Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: Revelation 3:20

hair apparent — January 8, 2025

hair apparent

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My son-in-law went to get his hair cut from his regular stylist.  She is a sassy girl – not shy about what she thinks.  He had sprouted somewhat of a beard since his last visit.  She saw it and said, “I don’t like it!” 

She muttered her dislike for the first half of the haircut, and then impulsively

took her razor and drew it down the side of his head, past his ear and onto his face, plowing a clean swath all the way down to the bottom of his chin.  

It was a novel look!  One he didn’t like, so he bowed to her will and she shaved the whole thing away.  

Isn’t it amazing how other people find it so easy to impose their wills upon us?  We live in a world where we are told what pronouns we are allowed to use, what kind of energy will power our cars, and what we must believe about issues of sexuality.  For that matter, my wife frequently tells me to tuck in my shirt.

As far as I know there is only one person who gives us complete freedom of choice. And that would be the Lord.

This was apparent to Adam in the garden.  “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it. Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die” – Genesis 2:15-17. 

Adam was forewarned, but certainly not forced.  The Lord allowed him to choose. He could ignore the forbidden fruit and live, or eat of it and die.  I wish elections in this country offered such clear choices. 

Adam and Eve chose poorly, leaving themselves and every child of Eden ever since, to bear the burden of sin and its consequences. 

But in the fullness of time Jesus came to earth, to bear that burden for us.   Peter wrote, “…Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God…”  – 1 Peter 3:18.

Despite the enormous cost to Jesus, we are given complete freedom to receive or reject His gift.

Jesus put it this way in Revelation 3:20, “Listen! I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home.”

This was an invitation to those who had believed, and yet it captures the heartfelt invitation that He extends to all of us.  Jesus freely offers everything we need and could ever want, but He politely refuses to barge into our lives and force it upon us.

He stands outside, patiently hoping and waiting that we will turn the deadbolt and push open the door.   He wants an invitation to be an intimate part of our lives, and for us to be a part of His.  He wants to enter our world that we might enjoy an abundant life now and eternal life forever.  

However, as with Adam, there are consequences that come with our choices.  John 3:16 is a sober reminder, “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

If you have not done so already, I wonder if you might take some time today to think on this, and if you wish, you too can choose to open the door of your life to Jesus. 

Whisper to Him words like these, “Lord be merciful to me, for I too am a sinner. I am trusting Jesus, the Son of God, to wash me of my sin and give me the gift of eternal life. From this point forward – I am yours.”   

It’s your choice!

A PRAYER: I pray Lord, that each of us would have the wisdom to choose Jesus.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you always.

Passages are from the NETBible®

transfer — August 16, 2023

transfer

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I lived near the state fairgrounds when I was a kid.  When the fair was on, my friends and I would go every day.  But money was scarce.

So, we would pool our cash and buy one ticket.  The first guy used it to enter the fair and then would exit. 

They stamped his hand so he could reenter later.  But he came out to the rest of us, and spit on the stamp to remoisten it, then transferred it to us by pressing it on our hands.

Then we would flash our stamps at the gate and get in.

How evil – and icky!  I know and I repent.  But it’s a great metaphor for the way many of us enter the faith – By transfer. 

Consider Israel.  God had helped them take possession of Canaan land. They were grateful.

Joshua 24:31 says, “And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord….” 

The key word here is, “known.”   Their leader, General Joshua, was a man who knew the Lord and His works.  He had interacted personally with God several times and had a deep faith commitment to God.

His counterpart today might be a guy we’ll call Zach, who came to Christ at age 22 after a life of mistakes.  When he met Jesus, he was transformed.  He was all in and his faith was red hot.

This wasn’t true of the generation that followed Joshua.  Judges 2:7 says, “And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord…”

The key words here are, “had seen.” Absent is the word, “know.”   Joshua’s countrymen had seen God stop the flow of the Jordan River and cause the walls of Jericho to fall.  They were aware of God and what He did, but they didn’t know Him or have the intimate first-hand experience with God that Joshua had.   

They had a transfer faith.  It was pressed on them, so to speak, by Joshua.

Their counterpart today might be Zach’s kid Jason, who was raised in church.  He had learned the Christian way to think and act.  He was aware of some amazing answers to prayer.  But he lacked that first-hand transforming intimacy with God.  His daddy had been transformed.  Jason was conformed. His faith was lukewarm.

The transfer continued to the next generation.  Judges 2:10 describes it. “and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.”

This gang did not know the Lord at all, nor had they been alive to see His works as the land was subdued.  All they had of God were dusty old stories.

Their counterpart might be Zach’s grandson Asher who didn’t bother pretending to act like a Christian.  His dad was lukewarm and not a sterling example of a Christian.  So, he gave up on church and grabbed all the world he could get.  His grandpa had been transformed, his daddy conformed, but Asher was misformed.  His was an ice-cold faith.

The dynamic at work is much like what we discovered back at the fairgrounds.  Every time the stamp was transferred, it became a weaker version of the original. 

Every individual needs a firsthand encounter with the living God.  To try to live the Christian life without it is senseless.

How intense is the stamp of faith in your life?  Are you red-hot, lukewarm, or ice-cold?  It only takes a decision to move to that first-hand experience.

Jesus spoke to lukewarm, second-generation Christians in Revelation 3:20. He said, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” 

A PRAYER: Lord the door is open, we welcome your presence!

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture references from the KJV