(heart) > sacrifice

This is such a reassuring fact to think on, God desires our heart more than our sacrifice. He desires our praise and our faithfulness to Him, than just doing for the sake of doing. Yes, we need to 'DO', we need to actively obey, but he wants you to actively obey out of your heart, not just because 'that's what you're suppose to do'. He wants your heart, because He is trully, madly, deeply in love with you.

Here's some scripture, I found that once you start reading them you want more and more! :) (note the highlighted words, that's what God wants from you more than 'sacrifice'.)

"I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs." ~Psalm 69:30-31 (the words of David)

"I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. 'If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me." ~Psalm 50:9-15 (the words of God expressed through David)

"But Samuel replied: 'Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams'." ~1 Samuel 15:22 (The wise prophet who grew up training as a priest, referring to Solomon who had rebelled against God)

"In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." ~Psalm 40:6-8 (words of David)

"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings." ~Hosea 6:6 (words of the prophet Hosea who was depicting God through his own life as God being like a faithful husband to a unfaithful wife. God desires to be faithful to us!)

"And when the Pharisess saw this, they said to his discriples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?' But when he heard it, he said 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." ~Matthew 9:11-13 (Jesus responding to the hypocritical 'priests' of that time, who were judging Jesus for interacting with and showing mercy to sinners.)

"O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." ~Psalms 51:15-17 (a beautiful scripture by David reassuring himself and others that God desires our heart more than 'just doing'.)

Rock Your Body

*Creative Project* (for Dec. 28-Jan. 4)

Andreas and I put together some choreography with an editted version of 'Rock Your Body' by the B.E.P. in hopes to encourage the body of Christ to step out of routine...

Photography graciously provided by a member of Reboot: Kristianne

^ Starting out a bit tired of the mundane, schedule and routine we allow ourselves to slip into...


^ Then we begin to get a bit loser by tuning in to the Holy Spirit.


^ Andreas leads off with some freestyle and amazing break as usual.


^ I quickly join in with some rockin' freestyle that gets the audience in an uproar. ;)


^ We flip, we dance, we step in sink...

^ How can you step out of your normal 'routine' and press into what God has for you TODAY?

^ Even if when it puts you in some awkward positions...it's much more releiving to move with the power of the Holy Spirit than your own strife.

Kingdom Business

This is a mind bender so hold on tight...
I am a bit caught up in this whole thing of Kingdom of Heaven (not the movie, but the actual reality that is the Kingdom of God). It is existing right now, mostly in heaven but we can just barely touch on it right here on earth as well. Jesus talked a lot about "the Kingdom of Heaven" when he was here on earth (if you want to look for yourself, here's a link to the bible, pay special attention to Matthew, that is mostly referring to when Jesus talked about it while he was here on earth: click here)

In a class I attended we, after receiving a teaching on 'Kingdom of Heaven' were asked to kinda sum it all up. Mind you: this is almost like taking all the ocean and trying to fit it in a small drinking glass. It's a big subject to 'sum up'. But we basically used a visual example: a snow globe. (hint: We're in the snowglobe here on earth, looking out at the vastness of the Kingdom.) If I try to explain in a few words, it may only confuse you. So I'll just let that sit for now so you can ponder on it.
(maybe in this picture that represents God outside that snowglobe waiting to bust it open with a sledge hammer so we feel the reality of His Kingdom! haha).

The point is: there is a heavenly Kingdom that is God's Kingdom and it's existing right now, we can only be a part of the very outskirts of it while we're living on the planet earth (we can also invest into it). Just like I talked the other day of our earthly money being the equivelant of Monopoly money in light of the Kingdom of Heaven. Instead of our number one focus being our Monopoly-money, our number one focus should be, "...seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (matt. 6:33)!

This made me think, what am I doing to seek the Kingdom of God? Ok, read the Bible, worship, pray, etc. Ah-HA! We so easily leave out our 'daily-duties' in a way. We go to work, thinking this is just the way it is, I have to work to get money. However that QUICKLY, EASILY turns into 'serving money'! Which is exactly what Jesus warned about "No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Luke 16:13)

Andreas told me just the other day, that in Norwegian that is exactly the word you use when you go to work to earn money. Directly translated you say Norsk: "I have to go 'serve money'." or US English: "I have to go make/earn money."

