Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: Jesus

Christmas dressing — December 10, 2025

Christmas dressing

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My clothes were in style when I was a teenager – in the style of the previous decade.  When I got married, my wife became my haberdasher.  She buys my apparel at Goodwill Dior.   

But what about the clothes that Jesus wore?  They say, what you wear says something about you.  So, what can we learn about Jesus from His wardrobe? 

Luke 2:7 describes His first ensemble, “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes.” – KJV

The shivering baby Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes.  Why would Luke include a detail like this?  Why not tell us if He was a small baby or a big bruiser?  Or what was His Apgar score?   Uh huh – I know what that is.   

What color was his hair?  Tell me it was red – please?  Was he jaundiced?   Did He look like his momma?

Why focus on swaddling clothes?  And what are they anyway?  In those days, when a child was born, the child’s arms were laid at its side, and the child was snugly wrapped in strips of linen or cotton.

The strips were 5 inches wide by 6 yards long.   A band was also placed under the chin and across the forehead of the child.   The wrapping completely immobilized the child. 

It was believed that by doing this, it would straighten the posture of the child who had been cramped within his mother’s womb.   There was no miniature Dallas Cowboys jersey for Jesus. 

The swaddling clothes spoke of Christ’s incarnation.  As God, Jesus descended to earth to wrap Himself in the flesh of a man.  And just as the swaddling clothes restricted the movement of the baby, the humanity in which Christ was wrapped, restricted his movement as God. 

He was required to lay down the independent use of His divine attributes.   He was tightly wrapped in human flesh as He lived out His life as a man.

That was His first outfit, but the NT mentions Christ’s clothing about 31 times.  Many of the references tell us something unique about Him.

A woman touched the fringe of his cloak and was healed (Luke 8:44). His cloak spoke of His incredible power. At the transfiguration, His garments radiated a glorious light which attested to His majesty (Matthew 17:2).

He was girded with a towel as He washed the feet of the disciples. It was a symbol of His servanthood (John 13:4). 

Herod dressed Him in a robe to mock His claim as King (Luke 23:11) and the soldiers cast lots over His garments at cross (Matthew 27:35) pointing to His complete humiliation.

After He was crucified, “then they took the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes – John 19:40. – KJV

His lifeless body was tenderly covered – wound tightly with linen wrappings, much like a mummy.  The wrappings were imbedded with a mixture of myrrh and aloes. They were so tight it was impossible to escape them. They affirmed the certainty of His death.

But wait a minute!  The man wrapped in His burial clothes looked much like the infant, tightly wrapped in His swaddling clothes.  One seems to have foreshadowed the other.  It was like a linen thread that ran through Christ’s life.  

So, Luke deliberately focused on the infant’s swaddling clothes to help us understand that the Christ child was born to die. 

And we are so very grateful that Jesus did that for us.  But we’re also thrilled that He wore those grave clothes for only three days. 

John put it this way, “Then Simon Peter, who had been following him, arrived and went right into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, and the face cloth, which had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself” John 20:6-7.  NETBible®

The empty wrappings spoke of the certainty of His resurrection.   What a truly amazing story His clothing tells!

A PRAYER: Thank You Jesus for telling the Gospel through your wardrobe.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with You

give it a rest — December 3, 2025

give it a rest

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I love nature, unless it is on my porch and armed with stingers.  A family of yellow jackets decided to move into our home.  To exit or enter said home was a big risk.  So, I decided to tackle the problem. 

I sprayed the raiders with Raid.  They fell one at a time.  But with a nest of approximately 5,000, I would poison myself to death before the insects.   The peppermint oil that was recommended refreshed them instead of repelling them.

The fake wasp nest that was guaranteed to scare them to death just made them laugh.  I even caulked the entrance to the nest, but they tunneled around it.

Finally, I decided to go with green energy.  I took an industrial grade fan, set it up right under the entry to their nest.   The ferocious wind blew, and the jackets couldn’t pass through it to land. 

But oh, how they tried!  They would back up, get a flying start and charge toward the nest, only to be blown away.  It was sort of entertaining to watch.  Really soon the wasps began to drop like flies – completely exhausted, and there they died.

I finally had created a problem that they could not overcome.  Maybe they should have ceded the battle and moved in with a cousin in another nest.  Instead, they tried and tried, and the effort killed them.

