Trusting God Over Material Possessions

We all have something we're holding onto. Maybe it's your time, your money, your talents, or your dreams. We create these secret places in our hearts and tell God, "This is mine." But here's the truth that'll shake you up: there's going to come a point where God asks you for the very thing you think belongs to you. And you've got to have the discipline to let it go.

The Discipline of Letting Go

I remember watching one of my favorite movies, Heat, with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. There's this powerful scene where De Niro's character says, "Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around a corner." Now, I'm not saying you need to live like a criminal on the run, but there's something profound here about discipline.

As believers, we're going to face roads of decision where God asks us to drop something we don't want to release. It could be money, wealth, time, talent, identity, or even unforgiveness. These are all things we grip tightly, as if God doesn't already know we're holding them.

The Rich Young Ruler's Question

Let's dive into Mark 10:17. A man ran up to Jesus, knelt before him, and asked, "Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

Here's what gets me about this story: the rich young ruler ran up excited but crawled away disappointed. Why? Because he wanted a checklist, not a relationship. He wanted rules without relationship, and let me tell you something - rules without relationship leads to rebellion.

The salvation answer is simple, and I'm giving it to you straight from Romans 10:9: "If you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." That's it. That's the answer.

Nobody's Perfect - We've All Sinned

Let me ask you something: Have you ever sinned before? Of course you have. If someone's hand isn't up right now, they're sinning by lying! Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."

But here's the beautiful part - First John 1:9 tells us, "If we freely admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just, true to His nature and promises, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

It's not about what you can do for God. It's about what God has already done for you. Ephesians 2:8-9 makes this crystal clear: "For it is by grace, God's remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ, that you have been saved through faith. And this salvation is not of yourselves, not of your own effort, but it is the gift of God, not as a result of works."

The Heart Issue

When Jesus looked at the rich young ruler, He gave him six of the Ten Commandments. And in his pride, the man said, "Teacher, I have carefully kept all of these since my youth."

Hold up. Nobody has kept all the commandments. That's half his issue right there - telling Jesus he's kept all the rules when no one ever has.

Jesus looked at him with love and said, "You lack one thing: Go and sell all your property and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

Where Your Treasure Is

Matthew 6:21 hits different when you really sit with it: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be."

You want to know someone's heart? Look at two things - their money and their mouth. What they treasure and what they say will tell you everything you need to know.

Jesus wasn't telling everyone to sell everything. He was speaking to this man's specific issue. For Abraham, it was his son Isaac. For the rich young ruler, it was his wealth. What's yours?

The Real Problem: Stuff Having You

God is not against you having stuff. He's against stuff having you. Can you let it go when He asks? If you can't, then it's got you - you don't got it.

First Timothy 6:10 warns us: "For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. And some longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."

Listen, I've been trying to get rich my whole life. Can we be real? I grew up watching Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. I've seen the Amway, the Mary Kay, the get-rich-quick schemes. I bought a Rolex on the street in New York that stopped working 30 seconds after I walked away. When you try to find shortcuts, you always leave burnt.

It's Difficult, But Not Impossible

Jesus said in Mark 10:25, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man who places his trust in wealth to enter the kingdom of God."

Notice He didn't say impossible. He said difficult. The disciples were amazed and asked, "Then who can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

God's Power Working in You

Philippians 4:13 declares, "I can do all things which He has called me to do through Christ who strengthens and empowers me to fulfill His purpose."

Ephesians 3:20 takes it even further: "Now to Him who is able to carry out His purpose and do superabundantly more than all we dare ask or think, infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, and dreams, according to His power that is at work within us."

You're fully equipped. Everything you need for your purpose is already available through your relationship with God.

From Four Houses to a Hotel

God gave me a word while I was driving. He said, "Think about Monopoly."

The Bible says God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The gold is His. The silver is His. The whole world is in His hands. When God was asking the rich young ruler for his properties, He was trying to take him from four houses to a hotel.

But the rich young ruler couldn't see it. He was so caught up with what he had in his hands that he missed what God was trying to get to him. You can't get your hotel until you give up the houses.

Sometimes we get so focused on what we have that we don't realize who has us.

Letting Go So You Can Grow

Say this to yourself: "forgive so you can live again. Let it go so you can grow."

Some of you are still mad about something that happened years ago. If God gives you undeserved grace, why are you withholding it from others? I'm not saying they were right. I'm just saying stop allowing them to beat you twice. The incident hurt you badly, but if you hold onto it now, they're still hurting you and they're not even around.

Stop waiting for an apology to be all right. Sorry ain't going to take back the time you wasted. Let it go.

Sometimes We Cling to What's Killing Us

Here's a hard truth: Sometimes we cling to what's killing us and reject what could save us.

I remember being in the infusion lab during my cancer treatment. I had a port in my chest connected to chemotherapy, and I'd look outside and see someone wheeling their infusion machine outside to smoke a cigarette. They're getting chemo for cancer while smoking. That's clinging to what's killing you while getting treatment for what it's doing to you.

It might not be smoking for you. Maybe it's drinking, sleeping around, unforgiveness, pride, or anything else that's slowly destroying you. Sin leads to death. Period. Whatever the sin, at the end of it is death.

Building Your Eternal Home

John 14:2 says, "In My Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

I read a story about a man who got to heaven excited about his mansion. They put him in a golf cart and drove past the mansion community, past the mini-mansion community, past the single-family homes, past the townhouses, and dropped him off at an apartment.

He asked, "What's this?"

They said, "We did the best with what you sent us."

You're building your own house with your choices right now. We think we're cheating God, but we're going to live in the house we build with our decisions. The Bible tells us not to store treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, but to store treasures in heaven.

What God Really Wants

God doesn't want your money. He wants your heart.

He didn't really want Abraham's son Isaac - that was just Abraham's heart. God wants your heart because Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the issues of life."

Give God your heart, and He'll take care of everything else. That's why Romans 10:9 says to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, and you shall be saved.

Change Begins With You

If you want something different, you have to do something different. If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.

What is God asking you to let go of? What are you gripping so tightly that you can't receive what He has for you next?

God is calling you to a higher level. Don't miss your hotel because you're holding onto your houses. Trust Him. Let go. And watch what He does next.

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