Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: sin

lip prints — September 25, 2024

lip prints

/pickleheavenpress

There is an oft repeated story about some middle school girls in Oregon who discovered lipstick. They would sneak it out of the house each morning and apply it in the bathroom at school.  They finished by pressing their adorned lips to the mirror leaving behind dozens of glossy lip prints.

Eventually the principal summoned them to the bathroom for a lecture.  She introduced the janitor and told them how tough it was for him to remove the mess each day.

He was asked to demonstrate.  So, he took out a long-handled brush, dipped it in the toilet, and scrubbed the mirror clean. 

So clever!  The principal stole the shine from their prank with a stark dose of reality.  Fortunately, God has done the same thing for us with the story of King David.  

David is one of the greats of the Bible.  He was visionary, a phenomenal political leader, a celebrated musician, a military genius, and certainly a spiritual giant.  But he was not perfect. 

God gave instructions for men like him who would rule Israel as King.  He said, “Furthermore, he must not marry many wives lest his affections turn aside” – Deuteronomy 17:17.

David the King was clearly a man who valued God’s Word, and yet he avoided this verse.   He came to possess at least 7 different wives to produce sons and many female concubines to provide sex (2 Samuel 5:13).

It was this craving for the sensuous that caused him to lock his eyes on Bathsheba as she bathed on the rooftop of her home.   This led to an adulterous liaison with her, a pregnancy, and then the cover up, including the manipulated death of her husband. 

He had an appetite that was consuming him. So, Nathan the prophet confronted duplicitous David outlining 3 dreadful consequences to his sin. 

1. Bloodshed would become David’s legacy.  2 Samuel 12:10-12

         Nathan said, “So now the sword will never depart from your house. For you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!”  (10)  David introduced bloodshed to eliminate Bathsheba’s husband.  His son Absalom would later come to slay his brother. 

2. David’s household would be violated  

Nathan said, “Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. He will go to bed with your wives in broad daylight!  (12:11) David brought his lusts into his home and those lusts would infect those in his home.  His son Amnon would rape his sister.  His son Absalom would lead a rebellion and take David’s throne and violate his concubines. 

3. The whole mess would be public. 

Nathan went on, “Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight” (12:12).  David conducted his sin in secret, but Absalom would violate David’s concubines in public on the same roof from where David ogled Bathsheba.

Welcome to the restroom!   The janitor has just washed the mirror with toilet water.  By honestly revealing the details of David’s story, we can see that sin brings devastating and disgusting consequences.  God intended this for us as a warning to avoid sin and to respond in obedience to every portion of His Word.  

But what about the past?  Is there still hope?  There is! “Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!” Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has forgiven your sin” (12:13).   God is incredibly gracious and merciful to the one who is honest enough to face their sin. 

According to the apostle John, we can do the same thing today.  He wrote, “But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing” – 1 John 1:9.

The mirrors in that middle school were never smudged again with lip prints. The girls learned their lesson.  May we be as wise.

A Prayer:  Lord, sin looks so good but leaves us feeling so bad.  Help us please!

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

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

Scripture passages are from the NETBible®

an offensive gift — April 17, 2024

an offensive gift

/pickleheavenpress

I have a sweet friend who happily teaches at an elementary school.  Ladonna posted a note, not long ago on Facebook.  She said, “Throughout my years of teaching, my students have brought me little gifts from time to time. It may be a rock, a picture they’ve drawn, or a bracelet made from a pipe cleaner.”

“Today I received another sweet gift.”  She included a picture of this gift.  It was a container of Secret deodorant!  She concluded by asking, “Do you think this student is trying to tell me something?” 

I bet you a hundred bucks she smelled her pits that day just to be sure. 

I’m sure he meant well, but regardless it was kind of a goofy, maybe even an offensive gift.

Ironically, Jesus also lacks tact when He gives His gift. 

He offers us the gift of salvation, but He first must make us aware at how desperately we need it.  He lets us know that…

– Without Him we are incapable of doing what He considers to be good. 

