the Spirit comes to indwell the Christian much like that chip was embedded.  When we want to correctly understand the words of God, we need both.   He opens our minds to understand what God has already spoken.   

The apostle Paul explained the dynamic in 1 Corinthians 2:12*, “Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God.”   The work of the Holy Spirit is to help us correctly interpret what God has communicated in words. 

And that’s important because words are not always enough.  When I was a kid, my friends and I saw a restored ’56 Chevy and we called it a “bad” car.   What we meant was, “It was an impressive car.”  My mom, however, wanted to wash my mouth out with a bar of soap. (Do mom’s use squirt bottles today or is this kind of thing finally illegal?)   Mom needed a teenager to help her understand what we were really saying.

Which brings me back to the Holy Spirit.  He knows the heart and mind and intention of God because He is God.  As we read the Word, we have the author within us to give us spiritual insight and discernment.  

For example, some read Ephesians 5:22 and are offended by it because they understand the words, but only the words, “wives be subject to your own husbands.”   It appears to regard a wife as a subservient person – less valued than her husband.  That really is offensive. 

However, in verse 25, husbands are commanded to “love their wives as Christ loved the church.”  This is seldom considered by the critics of Scripture.  However, both passages, coupled with insight from the Spirit, help us to understand the intention of God.  His plan for marriage is a relationship that is equally and mutually a blessing to each partner.

It involves a husband who sacrifices himself for his wife – in all things, and a wife who responds to his tender leadership with respect.  

What wife would resist the considerate care of such a husband, and what husband would trivialize or marginalize a wife who honors and respects him in such a wonderful way. 

When husband and wife are fulfilling their responsibilities to each other, they create a rich warm partnership where they forge their direction together, in mutual respect.

That’s the understanding we get when the Spirit of God takes the black and white words of Scripture and broadcasts them in color.

If we all had the Spirit to tutor us, then there would be far less quibbling about Scripture.

Is your mental engine failing to start when you sit down to read the Bible? Take a moment to pray before you read.  Invite the Spirit of God to open your mind and give you insight as to how to put it to work in your life.   

__________

A great hymn on the illumination work of the Holy Spirit, expertly sung to one of my favorite melodies – by the Heralds.  Click and listen:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfUlCof-aM8

*Scripture references are from the NET Bible ®