Like those wispy wasps, most of us know what it is like to face a problem that cannot be overcome.   We are wired to be problem solvers, and we usually succeed.  But every so often we encounter a windstorm that defies our most valiant effort to tame it.

Now I believe that if we can solve the problem, then we certainly need to try, but what if it can’t be solved?  What if the doc says the cancer is terminal?  What if our spouse runs off and marries another?   What if our hair starts falling out and wrinkles line our faces? 

Some of us carry on!  We strive with all our might to change what can’t be changed.   And like the wasps, we exhaust ourselves – some even endangering our health in the process.

Is there a better way?  God has some good advice.  He said, “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God” – Psalm 46:10.   God has the power to change our circumstances if He should want to.  He also retains the prerogative of leaving things as they are.   The Psalmist urges us to get smart – to stop trying to force the sovereign will of God and rest in Him instead.

Sometimes we just need to trust God and learn to live with a problem. 

Great King David understood this.  He wrote in Psalm 131, “O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor do I have a haughty look” (131:1a).  There are times we strive not out of need, but out of pride.  “I will not accept defeat.”  David, however, humbled himself before his circumstances and his God. 

And then he wrote, “I do not have great aspirations, or concern myself with things that are beyond me” (131:1b).David recognized that there are problems that he could resolve, but there were also those he could not – things that were beyond him and his ability. So, he chose to cease his vain striving.

He continued, “Indeed, I have calmed and quieted myself like a weaned child with its mother; I am content like a young child” (131:2).  He replaced his striving with resting on the breast of God.  He likened himself to an infant that was no longer frantic to nurse but content to relax in his mother’s embrace.

This was what David did, and he encouraged his countrymen and you and me to do the same by ending the Psalm with “O Israel, hope in the Lord now and forevermore!”  (131:3).

Sometimes we just need to trust God and learn to live with a problem. 

A PRAYER: Lord help me to know when to strive, and when to let go

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you always

Scripture passages are from the NETBible ®

thrift store saints — November 25, 2025

thrift store saints

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Our favorite family entertainment takes place at a thrift store.  A grandson decided he would embarrass me at such a store. He would bring to me various absurd items – like a woman’s bra for instance – and then ask in a loud voice in front of witnesses.  Hey Papaw, do you need another one of these?”  I say, “Nah I’ve got plenty.”      

Later he brought me a pair of kid’s underpants – emblazoned with cartoons. The twelve-year old said, “Hey Papaw, do you want these?”  I shook my head no.  He was halfway back to returning them when I yelled out so that all could hear, “OK son, if you really want those underwear, I’ll buy them for you.”

I believe we could have sat him down on the shelf with the other red items. 

At another time, it was the last day of a rummage sale – whatever you could stuff in a brown paper bag – all for five bucks.  My wife was an eager shopper.  So my older grandson and I would covertly slip bizarre items into her bag.  We laughed and giggled and had the best time. 

When we got home, my wife unpacked the bag and found things like a useless old TV remote, a deluxe Jello cookbook (we don’t eat Jello).  There was even a very large lead weight on a chain.  

She had all that craziness spread out on a bed.  After a good laugh, I went to collect it to ship it off to another thrift store, but she told me “No, no I am keeping all that stuff.”  And she did.  It took her a while, but she ended up finding uses for most of it. (except the Jello cookbook)

This reminds me of Jesus.  He entered this world with the intention of “seeking and saving the lost” (Luke 19:10).  What He found was a musty, thrift-store setting – a random selection of discarded and very used, mostly broken people.

The apostle Paul gave us a sample list of what He found.  He included those who were sexually immoral, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, those who are verbally abusive and even swindlers.  But then he wrote, “Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” – 1 Corinthians 6:11. NETBible ®

One of the first things my wife does with thrift-store purchases is to wash them when we get home.  Exactly what Jesus did. He washed the stink and stigma away.

I know many of these once broken people.  There was the man who faked his way through church every Sunday but was hooked on meth.  He finally met Jesus and said goodbye to his addiction. 

Another man – very successful in business, but a serial offender when it came to infidelity.  He ended up without a family, homeless, addicted and finally incarcerated.  On the way to his cell, he came to Christ.  When he was released, he went back to the streets to reach the hopelessly broken for Jesus.

There was the woman at the well in the Bible.  She went through a parade of men looking for real love.  The parade ended when she met Jesus. 

I had a good friend who had been a raging alcoholic, who was daily destroying his family of three until He met Jesus.  He then began to literally carry a wooden cross around the world to bring attention to the message of Christ.   

