The reward of making God your Backup plan!

Sep 13, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Two Mites in the Treasury’s Shadow

Jesus watched how people gave, not just what they gave. A poor widow’s two coins meant nothing to the crowd but everything to God. While others gave from surplus, she surrendered her last resources without fanfare. Her quiet act revealed total trust in divine provision. Jesus stopped teaching to highlight this unnoticed offering, proving heaven’s economy values heart posture over visible amounts. True surrender happens when no one applauds. [40:21]

And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
(Mark 12:42-44, KJV)

Reflection: What “two mites” are you hesitating to release to God? How might holding back one coin limit your trust in His provision?

Day 2: Letting Go of the Nets

Disciples left livelihoods to follow Jesus. The widow released her last coins. Both acts required abandoning safety nets. Surrender isn’t partial—it’s leaving boats, nets, and backup plans behind. Jesus calls followers to immediate obedience, not calculated risk management. Trust grows when we stop rationing our “what if” reserves and act like God alone sustains us. [49:20]

And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.
(Mark 1:17-18, KJV)

Reflection: What nets—relationships, habits, or securities—do you still grip? How might clinging to them dilute your capacity to follow Christ fully?

Day 3: Worship in a Hypocrite’s Temple

The widow gave her all in a corrupt system. Religious leaders exploited widows, yet she focused on obedience, not others’ failures. Surrender thrives when we stop using others’ hypocrisy as an excuse. Like this woman, our responsibility is personal faithfulness—not policing the spiritual authenticity of those around us. [52:26]

Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
(Mark 12:38-40, KJV)

Reflection: Where have you delayed obedience because of others’ spiritual shortcomings? How can you shift focus to your own response to God’s call?

Day 4: Answering for Yourself

Judgment day won’t include group projects. The widow’s story reminds us we’ll account for our choices, not others’ failures. Jesus highlighted her solitary act to emphasize personal responsibility. Surrender requires resisting the urge to compare, blame, or hide behind collective spiritual mediocrity. [59:01]

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
(Romans 14:12, KJV)

Reflection: What area of compromise do you justify by saying “everyone does it”? How might taking sole responsibility change your next step of obedience?

Day 5: The Backup Plan Test

Abraham raised the knife. The widow dropped the coins. Both acted as if God was their only option. True surrender eliminates escape routes—no spared Isaac, no hidden mite. When we obey completely, we force divine faithfulness to manifest. Half-measures produce half-miracles. [48:39]

Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
(Psalm 37:5, KJV)

Reflection: Where do you still maintain a “just in case” plan? What would it look like to burn that bridge and depend wholly on God today?

Sermon Summary

Mark places Jesus in the temple after He has answered the religious leaders, and Jesus sits across from the treasury watching how people give. The text does not merely count what goes into the offering, because Jesus is looking at the heart that is willing to release it. The rich cast in much out of their abundance, but the poor widow puts in two mites, even all her living. The widow has no entourage, no recognition, and no impressive amount, but her surrender stops Jesus in His tracks.

The contrast between the great temple and the poor widow shows what really catches heaven’s attention. Men can be impressed by stones, buildings, big offerings, and people who look important, but Jesus is impressed with surrender. The temple would later be torn down, but the widow’s testimony is still preaching today. The widow gives what God puts on her heart to give, then trusts God to take care of what happens next.

The question is whether God is the backup plan, or whether God comes first while everything else is held back just in case. The two mites show that the widow had an opportunity to keep one for herself, and nobody around her would have noticed. The widow refuses to hold back because she trusts God with tomorrow, with food, with provision, and with her very life. Total surrender means obeying when God puts His finger on something, whether that thing is money, pride, comfort, a relationship, a habit, or a fear.

Abraham shows that surrender can require releasing Isaac, and the disciples show that surrender can require forsaking the nets. God calls His people to obey first and trust Him to take care of everything else. Worship also requires that kind of surrender, because praise cannot wait for somebody else to shout, dance, or understand. Jesus remains worthy even when other people look cold, get offended, or fail to do right.

