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When God Asks You to Give Something Away · Daily Devotions for Busy Lives

• 0:01
  Bart Leger: Jeff and Carrie Patterson had finally done it.
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  After years of saving and planning, they built the house
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  they'd always wanted. A brand new home with room to spread out
• 0:11
  and everything the way they liked it. Then Carrie read a
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  book that would not leave her alone. It asked how much a
• 0:17
  family needs, and she couldn't shake it. She looked around the
• 0:20
  dream house that they had just moved into, and for the first
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  time, it felt like too much. The truth was, God had put His
• 0:28
  finger on the one thing they had worked the hardest to get, and
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  now they had to decide what they loved more. We'll come back to
• 0:36
  what they decided, but first,
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  welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Leger.
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  Catherine and I have been here more than once. There have been
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  times the Lord impressed on us to give everything we had for
• 0:50
  the rest of the month to the church or to a cause. I remember
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  looking at what was left and doing the arithmetic, and it
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  never came out right, but we gave it anyway, and God always
• 1:03
  met our needs. He met them every single time. Every so often, God
• 1:07
  puts His finger on something in your life and asks you to open
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  your hand, a possession you've grown attached to, a
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  relationship you've been trying to control. You probably know
• 1:16
  what yours is already, because it came to mind the moment you
• 1:18
  heard the title of this episode. There's a man in Mark 10 who did
• 1:30
  that exact math. He ran up and knelt in front of Jesus, asking
• 1:34
  what he had to do to inherit eternal life. He'd kept the
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  commandments since he was a boy. Then Jesus answered him. We see
• 1:42
  it in Mark 10, verses 21 and 22.
• 2:19
  There is still one thing you haven't done. One thing.
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  Then the sentence ends with an invitation. Then, come, follow
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  me. The selling was simply the doorway, and Jesus was standing
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  on the other side of it. The man's face fell. And the Bible
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  says he went away sad, because he had many possessions. He's
• 2:49
  one of the few people in the Gospels who heard Jesus say,
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  follow And he turned it down, and he left sad. He wanted what
• 2:56
  Jesus was offering, but he wanted his stuff more. Sometimes
• 3:01
  the thing God asks you to release is the thing he knows is
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  standing between you and him. And if he is asking, he's
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  inviting you into something better than what you've been
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  letting go of. That's the promise tucked inside verse 21,
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  treasure in heaven and Jesus himself. Jeff and Carrie sold
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  the dream house. They moved into a home nearly 1,000 square feet
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  smaller and set aside around $500, 000 to give to people in
• 3:28
  need. With the money and the time they freed up, Jeff started
• 3:32
  a church in a low-income part of Portland. Carrie, put it in one
• 3:36
  line. All of us have something God can use, and the question is
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  whether we will offer it. They gave away the house they loved,
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  and what they got back was a life that fit what they had
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  believed. All of us have something. For the Pattersons,
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  it was square footage. For you, it might be a relationship you
• 3:54
  keep trying to steer or a plan you've been gripping for many
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  years. The size of the thing matters less than whose hand
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  it's in. Here's today's challenge. Take the thing that
• 4:04
  comes to mind when this episode started and tell God what it is.
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  Then hold your hands open in your lap for one minute and pray,
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  this is yours. You don't have to settle the rest of it today, but
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  simply start by opening your hand and giving it to him if he
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  requires it of you. Father, thank you that you look at us
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  with love before you ever ask us for anything. You see what's in
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  our hands, and you know which of those things has been keeping us
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  from you. For everyone listening who already knows what you're
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  putting your finger on, give them the courage to open their
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  hand and keep them from walking away sad. Show them what you're
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  inviting into on the other side of it. In Jesus' name, amen.
• 4:44
  This podcast runs on the generosity of listeners just
• 4:47
  like you. If Daily Devotions for Busy Lives has encouraged you,
• 4:51
  would you consider supporting it with a one-time gift or by
• 4:54
  becoming a monthly supporter? Every contribution helps keeps
• 4:58
  these devotions coming every week. You can give at
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  dailydevotionsforbusylives.com slash support. Thank you so much.
• 5:07
  And thanks for joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives.
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  Remember, Jesus loved that man before he ever asked him for
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  anything. If he's asking you, he's inviting you. Come back
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  next time for more encouragement to help you live grounded in
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  God's truth. Until then, God bless and have a great day.