I broke so many laws in my teenage years, that they should have sent me to jail for a long time.  But Jesus ended up doing for me what the legal system could have never done. 

Jesus strolled through the aisles of this world finding the used, broken and discarded, redeeming us, and giving us a fresh purpose in his house.  And like my wife, there’s no way He would ever part with His crazy collection of thrift store saints. 

A PRAYER: Lord, thank you for removing the stink and the stigma from us.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

something to pond-er — November 19, 2025

something to pond-er

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At one time, my daughter taught at a Christian school in South Korea.  My wife went to visit her for a week, and the itinerary included a trip to her local church.   My wife brought me a church bulletin as a souvenir.  Whoopee!

I actually read the bulletin which was written in both Korean and English.  Advertised in it was an upcoming retreat.  Included were three pictures with a compelling caption beneath each one.  Keep in mind, however, that the captions were Korean ideas, translated into English.

There was a picture of a mountain and beneath, it said, “Breathtaking Mountain Scenery.”  There was a second picture of some asphalt.  The caption said, “Basketball Courts NOT made of dirt.”  Hey, that’s exciting. 

The third picture was of a pond.  The caption said, “Pond with real water!”  Hmm, it makes you curious about the ponds filled with fake water.

Pond or not, real water is essential to our lives!

Water lubricates our joints, cushions tissues, and protects organs.   It transports nutrition and flushes out toxins.  It keeps our brains humming and our skin plump and healthy.  It supports our immune system, improves our mood, and reduces the risk of chronic diseases.

I must confess, however, that I prefer soda over water. Soda is mostly water anyway, so why not?

Yes, soda is mostly water, but the additives compromise and even reverse the benefits that pure water brings. 

Soda does not provide the essential minerals and vitamins. Sugar makes us fat and gives us cancer, diabetes and inflammation.  The sweeteners are linked to negative health effects.  Caffeine causes the body to drain off the water already stored in our bodies and so on. 

But here’s the crazy thing.  The experts say that a glass of soda is 90-99% water.  But that remaining 1% turns a soda into a health hazard.

This causes me to wonder about the water Jesus’ offers.

He challenged throngs of worshippers at the temple saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink” – John 7:37-38.  

This is to say that there is water for us to drink that the Lord provides.  He used that figure of speech to let us know that His water does for our spiritual existence what H2O does for our material state. 

Because God is holy, His water is also holy and 100% pure.  And it really and truly does for us what the Lord promised.  It gives and sustains an effervescent spiritual vitality within us. 

But silly me – sometimes I substitute his water for soda. 

I tell myself, “I need Jesus plus “blank” to be happy.”   I need the 99% that Jesus gives but I also need my IRA to grow, or I need to be in charge at work, or I need my kids to adore me, or I need a new bass boat.  

And it’s that added 1% that we strive to have, that steals the joy of knowing and serving Jesus.  It ends up stripping us of any satisfaction.  A little bit of compromise makes a catastrophic difference.

We need to drink deeply and exclusively of the water Jesus gives.

They say we can live only 3-4 days without water intake.  Which is why my daughter carries around a Stanley cup that is big enough to hydrate a camel.  Jesus, however, supplies us with an inexhaustible supply (John 4:13-14). 

Bottled water can be pricey, but Jesus said, “To the one who is thirsty I will give water free of charge” – Revelation 21:6.

When I was a kid, we would run around on a hot summer day.  If we got thirsty, we would pick out a house nearby, grab their garden hose and drink.   It satisfied us even though it had kind of rubbery taste.

There’s no after taste with Jesus.  So, drink deeply!

A PRAYER: Lord, please help me identify that 1% 

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture passages are from the NETBible®

what will we look like in heaven? — November 12, 2025

what will we look like in heaven?

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My 7-year old granddaughter looked at me and asked with concern, “Papaw – why do you have so many holes in your face?”   I didn’t want to scare her with tales of teenage acne so I may have told her I like Swiss cheese.

But, here’s the question – will my complexion be pockmarked for eternity?  How will we appear when we get to heaven?  Will my appearance be locked in at the time of death?  Will the elderly be eternally wrinkled?  Will the newborn be infants indefinitely?   

An understanding of God’s grand plan may give us some insight. In the beginning, God crafted 2 ideal human beings.  Adam and Eve were the pinnacle of perfection.  Aging, disease and death did not affect them.   

