Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: USAF

a hope with a date attached  — November 30, 2022

a hope with a date attached 

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I decided to clean up the contact list on my phone.  I was sad to find that I needed to delete over three dozen friends and family members who had died.

Delete sounds awful, doesn’t it?  But it kind of feels that way when someone passes.  It causes us grief, which is certainly appropriate.  But grief can sometimes grab onto us and never let us go. 

Is there anything we can do about it? 

My wife desperately loves our kids.  She was a stay-at-home mom who wanted stay-at-home kids.

But alas, our son graduated from high school and immediately entered the Air Force.  His first duty assignment was in England – a transatlantic stretch of his mother’s love. 

She grieved the loss of his presence.  Her joy was marginal and her fretting miserable.  It felt to her like the end of the relationship.  Our gracious church foot the bill to send us there to visit.  He needed it.  She needed it more. 

A friend eventually came to the rescue.  She also had children who lived afar.  She told Sharie that she could manage the absence if she and her kids agreed on when they would be together again.  It was a hope with a date attached. 

So, Sharie began to do the same when our kids left the nest.  When a date was set, she found that she could endure the in-between.  A departure began to feel only like a brief interruption.

King David handled his grief in a similar way.  He had a newborn son who had become very ill.  He fasted and prayed as he grieved the potential loss of his baby boy.  Then the child died. 

He reacted, “So David got up from the ground, bathed, put on oil, and changed his clothes. He went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then, when he entered his palace, he requested that food be brought to him, and he ate.”  – 2 Samuel 12:20.

His attendants thought that he had lost his mind.  So, he explained, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Perhaps the Lord will show pity and the child will live.’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back at this point?”  (v. 22-23b)

Good point David, but is there anything else?  Yes!  – He said, “I will go to him…!”  (v.23b)

David, who anticipated dwelling in the house of the Lord forever, also planned on doing it with his baby boy.  He had a hope with a date attached.

Now this is what Paul had to say to us about grief.

“…we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope.”  1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

He spoke of Christians who had died, as being “asleep.”   Hmm! I’m pretty sure that my wife doesn’t cry and grieve when I take a nap.  Because – I’m still alive – just unavailable at the moment. 

Paul wants us to know that when a believer dies, there is no reason to despair because a day is coming when, “We who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (4:15-17) – Together – again!

If you grieve the loss of a loved one – take heart for we have a hope with a date attached. 

A PRAYER: God thank you for such a hope   

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Scripture references are from the NETBible.com

on the march — August 2, 2021

on the march

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In our family, “marching” was a season.  Each of our kids were part of the school marching band that entertained us at the football games.   From the oldest to the youngest, we spent about ten consecutive years in the stands watching them gyrate back and forth and weave in and out with precision.  It was fun but sometimes tedious.   A few of the routines were rehashed all 10 seasons. 

Theirs was a military style band which required them to wear enormous hats with a brim that came down over their eyes.  Add a trumpet or sax to their lip and you could never be sure who it was.   In fact, we have a lengthy VHS video of a kid marching that we thought was ours but wasn’t. 

Our son K.C. continued to march out of the high school band and into the U.S. Air Force.

My wife and I were present when he graduated from basic training.  When his unit entered the parade grounds, we were proud to see him marching in the very first row of the unit.   We thought two things, “Wow, we can see his face!” and “I wonder what he did to merit that?” 

We later learned the answer was simply – he grew tall. He is 6’ 5”.  He and every other towering airman were deliberately placed at the head of the marching unit. 

He told us that this was a tradition that dated back to the Romans.  They did it for psychological intimidation.  By placing the biggest, meanest, broadest men at the head the column, it gave the impression to the enemy that the entire army were all bruisers.   This also helped to obstruct the view of the soldiers behind them so that the enemy had no idea of their number.

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The apostle Paul tells us that God ordered His ranks in a similar way.  In Colossians 1:15-16 he wrote of Jesus, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him.”  

Christ was called the “firstborn!”   Firstborn refers not to a birth order but to the preeminent rank that belongs to one who was first born. 

For instance, David was called the “firstborn” though we know he was the youngest of his brothers.  (Psalm 28:20 & 27) Jacob was called the “firstborn” though we know that Esau preceded him.  (Exodus 4:22) The title has nothing to do with actual birth order and everything to do with the rights, privileges, honor and authority that were given to the first born. 

Paul tells us Christ is the firstborn, in that He was prior to, distinct from and highly exalted above every other creature.  He stands at the head of God’s marching column.

Paul continued in verse 18. “He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.”

Jesus bears the title firstborn again – firstborn from the dead.  This reminds us that He was the first and most important in rank to ever be raised and have His body transformed with immortality.

Because of His saving work on the cross, many more of us will one day be raised from the dead, but none more important than Jesus who faced the devil at the cross and prevailed at the empty tomb. 

Take comfort my brethren.  Jesus marches at the head of our ranks.  He towers over all others.  He even hides us from the view of the enemy.   He shields us with the power of His might and leads us onto certain victory.  Praise His name!

A PRAYER: Lord, thank you for leading us and shielding us from our foes.

Scripture references are from the NETBible®