The widow also walks into a religious environment where scribes devour widows’ houses and make long prayers, yet their hypocrisy does not stop her obedience. Somebody else’s disobedience never cancels God’s will for another life. God holds each person responsible for answering for himself or herself, not for copying what happens at church, at work, in the family, or among friends. The call is simple: give God all that is in the hand today, take the step He has called for, and let Him take it from there.

Key Takeaways

1. God looks at how surrender happens Jesus did not simply notice the amount placed in the treasury. The widow’s two mites carried the weight of her whole living because her heart did not keep a portion back for safety. God still looks beyond visible results and sees whether a person is giving from abundance or truly releasing what He has asked for. [42:13]
2. God must not be a backup plan The widow could have held back one mite and still appeared generous to everyone around her. Total surrender begins where a person stops obeying God only when there is another option available. Faith obeys today and trusts God to handle tomorrow. [46:50]
3. Other people cannot cancel obedience The widow gave unto God even while corrupt religious people stood around her. Hypocrisy, offense, family pressure, and bad examples never remove a person’s responsibility before God. Each life must answer for what God called that life to do. [59:59]
4. God calls for the next step God does not require a person to know every detail before saying yes. The call may involve making peace, answering a difficult phone call, confronting sin, or serving in an unfamiliar place. Obedience starts with, “Yes, Lord, I’ll try,” and God takes it from there.

## [70:44]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[37:46] - Outreach and Church Announcements
[39:47] - Reading Mark 12:38-44
[41:16] - Is God Your Backup Plan?
[42:13] - Jesus Watches How People Give
[43:37] - The Widow’s Surrender Over the Temple
[46:29] - The Two Mites and Total Surrender
[48:18] - Abraham, the Disciples, and Letting Go
[51:51] - Worship Without Holding Back
[52:08] - Obeying God Among Hypocrites
[58:45] - Answering to God for Yourself
[64:04] - Releasing Pride and Trusting God
[68:25] - Obeying God With Present Struggles
[72:57] - Give It All to God
[74:31] - Altar Call for Full Surrender

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Mark 12:41-44
“And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”
[39:47] [42:13]

Mark 12:38-40
“And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.”
[39:47] [52:08]

Matthew 4:19-20
“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.”
[48:18]

Psalms 37:5
“Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”
[01:09:04]

Observation questions

What difference does Jesus point out between the rich people’s offerings and the poor widow’s two mites in Mark 12:41-44? [42:13]
What does the word “how” in “Jesus… beheld how the people cast money” show that Jesus was watching besides the amount given? [42:20]
What kinds of behavior did Jesus warn about in the scribes, and how does that warning set the scene for the widow’s offering? [52:08]
What did the disciples leave behind when Jesus called them, and how quickly did they respond? [48:18]

Interpretation questions

Why would Jesus say that the widow gave “more” than those who gave much larger amounts? What does this show about how God measures surrender? [43:37]
The widow gave in a place where religious leaders were acting wrongly. How does her example show that another person’s hypocrisy does not remove a believer’s responsibility to obey God? [59:59]
Why is holding back “one mite” a picture of treating God as a backup plan? What does it look like when a believer obeys God while still trying to keep control of the outcome? [46:50]
Psalm 37:5 says to commit one’s way to the Lord and trust Him to bring it to pass. What is the believer’s part, and what is left in God’s hands? [01:09:04]

Application questions

Is there an area of life where you have given God much, but still held back one “mite” for yourself—money, time, pride, comfort, a relationship, a habit, or fear? What might it mean to place that area fully in God’s hands? [48:18]
When you think about tomorrow, what usually becomes your backup plan besides God? How can you practice obeying God today without demanding to know every detail of what will happen next? [46:07]
Is there a person you need to contact, forgive, apologize to, or make peace with, even if you do not feel you caused the problem? What would a first obedient step look like this week? [01:04:32]
Have the failures, coldness, or hypocrisy of other people ever made you pull back from worship, church, service, or living for God? How can you keep your eyes on Jesus and remain faithful to what God has called you to do? [01:00:02]
Is there a setting—at work, with family, among friends, or online—where you feel pressure to go along with what you know is not right? What could it look like to answer to God for yourself in that situation? [01:01:44]
What is one next step of service or growth that you have avoided because you feel unprepared, afraid of failing, or concerned about what people may think? Could you honestly say, “Yes, Lord, I’ll try,” and take one practical step toward it? [01:10:44]
How can you worship God more freely and sincerely without waiting for other people to respond, understand, or approve? [50:27]