He said, “Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.” – John 15:4. 

– Without Him we don’t even have a desire to be good.

Again, He said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” – John 6:44

– and without Him we don’t even understand what that good is.

Jesus said, “Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear, nor do they understand.” – Matthew 13:13

We have proven Him correct by the many and varied ways we have chosen to sin.  It’s as Paul said, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23.   

We treasure the idea that Jesus loves us.  But this same Jesus regards people as being totally corrupt and possessing nothing that makes us attractive or acceptable to God.  Basically, He says, “We stink!”

We mock the preacher in dowdy dress, who stands on the corner with a sign that says “repent.”  And yet Jesus freely used the word as well.

– He said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” –   Luke 5:32

– He held people responsible for failing to repent.  “Then Jesus began to criticize openly the cities in which he had done many of his miracles because they did not repent.”  – Matthew 11:20

– He predicted a terrible outcome for those who did not repent. He said, “Unless you repent, you will all perish….!  – Luke 13:3

OK Jesus we get the message: we stink. Though we don’t usually think of ourselves as being sinners – You do.  And in the end its your judgment that matters. 

So, what do we do?  I was a lazy teenager, I didn’t shower as often as I should have, but I frequently slathered on deodorant.  Is that TMI?

We need more than that.  Paul said, “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.

That will take away the stink – a good washing.  Jesus provides it for those who go to Him.  Our sinful past is washed away by the flow of His blood shed at Calvary.

He then gives us His Spirit – His version of Ice Blue Secret.  The Spirit helps to keep the stink from returning. 

Are you aware at how desperately you need Jesus’ gift?  Have you noticed the odor yet?   Jesus has, and He offers you the help you need.

It’s not too late to acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of a Savior.  Whisper that to Him in a prayer.  He will hear and He will save.

A Prayer: Save me Lord – from my sins and myself.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture passages are from the NETBible ®

garbage smuggler — January 13, 2021

garbage smuggler

/pickleheavenpress

Lunchtime in elementary school – what blah memories.   Most of us did a brown bag lunch.  The content of mine was mind-numbingly predictable: a bologna sandwich, ruffled potato chips in a baggie; 2 discount brand vanilla sandwich cookies and a piece of fruit complemented by a carton of milk from the machine. 

The rest of the boys fared no better. So, we got in the habit of eating the best stuff and throwing the rest away.  (horrible I know) However, the nuns who taught us caught us.  So, Mother Superior ordered that a guard be posted at every trashcan to stem the mindless waste.  (this is true – scouts honor)

So, the challenge for us, was to hide the sandwich and the fruit in the tiny milk carton and then smash it so small that, it would appear to be impossible for anything to be in it.  We were human trash compactors.

The nun stood behind the receptacle with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.   Sam was the first to try.  He put on his best “I’m not guilty of doing anything” look.  Then he ambled forward and nonchalantly dropped the compressed 10-pound carton in.

She didn’t blink!  He did it!   He beat the sentry of the gulag (or maybe it was goulash).  The rest of us followed.  We successfully smuggled our garbage.

_________

Have you ever tried to do that with sin?  Of course, you have.  Most of us have. 

In the frailty of our humanity, we do something, or say something, or maybe even think something that we shouldn’t.   It may be simply an offense against God, or an offense against another person or both.

We are ashamed and fearful of being found out which stirs up a dark mood. King David, a sinner of renown, spoke to God about this.  He said, “When I refused to confess my sin, my whole body wasted away, while I groaned in pain all day long.”  Psalm 32:3 NET

We try to stem the sour feelings, by stuffing it in a metaphysical milk carton hoping to slip it by the eyes of God.   But the soulish part of us continues to point the finger of blame.

To recognize and address it, would feel like adding another thick layer of humiliation.  So, we hide it.

David was experienced with the torment – enough to add these words, “Then I confessed my sin; I no longer covered up my wrongdoing. I said, “I will confess my rebellious acts to the Lord.”   – 32:5 

He faced his failure- confessed his sin.  He found understanding, grace and the one thing he needed most “and then you forgave my sins.“ –  32:6  NET

How good it is; how freeing it is to be forgiven.  The guilt is gone; the joy returned. 

