Come And Rest in Me

By Tyrell L. Samuels

Why doth thou despair? 

Dost thou loveth thy life too much? 

Why hast thou not found Me sweeter than all life hast to offer? 

Why hast thou not called it dung in light of knowing Me? 

Come and rest in Me, and find your hunger safe at ease. 

What are these tears you drip so well? 

Why have you fallen to your knees? 

Have thou not found Me sweet? 

Sweeter than all your treats. 

Have I not made that too? 

That which you took to be so great...is it lovlier than I? 

How long wilt thou wait, till thou come and rest in Me?

More Than An Object

"The whole idea of Rape in a culture that slaughters the concept of Modesty intrigues me I have to say. I mean really, how many women out there are actually opposed to being raped? Is that a silly question? No, think about it with me...It's enough that men are immensely prone to undressing women with their eyes and fantasizing about them Regardless of what a woman wears. But that women would intentionally wear clothes that either are too tight or bear too much skin is all puzzling to say the least. So hear we have two sinners. One, the man who can scarcely bridle his desire to rape the woman with his eyes...even with the power of God, and the woman who Begs to be raped by the message her clothing gives. Are they both merely products of innate or learned folly?

So we have the man who rapes, and the woman who begs to be raped (And yes, she begs this whether she is conscious of it or not)...and yet this is a scandal to them both...

That makes no sense...what has sin wrought on mankind, but utter insanity!!! If Christ have not mercy, then Damn that man for rape and violating that woman and her husband. And Damn that woman too for soliciting her body to be violated. She has no respect for herself and has thus provoked her own rape. Do this, lest Christ have mercy on them both."

What shall we say about women in bikinis? They hide their shame at the beach, and flaunt their husband's glory to all the world. She does so in splendor and pomp. She is delighted to have all men (and women) delight in the parts of her body that are the most vain. Now, take that same woman and put her in a girl's locker room. Give her a bra and panties and then enter a man in that locker room. What do you think she will do? She will cover up in Embarrassment. Why does she have shame in the locker room and not on the beach or at the pool? In that locker room, she would feel all the horror of being Violated. But on the beach she glories in her shame. This should not be so. It is good for a woman to wear what is proper in public, something that is modest and does not shame her honor. All women have honor, because they are created in the image of God. You think my message is hateful? No, I share these things because I LOVE WOMEN! I love them so much that it breaks my heart every single time I see a woman slanders her own character by dressing like a WHORE. And I must certainly say that this summer...most American women will be dressing like whores. This is a message of love. Ladies, cover up and loosen your clothing. I think you're precious and no one deserves to see you in such a manner except your husband. You might stick out like a sore thumb, but at least you will have dignity and honor...which is worth far more than popular and fleeting opinion. Most men can't help but violate you with their thoughts as you walk by...it's not love, or good attention (though you may have been seeking this by your dress) it's just plain violation. We men, most of us can't help but see you as objects without you provoking us to do so. Don't give us a reason. Carry as your crown your good character, not a butt some breasts and thighs. If you esteem these things, men will have little excuse but to see you as nothing but those objects. I suspect that you want to be more than an object in a man's mind...right?

Jesus Rose

If Jesus rose, that changes everything. And He did rise. What does that mean for you? Death is fast approaching in spite of all your mischief and mirth. You can sit around wasting your time, or you can make this life count. Just a little smoke rising, a fluttering of a bird's wing, a few revolutions around the sun...and that's it. Your life is gone. Before you know it, Eternity will welcome you...what you believe about Jesus is the difference between all the suffering this world has to offer magnified forever, or the greatest bliss this world has never known. If Jesus rose, that changes everything. And He did rise... what does that mean for you? 

You may be a friend, a family member, an old co-worker... I don't know, but it doesn't really matter if you say you believe in Jesus... The demons believe in Jesus and they too will perish in Hell. Is He your Lord, do you love Him? Do you obey Him? Do you yearn for Him? Do you love others...even the ones who hate you? Are you living for yourself...or are you submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ? I don't care if you "know" God...do you obey Him? Jesus Christ died on a cross 2000 years ago for a group of people. Sometimes they're referred to as the Bride, sometimes the Church. Are you apart of His church? Are you apart of the Bride of Christ. Did He die for you? If He did, He has shown you the greatest love any husband could ever show his bride. Are you living in His love? Are you loving Him back...or are you a harlot? Come onnn... enough with that "God has done so much for me" stuff. Jesus came to save the Lost, Jesus came to give rest to the weary, Jesus came to forgive sinners. Are you a sinner in need of forgiveness? Are you tired of living your weary sin-soaked life? Jesus came to set the captives free. Jesus said "I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one can come to the Father except through Me." Jesus said "I am the bread of Life." Indeed man can't live on bread alone. Are you eating Him? Are you forgiven by Him? Where is the evidence of your forgiveness? Do you hate your sin... By golly, do you hate your sin? If you don't have a new relationship with sin... then I presume... you do not know Jesus, and you do not know God.

The Cost of Following Christ

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.-Proverbs 19:21

Last week, a brother asked me if it was okay to have dreams and goals in this life. It was a fair question to ask. Here's how I responded:

“Brother, so as long as your dreams and goals do not supersede God's will for your life. The cost of following Christ demands that you lay down your life; your own dreams and goals for the ones He will give you once you start following Him. If you have dreams to glorify God and advance His kingdom, then chances are the Lord placed those desires in you. Just examine those goals bro. Do they glorify God, or do they only bring glory to yourself? Do these dreams bring you comfort in this life over radically living for Christ?

Bro I encourage you to read Luke 9:23-24 and meditate on it for a while. Your time on this earth is short, and our life is not our own. How will you spend your time here? Will you live for Christ, or yourself? (23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.)

It's ok to have dreams and goals, just don't get upset when the Lord changes them. Be more eager about seeking God's plan for your life. In the book of Acts, Paul had a desire to go to Rome, and the Lord honored it because it glorified Him. Paul tried to seek the glory of God in all he did.”

Darrell Johnson writes: To deny yourself means to deny your self-lordship. It means saying no to the god who is me, to reject the demands of the god who is me, to refuse to obey the claims of the god who is me. A decisive no “I do not know the Lord Me-I do not bow down to him or her anymore.”

He also said: A man on his way to public crucifixion was compelled to abandon all earthly hopes and ambitions. Jesus calls His followers to think of ourselves as already dead, to bury all our earthly hopes and dreams, to bury the plans and agendas we made for ourselves. He will either resurrect our dreams or replace them with dreams and plans of his own.

Wow! So what does it really mean to deny self? Jesus in the passage in Luke is basically saying the first commandment! Love Me! Worship Me! Turn away from worshiping the idol self. Turn away from the god that is yourself. Cast out your pride. Only know and recognize that there is one God. Deny the lie that there is more than Him. This was a call to sanity, a call to cast down the delusion that you are in control of your own life and worship the one true God.

For this upcoming week meditate on Luke 9:23-24 and let the Lord speak to you.