Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: USPS

the Magi Postal Service — June 3, 2026

the Magi Postal Service

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Evidently, we are all very deserving.  The lawyer on the TV promises to get us the settlement we deserve.  Football great Joe Namath told us to get the healthcare benefits we deserve.  McDonalds once told us that we deserve a break today.  

The dentist tells us we merit a better smile.  We are even told that we are worthy of premium toilet paper.  

But, honestly, there are times that I don’t want what I deserve.  

The budget for the youth ministry at our church was 50% of nothing.  So, I came up with a fun fundraiser. 

I asked our church to forgo mailing their Christmas cards to each other.  Donate the postage to the youth ministry instead and let us deliver the cards.

So, the congregation brought their cards to us.  We marked them with our official Magi Postal Service stamp and then delivered them on a Saturday morning. 

But that same afternoon, I received a threatening letter from the U.S Post Office informing me that only authorized postal service employees can place mail in a mailbox.  

I was told that I had committed a federal offense and the fine was $5,000 per piece of mail and 3 years in jail.  Oh my!  We delivered over 200 cards.  I literally owed the government a million bucks and I was soon to transition from youth pastor to prison inmate.

I most definitely did not want to receive what I apparently deserved. 

This is also true with sin.  Like the postal service, God has issued a warning.  Paul wrote in Romans 3:23, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

God said, “Do not bear false witness” but we have told little white lies.  He said, “Do not steal” but we have stolen time from our employer.  God told us to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Well, that has rarely happened!   

If there is a shred of honesty in us, we would have to agree that we have sinned and have fallen short of God’s expectations for us. 

Unfortunately, there are cosmic consequences.  Paul wrote, “the wages of sin is death” – Romans 6:23.  He spoke of an eternal state of separation from God – a perpetual process of dying.   Jesus Himself referred to this hell as a place where, “the fire is not quenched” – Mark 9:48

I am thinking that a fine of 1 million bucks would be nothing compared to the terrors of hell.

Fortunately, God sent someone to pay that penalty for us.  Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   

If my wife were dying of cancer, I would, if I could take that cancer from her and bear it myself so that she might live.  That’s essentially what Jesus did for us. 

Because He was a man, He was able to die, and because He was also God, His death has a divinely powerful impact.  He suffered the consequences that we earned and deserved.

But each one must decide whether to do business with God or not.  John 1:12 says, “…to all who received Him (Jesus) to those who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God.”  

It is the free gift of God (Romans 6:23) but it must be received.  Suppose that a postal employee showed up at your door with a package instead of a threat.

He wants you to sign for it. So, you take out your wallet, but he says, “Oh no, someone else has paid for it, you just need to sign and receive it.”  That’s how God has taken care of our sin.  We need to believe in the giver and humbly receive what He gives.

He withholds what we justly deserve, when believe in Him and receive His gift.

Why don’t you take a moment now and ask Him for that gift?

A PRAYER: Oh God, thank you for withholding what we truly deserve. 

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture passages are taken from the NIV

neither rain nor snow — December 23, 2022

neither rain nor snow

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Time to pay the bills.  I do it the old school way, by writing checks.  I tucked a $5,000 check into one envelope.  Then pasted a stamp on it and a return address sticker with Christmas graphics on it (even though it was June).   Will the folks at Chase Bank notice?  

I had several urgent errands to run and stopping by the mailbox was last on my list.  That was a mistake because I worried about that envelope all morning long. 

What if it should slip down between the car seats and get lost?  What if I go in for an Egg McMuffin, and someone should see it in the car, break in and take it?   What if I just forget about it?  The late fee and the interest would be painful.

I got to thinking, “Hey this is pretty much par for me.  When I have something on my mind, I get chained to a mental cycle of distraction and burden.  This is especially true when the issue is troublesome.

Well, I finally pulled up to the big blue box and dropped it in the slot.  And poof, my angst went down the chute along with the envelope.  

Mail is occasionally misplaced by the USPS.  But did you know that the exact figure is about a half a percent which is incredible when you consider the volume of mail that goes out each day, and you consider that there are people like me whose scribble on the envelope can’t be read.

Regardless, once I dropped that letter in the box, I was relieved, and I carried on the rest of the day without a fret.  

I wonder if that’s what the Spirit of God had in mind when He inspired Paul to write, “Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7 NETBible.com

“Do not be anxious,” he said.  I kinda wish He hadn’t said that because I am the type of person that gets anxious knowing that I should not be anxious.   Nevertheless, He said, “Do not be anxious for anything.”  

Anything that causes a person anxiety is now off the table.  Health hindrances, financial foul-ups, relational rollercoasters or even unmailed bills.  All anxiety is to be shunned.

In its place should be prayer, specific petitions concerning whatever issues we face. Requests should be posted to an all knowing, all powerful, completely motivated by love – God.   It should be partnered with thanksgiving. 

Why thanksgiving?  Because He has allowed us an opportunity to be challenged and to grow and He has given us the means by which to handle our anxieties and because our prayers are welcomed and encouraged, and because our God has pledged to answer and because we know that whatever answer He gives will be good for us because He loves us.    

And once those prayers have been dropped in the heavenly blue box, the peace of God will flood our hearts.   We will rest in confidence knowing that “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stay our divine courier from the swift completion of His appointed rounds.”  (My apologies to the USPS for modifying their motto)

And the delivery stats for an earnest prayer are the best.  They arrive at their destination nothing less than 100% of the time.

I don’t know about doing a New Year’s Resolution.  Mine usually end up as New Year’s Frustrations.  But maybe you and I can begin praying that God will remind us to pray. 

We can let the emotional strangulation we sometimes feel, become the trigger to post a prayer to heaven.

So maybe I should conclude with a prayer:  Lord I am certain – absolutely certain that I would be more able to handle the challenges of life, if my first response were to pray.  Would you help me, and us to develop that habit this year? 

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you!