How old did they appear to be when God created them?  We assume they were of the age where they could obey the Lord who told them to, “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:22).  

And they were strong enough to carry out His command to “cultivate” the garden (Genesis 2:15).  So, I would guess that the couple appeared to be in their late teens to early twenties when they were created.  

Had the couple obeyed the Lord, they would have forever existed in that idyllic state, but they rejected the Sovereign one to heed the serpent (Genesis 3:1-7) and all creation suffered the consequences. 

The self-perpetuating lush garden was turned into a foreboding untamed jungle (Genesis 3:18) and the guilty couple was introduced to aging, disease and death.  We, their children, have inherited the mess they created. 

But God promised them a Savior who would one day strike the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15).  Jesus died, was buried, and on the third day He rose again to redeem fallen man and restore what had been lost in Eden. 

He promised to one day regenerate all creation (Matthew 19:28).  “A new heaven and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” – 2 Peter 3:13.

It will be a stunningly beautiful place, with precious stones and glittering gold.  The tree that brought death to Adam will be replaced by the tree of life and perpetual health. (Revelation 22:2).  There will be no mourning, crying or pain (21:4).  The curse placed on Adam’s race will be lifted (22:3)    Peace will prevail and strife will cease (Isaiah 11:6-9). 

It will be a wonderful new earth, but what about the people who inhabit it? 

The apostle John wrote this, “And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!”  Revelation 21:5. Jesus plans to make “all things new!”  Why wouldn’t people be included?  Why would He create a spectacular new earth and populate it with old geezers like me?   

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul wrote of the resurrection saying “What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power” (42-43) There are clearly fantastic changes ahead for the believer.

So, my best guess is that we will be restored in heaven to appear as did Adam and Eve before the fall – in their late teens to early twenties.  We will look as if disease and the curse of the fall had never existed.  Goodbye pockmarks!

It is interesting that Mary didn’t immediately recognize the risen Savior.  Perhaps because He had a become the younger version of Himself (John 20:15).

What about those who die in the womb?  I would guess they too would appear as they would have been in their prime.  And because we will know all things fully (1 Corinthians 13:12) a momma should be able to recognize her grown-up child. 

What will we look like in heaven?  Who knows for sure?  The truth is I could appear as Frankenstein and yet I’ll be deliriously happy just to be in the presence of my Savior.

A PRAYER: Lord, it doesn’t matter what we will look like as long as we are with you.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Scripture passages are from the NIV unless otherwise noted.

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

a fish tower tale — October 8, 2025

a fish tower tale

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Ah, I remember those fun days when we were raising teenagers.  Our daughter knew that I could be a little rigid, while my wife was a pushover. 

So, she would sometimes call our land line to ask permission to do something with her friends.  She hoped to talk with her mom, but if I answered the phone, she would disguise her voice and say, “Hello, is Sharie Johnson there?”   And I would reply “Bethany, I know it’s you, so what do you want?” 

I sometimes felt like a person I know from Scripture – a nobody from a no nothing town. 

The town was called Magdala, situated on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.   Pisa has its Leaning Tower, while Magdala had its reeking tower – a fish tower.  This tower had many open-aired tiers to it where fishermen would leave the catch of the day to dry. 

Magdala was the hometown of Mary Magdalene.   She may have been a prostitute, but Scripture doesn’t say.  We do know, though, that Jesus passed through the town one day, met Mary, and removed seven demons from her (Luke 8:2).  Seven?  She must have been a mess!

But Jesus reached out to that nobody woman from a nothing town and changed her life. 

She left home to follow Him.  Luke said, “…He (Jesus) went on through towns and villages, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and disabilities: Mary (called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna the wife of Cuza (Herod’s household manager), Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their own resources” – Luke 8:1-3.

She traveled with Him and helped to support Him and his disciples financially and perhaps by preparing food.  She joined His behind-the-scenes support team.  This was not a hard transition for a person who was used to being a nobody. 

We don’t read much more about Mary in the Scripture until the cross. 

She was there at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified. Mark wrote, “There were also women, watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they had followed him and given him support. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were there too” – Mark 15:40-41.  Every disciple except John was hiding but Mary was there. Mark made note of the fact that she had served in a supportive role. 

She accompanied Jesus’ lifeless body to His tomb (Mark 15:47).  Mary was also one of the first to return in the morning to finish preparing His body for burial (Mark 16:1).

