You’re on a need-to-know basis.
God is Surprising

If you have every had a bird feeder and chipmunks in the same area, you likely know that a sunflower can come up in the most surprising places. Chipmunks like to bury the seeds from the feeder most anywhere, and we water them inadvertently. Then one day, we might have the surprise of a sunflower in our pansy pot.

God can use any means He wants to plant seeds and that goes for the gospel seed in someone’s heart. He may use others to water it, but it is God who makes it grow.

Have you felt that something is trying to sprout within you? You might as well go with the grow, because you’ll never be happy being anything else especially a pansy. A pansy may be cute, but they aren’t too bright. I’ve seen them poking through the snow in December.

You need-to-know that God wants the whole world to be “Son-flowers.” All we have to do is confess our sins, quit acting like pansies, and turn to Jesus as a sunflower turns to the sun. You need-to-know He is the sun of righteousness. He will cause you to grow. Now bust out of that dirt!

You’re on a need-to-know basis.
God is Selective

If you were a puppy for sale, would God select you to go home with him?

All us puppies were purchased when Jesus died on the cross paying for the sins of the whole world. The catch is that you must be willing to come to Him.

Some puppies tend to go exploring in any direction they choose when God is calling. Although God knows that trail is not the best, He will never drag a puppy back by the scruff of the neck. He is just selecting the willing.

Are you willing to come? The Scriptures say, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” James 4:8 NIV “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29 NIV. One must be willing.

You need-to-know that you don’t have to explore every bunny trial looking for God. He is just outside your heart. When the puppy willingly turns its heart to the Lord and Savior Jesus, the tail is sure to follow. One more thing you need-to-know: God has good treats!

You’re on a need-to-know basis.
God is Top Priority, or should be.

So, you realized that you were a sinner and needed a Savior, confessed your sins and turned from them, while trusting that Jesus had paid your sin debt in full on the cross. Terrific! You have made “Peace with God” and you have entered into a relationship with Him as His child.

For some of us in this relationship it resembles more of Martha and not so much of Mary. Our priorities are out of balance. We are still children of God, and still have “Peace with God,” but we are lacking the “Peace of God.” This peace comes when we take time to develop the relationship through prayer, reading his word, and hanging out with those who are doing likewise.

We all need-to-know, or be reminded, that there is more to life than busyness that robs our relationship. No other relationship, or busyness, in life is the same as when the Lord is our Top Priority.

If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, you need-to-know that you should get busy (just this once) and re-read the first paragraph, and make that your first priority. Then make the relationship your daily Top Priority.

You’re on a need-to-know basis.
God is Bungeeful

Yes, “Bungeeful” is a coined word that describes the fact that God is abundantly supplied with cords of love and protection for everyone.

“Our Daily Bread” author and contributor, Bill Crowder said it best, “It’s in these twin harnesses - God’s grace and faith in the finished work of Jesus - that our relationship with God safely rests. In the strength of these provisions, salvation is not a risky leap into the void. It’s an exercise of confidence in God’s Word and His unfailing love and protection.”

How wonderful-to-know that when we confess our sins to God, turn from them, and have faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we can really enjoy the plunge of life.

You need-to-know that others, still on the bridge, also need-to-know about the Bungeeful love of God, because it is   ...a long way down.

You’re on a need-to-know basis.
God is Able

You may have heard it said that you “win some, lose some, and some are rained out, but you have to dress for all the games.” That means that no matter what, you have to be ready. If you aren’t ready you can’t win, only lose or at best hope for rain, but if you’re really ready you get to conquer, rain or shine.

When we confess our fielding errors to Jesus and trust Him as Savior and Lord, He forgives us, and we are on His team. God is then able to make us more than conquerors every day and in every game on the schedule.

We may still bobble the ball from time to time. We might even drop the bat or walk out of our sneaker by not being in step with God, but in the end we still win. At times we might feel like we’re behind and wish it would rain, but in the end we win. It’s all there in His Great Play Book called the Bible.

Isn’t it nice to know that what you need-to-know is to Trust in Jesus no matter what? He will provide the victory when we show up to conquer life in His name.

Now straighten up that ball cap and get out there and cover all the “bases” now that you’ve tagged the basis about trusting Jesus.

You’re on a need-to-know basis.
God is Searching

Are you feeling you aren’t worth a nickel? Are you lost so far down in the upholstery of life that you think it is impossible to be found? When you try to climb out, do you find that some derrière just won’t let you up? It might be the result of some bad choices on your part, or maybe life just opened wide and you fell into this dark abyss?

Jesus told a story to illustrate how God is searching and finding lost coins (people) everyday. Actually He knows right where we are and which chair we are in, but it is our sin that prevents God from reaching under the cushion for our rescue.

To be within God’s reach, we need to ask for His forgiveness of our sin and accept His Son Jesus, as Savior and Lord of our life. God will then put us in the palm of His hand, and we can never roll out again.

You have heard, “Jesus Saves.” Yes, He just loves collecting us nickels. We are so valuable to Him that He died for us. He won’t settle for just our two cents worth, but wants the whole coin (person).

