Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: Jesus

when helping hurts — August 27, 2025

when helping hurts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you`

changing table — August 13, 2025

changing table

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I suspect that the only people who really enjoy change are infants.  And yet we who are angry, depressed, lustful, abusive, addicted and lazy need to change. But it feels so hopeless.  Is it possible?

Consider a man who is being considered for a pastoral position. The search committee interviewed his references.  There were several significant comments that caused them concern. 

“The candidate does not like to assume a leadership role.”   This is a red flag.  A pastor needs to lead the church, manage the staff and represent the church to the community. 

“The candidate tends to avoid responsibility and obligations.”  This guy would likely do as little as possible to get by.  Could he manage the plethora of details that a pastor encounters or even follow through with a task?  

“The candidate likes to make his own decisions.”   In other words, he does not play well with others.  Board meetings would be a nightmare.

“The candidate is very timid and shy in a group nor does not like to have a large group of friends.”  We don’t need a hermit as the pastor.

If you were on that committee – how would you vote regarding this candidate?  Well, I would definitely cast a no vote.  I would not want to hire – ME.

This is a fictitious scenario, but the comments were taken verbatim from the notes of counselor, based on a battery of vocational tests that I took in January of 1972. 

And yet, in June of 1986, I was unexpectedly hired as a pastor and successfully served that same church for 32 years.  Were the tests wrong?  No – that was truly me in early 1972.  What happened?

I stopped in at the “changing table.” I met Jesus 10 months after I had taken those tests.  At that time, I was “born again” (John 3:3) and I became a “new man” in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).  The old passed away, and new things began to emerge. 

God was doing a great work in me, but I did my part too.  Paul wrote, “present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service” – Romans 12:1.

A sacrificial lamb in ancient Israel had no say in the matter, but we do.  We can choose to give ourselves wholly to the Lord – a living sacrifice not consumed by fire, but by a passion to serve the Lord.     

He went on to say, “Do not be conformed to this present world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” –12:2. 

We are to be “transformed” says Paul.  This word is derived from the Greek word, “metamorphose” as in metamorphosis.   The dictionary captures the word this way, “a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.”

Paul tells us that change is very possible.  In fact, we are expected to change and grow.  Anger can be tamed, depression lifted, lust extinguished, abusers repentant, addictions canceled, and laziness turned into productivity. 

It happens as we experience the renewing of our minds.  So how is the mind renewed?  It happens when we read and marinate our minds with the Word of God.  Hebrews 4:12-13 tells us that Scripture is alive – meaning that the Holy Spirit actively uses it to help transform us.

Renewal also takes place when we take what we read and let it shape the way we pray.  It also happens when we spend meaningful time with other Christian people whose thinking begins to impact our own.

The things we read and media we watch also tend to either conform us to this world or transform our minds. 

Change is tough.  Don’t give up on yourself.  Take time today to say to the Lord,  “I really want to be different and better.  I am laying my life on the altar and asking You Lord, to make it happen.”  

A PRAYER: Lord I am ready to change.  Would You change me – gently 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 ®

a rupture in the rapture — July 23, 2025

a rupture in the rapture

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A PRAYER: Come Lord Jesus

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you.

sanctified swamp people — July 16, 2025

sanctified swamp people

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I thought about auditioning for Swamp People.  You see, whenever it rains, there is a section of my backyard that floods with water.  It doesn’t run off as it should because the ground level is lower than the rest of the yard. 

Water pools there and sticks around for as much as 5 days.   The lawn underneath gasps for breath until it finally gives up the grass ghost.   It is a swampy, unsightly mess.

What should I do about it?   I could order a dump truck load of topsoil and bring the whole area up to grade.  Then spend some serious bucks on some centipede sod and carpet the area.  Nah!

Instead, I decided to raise the level of the soil gradually!  I took bags of topsoil and lightly spread the soil throughout the area.  I then raked and watered it in.  Soon, the grass underneath began to poke through. 

I did this every couple of weeks, a little at a time, and the level of the soil gradually rose.  The water now runs off, and I have a healthy green lawn.

Gradual is also the way the Lord raises the level of holiness in us. 

The process of being processed is called sanctification.   It began the very moment we came to faith in Christ.  The Lord took a spiritual swamp person, removed his sin, placed the Holy Spirit in him and good things began to happen.   Paul wrote, “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.

At that point the believer is liberated from the dominating power of sin.  This is known as positional sanctification, and it is all God’s doing.    

There is also practical sanctification.  In Philippians 2:12-13 Paul wrote, “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” – NIV.   It is interesting if not a little baffling to find that both God and man are responsible for this aspect of sanctification. 