And then do you know what that crazy David did?  He confessed it to everyone else as well.  He recorded his mess in a Psalm which was to be used in the worship liturgy of Israel. 

David eventually stood side-by-side with his people in worship as they sang of his sin in Psalm 32. 

What was he thinking?  Maybe this!  “Well we’re all human.  I messed up and I am embarrassed for people to know, but it would be utterly humiliating if I tried to hide my sin and it were discovered.  So why not be up front about it?  God has forgiven me, and maybe others can learn from my mistakes.” 

His fellow worshipper was thinking: “Wow I had no idea, but David sure is an honest and courageous man.  Maybe I should be honest about my own sin.”

Maybe we should too!

A PRAYER: Oh God as I finally bare my soul, please fully grant your forgiveness.

bite the onion — March 27, 2019

bite the onion

/pickleheavenpress

James Ray Johnson – 650 words

I was a youth pastor in Texas, working with a budget that was slightly less than what a Texan spends on snow shovels.  What I lacked in funds I tried to make up in fun.  So, this night we were playing “bite the onion.”  

I sat the kids in a circle and placed the biggest, strongest, hottest onion I could buy, in the hands of a boy.  The rules: pass it around the circle until the music stops.  If the onion stops with you, then you must truthfully answer a question from the one who just passed it to you.  You can refuse to answer, but if you do, you must take a bite out of the onion. 

Eye of the Tiger began to pulsate (It was the eighties – OK) and the onion zipped around the circle like a hot potato.  (Oops I mixed my metaphors or my vegetables or something.)   Then I stopped the cassette. (Like I said, it was the 80’s) Sadie got stuck with the onion (the names have been changed to protect the embarrassed).  She was asked, “Do you still sleep with your stuffed Orca?”  “Yes, I do” she defiantly declared.

More music – then it stopped with Blaine.  “Blaine, did you take a shower yesterday?”  Without hesitating he took the first chunk out of the onion, and then ran for some water to wash away the burn (and maybe his body odor).  

The evening got increasingly less truthful and the onion, much smaller.  It stopped with Angie this time.  “Do you have a crush on Billy Bob?”  (which isn’t a fair question because a quarter of the males in Texas go by Billy Bob.)  But, everyone knew this one.  He was sitting in the circle. 

Angie turned every shade of red.  She refused to answer BUT she also utterly abhorred onions.  She was stuck – the game stopped – and the mob grew restless.   They chanted their demand, “Bite the onion – bite the onion.”  

Suddenly, Cathy ran to her, seized the onion and took a big crunchy bite.  The mob was stunned to silence.   What just happened?  Evidently, she cared enough for Angie to bite the onion for her.

The group decided that the rules had been met, the onion had been bitten and Angie was free of her obligation. 

The story was a gift.  I later used it to explain to the teens what Jesus has done for us.  In the end, each of us will be left holding the onion because each of us has violated God’s instructions. His ultimate rule is, “the one who sins must die.”  I sensed Angie’s angst – holding the onion and knowing that it has earned a penalty that would be a terror to pay.

But Jesus came forth and grabbed our onion of death and buried His teeth in it for us.  “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 6:6-8) -NET Bible®

I reminded the kids that some of us try to vainly earn the approval of God.  Angie simply released the onion and let Cathy take and eat it.  Not much more is required when it comes to Jesus.  Acts 10:31 says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”  -NET Bible®

The story of the onion helped them to see their need for Jesus.  Some chose to believe in Him and receive the gift of forgiveness He offered.

If you are still holding on to your onion, maybe it’s time to release it and let Jesus handle it.  He is anxious to take care of it for you. 

—————-

If you have 4 more minutes, pull up this video of Mark Mitchum (a deaf man) who signs the song, “What Sin?”  The message of the song and his fluid expressive movements still cause me to tear up.  (even without an onion) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AynCUpZya2s