Fascinating!  Once Jesus had risen from the dead, He made sure that it was to Mary, the former nobody, that He first presented Himself (Mark 16:9).   She was the first, not Peter, James or John – it was a nobody of a woman from a fishy smelling place called Magdala.

And why did Jesus choose to reveal himself to her first?  Maybe because Mary had consistently served Him, even in ways that we might deem as lesser expressions of service.  She continued to do so all the way to His tomb, and was, therefore, rewarded with a Supreme privilege. 

What we sometimes deem little, the Lord deems great.  Nobodies do not exist in the family of God.  And every act of service we might render registers with Jesus – even those we regard as insignificant.

Jesus is aware and appreciates the woman who has worked in the church nursery for the last 13 years, and the man who mows the lawn for the widow down the street.  He is moved by the teenage girl who sits with and cares for her dying neighbor. 

He is aware and appreciates what you do as well!

A PRAYER: Lord, we want to serve You, even in what others deem lesser ways.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you

Scripture passages are taken from the NETBible.com

lead pipe popgun — October 1, 2025

lead pipe popgun

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Bitterness is like a lead pipe popgun!

Let me explain!  We were kids and we were bored.  One of us decided we should make a bang.  So, he took a piece of lead pipe about 8” long and capped one end. 

He then dropped in some gun powder, packing, and a ball bearing and lay it on the ground.  He lit the fuse, and we ran.  There was an earthshaking explosion and the ball bearing rocketed into the forest.  That was expected.

What was unexpected, was that the lead pipe rocketed the opposite direction – whizzing right between us.  A cold sweat overcame me – knowing I could have been killed.

It strikes me (no pun intended) that bitterness works a lot like that.

When we are hurt by others, we get angry.  The smart person calmly discusses the matter honestly with the offender and the issue is often resolved (Ephesians 4:25-26).  But too often we stuff the anger inside and let it fester into a toxic bitter mindset.

Oh, sure there is a morbid pleasure we get when we punish our offenders by ignoring them, but the cost to bitterness is steep – like a lead pipe popgun careening towards us.

There are physical consequences such as headaches, ulcers, sleeplessness and heart attacks.  There are emotional consequences such as anxiety, panic attacks, tension, and depression.  

There are social consequences.  The bitter person loses the respect of others and often drives away those that are closest to them.  There are spiritual consequences as well that affect our relationship with God (Mark 11:25-26).

Jesus has something to teach here by example.  His ministry was hounded by the Pharisees.  In Luke 5:21 they labeled Him a blasphemer.  In Luke 5:30 they criticized his association with sinners.  In Luke 6:1-2 they accused Him of being a lawbreaker.  

If I had been Jesus, I would have been quite angry and certainly suspicious of every Pharisee.  Yet, we read in Luke 7:36, “Now one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table.” 

Weird!  Dining together was a high and holy concept in the ancient middle east.  To sup with another was a positive core relational experience.  So, Jesus, knowing that the Pharisees had it out for Him, still gave that Pharisee an opportunity to speak with Him and perhaps believe. 

He did it again in Luke 11:37: Another invitation to dine – another fresh start – no animosity from His past, no ugly suspicion, no bitterness.  And yet his Pharisee host criticized Him during that meal (11:38-40). 

Surely Jesus eventually learned to avoid the Pharisees.  But then we read Luke 14:1, “Now one Sabbath when Jesus went to dine at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, they were watching him closely.”  He had forgiven and forgotten the past once again and accepted their invitation. 

We can conclude only one of two things – either Jesus was not very perceptive, or He was smart enough to lay aside yesterday’s hurts to give a man a new chance today.  

Perhaps the most phenomenal display of this heart came at Calvary.  The Pharisees watched as He hung on the cross where they had arranged for Him to die.  It was there that Jesus looked upon them and said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” – Luke 23:34.

Jesus was free from bitterness.  I wish the same could be said of us.  Who is it that makes your blood boil when you think of them?  Who do you work to avoid?  Who rates as unforgivable in your book? 

Let it go!  Jesus said, “…if you have anything against anyone, forgive him…” – Mark 11:25.

Booker T. Washington, a former slave put it this way, “I will never allow any man to destroy or denigrate my soul by making me hate him.”  

So let it go!

A PRAYER: Forgiveness is a divine work.  Lord, give us the grace to do it.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of the Lord be with you.

Scripture passages are from the NETBible ®

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

/pickleheavenpress

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