Sermon Clips

41s

#TrustGodAllIn

“This widow gave everything that she had. The word of god says, even all her living. Let me ask you this morning. Can you trust god for what happens next in your life? Can you totally obey god now and let god take care of tomorrow? See, the widow was poor. Nobody standing around the treasury even saw what she was doing. Nobody was paying any attention to her. But in her heart and in her mind, she refused to hold back from god. And that's what I wanna look at this morning. Trust in god. Obey in god. Letting god be your backup plan.”

38s

#NoHalfMeasures

“She could've been talking to herself. You know how you talk to yourself sometimes when you try to rationalize or or justify what you're doing? She could've said, lord, I'm giving you half. Lord, you know my situation. Lord, you know, I have needs also. So, I'm gonna hold back one might and give the other might to you. And all those things would have been true. She was starving. She was in a bad situation. But there was something in this woman's heart that refused to hold back on God.”

40s

#SurrenderEverything

“See, this is something that I've been looking at for over the years, and I've had to go through my own personal walk with God. Many believers hold back on god. They say sometimes they, I obey god and I love god and he's my all in all. He's the king of kings and the lord of lords, and and they they say these things, but then they'll only do part of god's will. I'll do god's will, but I'm a keep this back. I'll follow god, but I'm not surrendering everything to god. I'll trust in god as long as I have something to fall back on. That's not total surrendering to god. That's not total surrender.”

50s

#ReleasePride

“There's gonna be some times to obey god means to give everything. You're gonna have to release that thing. Sometimes, you have to release your pride. God calls you to go and apologize to somebody. Come on now. The first thing in your mind is I didn't cause the problem, and I'm not apologizing. I need somebody in the church say amen right there. Come on out. God never said you were the one at fault. God called you to be a peacemaker. God called you to talk to them and and let them know that, put it on me, and let's just move forward from here. And because they would never do it, god's called you to be the peacemaker. God's called you to be the one to make things right and you're saying to god, I'm not gonna do that. Pride.”

33s

#AnswerToGod

“And you can say, well, that one over there did this wrong, and that one over there did that wrong. The pastor did this wrong. Pastor's wife did that wrong. This one did that wrong. You could blame everybody in the world if you want to. For this lady, the priest may have been wrong. The scribes may have been wrong. The whole system may have been wrong. But she said, in her mind, I have to answer to god for me. Somebody say amen right there. Have to answer to god for ourselves.”

32s

#HeartOverAmount

“You see, one of the things you wanna take a look at is that god's will was for her to give in the offering. And it wasn't measured by merely what leaves her hand, what measures what her heart was willing to release. This is what I want to take a look at this morning. When everything is gone in your life, when you've given to god like god wants you to give, when you've done what god wants you to do, there and seems to be nothing left. Can you trust god to take it from there?”

42s

#TwoMitesFaith

“Many times, we see that people hold on to part of their life, hold on to part of things. And and they give god many a lot of things, but they may keep one door to themself. One little thing they keep to themselves and don't really surrender all to god. This woman wasn't wealthy. She was a weapon. She was poor. But the greatest lesson we can look here and see, she refused to hold back on god. She felt in her spirit god wanna give everything that she had, which was the two mites. And so she did just that. She trusted god would take care of her. Can somebody say amen right there?”

44s

#LetGoLikeAbraham

“When you're trusting god and you obey god, then you just do what god wants you to do. And when god puts his finger on something, you have to release it and let it go. Abraham had to go through this. God put his finger on Isaac, and Abraham had to let him go. God told Abraham, want you to to Mount Moriah, and I want you to offer up Isaac there. And I and Abraham did just that. And right before he was ready to offer up his son unto God, God stopped him and said, now I know. But you see, he had to be willing to let go and to release Abraham to release Isaac.”

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New Testament Christian Church - Irving, TX This sermon · AI assistant

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