On one hand we are to take what God has given us in salvation and work it all out.  This is to take the potential for holiness we were given the day we were saved and roll it out and implement it so that it becomes an essential part of who we are.

So much of the New Testament targets this process.  I think of Hebrews 12:1, “…let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

On the other hand, Paul tells us that it is God who is at work in us.  “…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus – NIV.” – Philippians 1:6

Practical sanctification is a lifelong process.  It is facilitated through our prayers and digesting and obeying the Word of God.  It involves finding fellowship with others at church and offering heartfelt worship. 

These are the efforts that we make to facilitate sanctification.  God does His part by empowering us, teaching us and using divinely appointed experiences to shape us.   He gradually raises the quality of holiness in us.

There are times that slow, and steady are needed to get the job done.  This is certainly true of sanctification

Paul said it would culminate on the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).  This third aspect we might call perpetual sanctification.  

When Jesus reappears, or if we should die before then, the process will be completed forever.  The apostle John wrote, “We know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” – 1 John 3:2 NIV.

Hey, it’s good to know that we won’t be swamp people forever.

A PRAYER: Lord, we sure need it, sanctify away

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture passages are from the New International Version

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®

destined for dog food!    — May 28, 2025

destined for dog food!   

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Harry de Leyer was on his way to the horse auction.  He needed an additional steed for the use of his riding students.   But, due to a vehicle breakdown, the auction had closed by the time he arrived.

This had been the last hope for the horses.  The unpurchased leftovers had already been loaded and were bound for a Pennsylvania slaughterhouse where they would be processed into dog food. 

Harry rapidly surveyed the neglected animals.  He spied a bulky, broken down, white horse who had spent his life pulling an Amish plow.  He pulled him out of the truck and walked him around.  They seemed to connect. 

Harry bought the horse for a meager $80.00 and gave him the apt name Snowman.

Snowman found new life on Harry’s farm.  Without the burden of a plow, the horse took to the air.  He loved to jump.  Harry recognized his talent and cultivated it.   With Harry in the saddle, they made their way to competitions and were soon beating out horses who had been bred to be jumpers.  

By 1958, Snowman had become a champion, winning the Triple Crown of jumping.  He continued to beat out his competition for many years after.

Like Snowman, we Christians have been plucked out of an auction of sorts.  The Bible portrays an unsaved person as being a slave to be sold.  The Scripture employs the word “redemption” to describe the process, using three different Greek words that help us to understand what it means to be redeemed.

Our journey begins at the slave market.   My only exposure to a slave market has been through the movies.  I remember seeing, half naked people, with an emptiness that seemed to seep through their eyes.  They possessed nothing, not even control over their own bodies. 

It’s a gruesome but fairly accurate picture of our situation.  Potential bidders poke and prod us hoping to take possession of our souls.   But Jesus sees us and decides to buy us.  This is the first word for redemption, “agoradzo” which means to buy.   It is found in 1 Corinthians 6:20, “For you were bought at a price.”  Jesus gave His life blood on a cross to purchase we who were formerly slaves to sin. 

The second word is “ekagoradzo” which mean “to buy out of.”  This word is used in Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”   This carries the idea of first buying and then removing us from the market.  Once Jesus purchased our souls, we would always remain His, never to become available to be resold to another.

The third word translated as redemption is the word, “lutroo.” This carries the idea of removing the chains from a slave and then giving the slave their freedom.  This word is used in Titus 2:14, He “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness” NIV.

Snowman was destined to become dogfood.  We also were headed to the slaughterhouse, to spend an eternity in the unquenchable fires of hell (Mark 9:43-45)

Snowman was overlooked by every other buyer at that auction.  Likewise, Jesus saw us not for who we had been but who we could be. 

Snowman was acquired for $80 when the average cost for a jumping horse at that time ranged from the thousands to the tens of thousands.  But Jesus paid even more – the ultimate cost – His laid down His very life to save us. 

Liberated from the plow, and saved from the slaughterhouse, Snowman was then free to do what he enjoyed the most, running and jumping with His Master in tow.   And we the redeemed are also free indeed (John 8:36).  We have the privilege of joyfully serving and doing life with the sweetest, kindest, most benevolent Master ever.

– a way better destiny for us than dogfood!

A PRAYER: Lord, help us to better understand what it means to be redeemed.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture passages are taken from the NETBible ®

Photo by VentnorNJ – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=107870915

oops! — May 21, 2025

oops!

/pickleheavenpress

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And the Lord continues to work with such diligence today especially when it comes to you and me.  Paul wrote, “For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” – Philippians 1:6.   That’s good news.   He has grown me much, but there is still lots of ground to cover.  I am so glad that He is committed to seeing it through.  He finishes what He starts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of Lord Jesus be with you

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