It’s also nice-to-know that once found, we are investing our nickel’s worth in His Kingdom for eternity.

You’re on a need-to-know basis.
God is Life

Very soon in life one discovers that making choices is not a Teddy Bears’ Picnic. As the song goes, “Watch them, catch them, unawares ...” “...gad about ... play and shout ...they never have any cares.” The song never tells you about the traps, but they’re always there. We have all stepped in one from time to time.

Teddy Bears don’t always see that the glass isn’t full and that the cookies are in the dirt, and they don’t see the trap at all, but God wants us to side step those traps and head straight for His table. He invites us to pull up a chair and enjoy what is always good.

So if it is “...six o’clock” for you and you are one of those “... tired little Teddy Bears,” then it is time to come out of the woods, and receive Jesus who came to die for all us bears. By confessing one’s sins, turning from them, and asking Jesus to be Savior and Lord, we will have His ever present help in life and for all eternity. As He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

God knows what we’re made of, and He wants us to choose wisely so we don’t get our stuffing torn out. Choose Life! Choose Jesus!!!

All us Teddys need-to-know this.

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God is Love

Good Friday is all about this love, and the empty tomb confirms it.

As scripture teaches us, God demonstrated His love for us while we were still sinners when Christ died for us all. Without that, we would be dead in our sins forever.

The moment I came to realize that, those wonders took hold of me. When I ponder His great love, my mind is stretched beyond its limit.

The words in the hymn, “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” come close to describing what I feel. I relate to, “mine eyes at times can see, The very dying form of One, Who suffered there for me.”

The quick gesture drawing above is more than just a simple scribble or vague image of the Crucifixion. It is a moment in time. This moment is when Christ paid the price, but it could also speak of the moment I first believed.

What the drawing doesn’t depict is the dying thief next to Jesus when he discovers who Jesus is and how much Jesus loves him. At this moment the criminal’s heart must have been smitten.

We all, in a way, are like the thief on the cross when we have our moment of knowing Jesus.

Have you had your moment?

If you haven’t, you’re on a need-to-know basis that your moment can happen when you confess your sins, repent, and trust Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

Isn’t it good to know what we need-to-know, and who we need-to-know, in order to fully receive the Love of God?

If you have had this “moment,” please share it with others. They’re on a need-to-know basis too.

The wonders of
His glorious love
and my unworthiness.

You’re on a need-to-know basis.
God is Encouraging

Is there something slowing you down from running life’s race to its fullest? We often drag around the burdensome beast of sin. We may even carry guilt on our back, like a thought that God couldn’t forgive that little monkey of a transgression. How about those nasty rats that tell us that God doesn’t want us to win? They all may even seem cute and harmless, but they are animals; on the inside they are full of no good fluff.

God doesn’t want us to run like that. The Bible is full of God’s promises that encourage us in the race of life. He wants us to run free! Beginning with the freedom that comes from trusting in Jesus as one’s Lord and Savior, relying on God at every curve, confessing any sin critter we pick up along the way, dropping that baggage, and living the life God calls us to live in Christ Jesus.

Isn’t it good to know how we can run the race and finish strong. God can knock the stuffing out of any sin!

You’re on a need-to-know basis.
God is Glorygood

Here’s a newly coined word, “Glorygood.” This is a two word combination of some characteristics of God. God orchestrates things for His glory and the good of those who love Him and are called.

In a nutshell you can hear God’s call in John 3:16 of the Bible, offering salvation to everyone who trusts in His Son, Jesus. This is obviously for our good, but it doesn’t eliminate the bees (trials) in life that come our way.

How do the bees (trials) do us any good? They can drive us back to God for refuge and healing when we go astray, we taste the nectar of God’s sufficiency in times of suffering, and thus, we can comfort others being stung because we understand their pain, and finally our trust in the Lord, who is Glorygood, is strongly honeycombed in our lives. This is all good “bees”iness.

What one needs-to-know is that the bees (trails) of life will come at everyone, but if we trust in Jesus, H e will provide the way through the trials. So now you know why we can say, “God is Glorygood!” You can “bee” sure it.

You’re on a need-to-know basis.
God is Unrelenting, like a boy after his lost puppy.

Unrelenting is the passion God has for us. He continues to love us, search for us, find us and then, all of heaven gives a big, “OH YEAH!!!!” when we are found.

Just like a puppy, we don’t think we’re lost. We are just exploring all the sights and smells on this good earth. Aren’t we made for that? Yes, but not without our invisible fence. This fence is really the Holy Spirit of God which is activated when we trust in Jesus as our Savior and Lord. It comes free of charge and without an installation fee or that suspicious little notice of “Some Assembly Required.”

When we come to Jesus, confess and turn from our sins, we can go and explore anywhere we want, because He is faithful, by His Spirit, to always be with us. He will guide us and protect us from ever being lost again, and it is not with a shock collar. It comes through loving God, searching His Word (the Bible), finding the Truth (Jesus), and rejoicing in Him forever.

Unlike a boy who might lose his dog, God will not allow you to be lost to this world’s bad sights and smells. Isn’t it good to know what we need-to-know about being a good puppy. Isn’t it time for your walk... with the Lord?