This in no means is to say 'working' is evil. I'll try to ellaborate a bit (Lord help me). I've realized that when I go to some jobs that I feel I am just a part of the assembly line. I almost go insane. For example: stamp this, file that, stamp this, file that, stamp this, file that, all to make five bucks. I just want to pull my hair and bang my head on the wall. This is not the Godly reaction, of course. The Bible does say to the slave "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men..." So if we are making ourselves slave to money, then we should still do our work sincerely and not a bad attitude. HOWEVER, I realized (or am thinking that) we have a choice in Christ. We can choose to 'serve money', or we can choose to serve the Kingdom of God.

I think it's possible that a way to determine this is asking yourself, "How is this investing in the Kingdom of God?" Maybe you have a website building business. I'm not saying that's an 'evil' thing and only pastors are Godly. However maybe through that business you can start handing out business cards that also have scripture. Or, maybe ask God how to do your web design and put on workshops to multiply that way of running your business, giving God glory for how you're doing things. Does this make sense?


Maybe it's simply working at that desk job because people around you need to see the example of a true Christian and you can evangelize. However, if that's the case then do it! Don't just get stuck 'serving money'. Ask "How is this investing in the Kingdom of God?", if your job is not. Ask God for an idea of how to make it something that invests in His Kingdom and search scripture. God is the endless idea master. However, if you get no ideas for yourself, then maybe it's not the career for you and God has something better that fits you personally and that is a way to invest in the Kingdom.

That's my new challenge to myself,














"How is this investing in the Kingdom of God?"

Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Make Believe Money

I've been reading Max Lucado's 'Fearless', a good read. Simple and he has a way of drawing pictures - maybe a few short-films - with words and sentences.

This especially struck my attention sensors last night as reading...(this is in my words but the point Max was making)
Comparing: A wealthy Monopoly player, and I mean wealthy. This guy was loaded in not one but hundreds of Park Places, hundreds of Boardwalks, etc. Colorful money out the wazoo and was seeking someone to invest it all for him! I mean, to invest it outside of the Monopoly world... I'd like to try that sometime, wouldn't you? Walk into top stock brokers office down on Wall St. and say, ¨Hi Sir, it's your lucky day. I have a fortune.¨ They get all excited and then I break the news that I'm a koo-koo, ¨Yes, a fortune in Monopoly money! It's pink! and blue! and isn't that exciting?¨ (You think they would send security to throw me out...?)

The Comparison to this Monopoly craziness was us! (Luke 12:13-21) This is such a foundational Christian principle, yet one that we often forget. The money we are dealing with here on earth is not real, it's use is terminated the second we are. It's phony money, yet we cry and pray to God over it like it defines our whole existence. Reality is the Kingdom of Heaven. (Luke 12:22-30) It's God who should define us and God who should lead us. Not money telling us we have enough to travel there, or we should spend this much on that person because that's how much they're worth, or we can get this house or that food. I forget this, and it may be possible I'm not the only one. Yes, we need to be wise, but where does the ultimate supply of wisdom come from?

Andreas and I were just talking about this the other day, instead of saying what can I do, to get money for me, what are my gifts, what do I enjoy, how do I want to spend my time making money for my sake... Yes we need to be wise, but we need to take off the focus from us. What does God want me to do, how does God want to provide, what did God equip me with, what does God set in my heart to do, how does God want to spend the time He's given me on the world He created???

Maybe I need to spend more time seeking the Kingdom first rather than seeking the kingdom of my household through money (or 'work'). (Luke 12:31) Because seeking the Kingdom should in turn increase the household of Heaven and that's what we really should be interested in. Right? (that's a little rhetorical question).

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.^BE)"> Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with^BH)"> a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Luke 12:32-34

The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. Psalm 18:10