WORTH MILLIONS
A couple of weeks ago, I read an article about a secret video involving Marilyn Monroe performing..."a private activity" with an undisclosed man for fifteen minutes. Even though porn is a billion-dollar industry and Marilyn has been gone for well over 40 years, can you believe that the video went for $1.5 million dollars to a New York businessman?!? When asked why he wanted to keep it in his "private stash", he claimed that it was because he didn't want to exploit her. (Uh, aren't you "exploiting her" just by purchasing such a tape?)
I'm sure you must be thinking that I am about to go into some long, drawn-out recitation about Marilyn and what she did...or worse that she did it on film. I'm not. I wasn't even thought of, let alone there, and so I will leave that for God to (ultimately) judge. After all, I know firsthand that brokenness can drive you to do some really strange things (which is why we all should allow the love of God to heal us rather than trusting some man, some woman or some fetish to do it).
No, actually what I want to focus on is that $1.5 million dollars for 15 minutes of footage!
I remember something a wise woman once said: "You girls are sitting on a million dollars and giving it away for a Happy Meal." (Say that!)
Just today, I was reading a book by Gary Zukav and there were two passages that resonated with me as it relates to this subject:
"...we do not really believe that after we leave the Earth we are still responsible for the choices that we have made upon the Earth or our choices would be different."
"Your decision to evolve consciously through responsible choice contributes to not only your own evolution, but also to the evolution of all of those aspects of humanity in which you participate. It is not just you that is evolving through your decisions, but the entirety of humanity."
Oh, don't let all of the "evolution" (which is just another word for "progression") talk fool you. What he is basically saying is that we should do unto others what we would have them do unto us. I'm sure Marilyn had no idea that in 2008, her past sex life would still be an issue to the point of being a lead story on Yahoo.com. I mean, really. With as beautiful and (to an extent) talented as she was, it's a real shame that her legacy is based on her sexuality. Being that sex is supposed to be a private matter between a man and his wife (Genesis 1:26-27), I am sure that was not God's intention.
But, because the Bible says that "all things work together" (Romans 8:28), let her indiscretions serve as a PSA for us all. When the Word says that we were bought with a price, look at what that means in the Word:
"For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."---I Corinthians 6:20 (NKJV)
"You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men."---I Corinthians 7:23 (NKJV)
You know, I often tease my friends about why they settle for diamond engagement rings when the Bible says that a virtuous woman is far above a RUBY'S worth (Proverbs 31:10). In case you didn't know, ladies, rubies are worth more than diamonds! One of my favorite parables in the Bible is the merchant who sold all that he had to get one precious pearl (Matthew 13:46). What does Matthew 7:6 tell us? To not cast our pearls before swine, right? Did you know one definition of "swine" is "a contemptible person"?
Where am I going with all of this? I am simply saying that God sees his daughters as something very precious: mind, body and spirit. The things that we give away so freely: our hearts, our time, our resources, our bodies (from head to toe) are things that he finds to be of great, great value. So much so that he sent his only Son to provide the grace needed for the times when we fail to act on this knowledge.
As I look back over my own past sex life, I think about how many times I became a "slave of men" by following their directives instead of God's instruction. And, just like many of my slave ancestors, do you know what it got me? Pain, confusion, bitterness, emotional and physical fatigue...all in all, not much of anything. It's amazing how the Enemy has hoodwinked so many of us into believing that waiting until marriage is bondage, when the TRUTH (John 8:32) is that God believes that if a man wants us, he must make the investment of promising him, our Heavenly Father that he will treasure us for the rest of his life. GOD THINKS WE ARE WORTH THAT MUCH. If he didn't, I'm sure the sacrifice of blood would have never been made.
I am hoping that will be enough to make you rethink "selling yourself short" the next time some guy tries to get you to engage in some random "you need to marry me to get that" activity. But, at the very least, let Marilyn serve as a motivation to hold out.
After all, some man thought she was worth $1.5 million for fifteen minutes of her time.
At least hold out for that much of an investment (even though you're worth so, so, so much more)!
Article Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080414/people_nm/marilyn_monroe_sexfilm_dc
We as Christians live under the New Covenant. The redemption of the New Covenant believer is eternal. I'll prove it. Read Hebrews 9:11-16. In Hebrews 8:6-8 it states that we have a better covenant than the old. It's established by the promises of God.
When I say, "The New Covenant", I am talking about the Blood Covenant of Jesus Christ. When He shed his blood, all our sins were washed away for good; past, present and future. Like Paul said, that doesn't give us the to sin, but still don't focus on it either.
I have 5 things to share with you that my Pastor shared with me tonight. I hope that this will delivere those who are living in the bondage of sin.
1. Living in guilt and shame of bad desicions will not help us walk in humility.
2. As you focus on your character flaws and sins, they WILL grow larger.
3. To succumb to guilt and shame is falling into the trap of the enemy which makes us question who we are in Christ. " We are more than conquerers because Christ lives within us!!!!!!!!"
4. Justice takes on a different perpective when you are washed in the Blood of Christ. God has wiped out the crops that bare the fruit of our mistakes. God is gonna turn things around.
5. Either the Blood of Jesus is affective or it's not at all.
Check out Hebrews 10:1-2. We should have purged our conscience of sin. Once the Blood of Jesus was applied, there was no record of our sins. God focuses on our strength and not our weaknesses. I'll give you proof of that. Look at Genesis 18:12-15. When God told Sara that she would bare a son, she laughed. She was mocking God when she laughed. That is a sin. Right? Then she denied that she laughed. She straight out lied to God, which is also a sin. Now check this out. In Hebrews 11:11, " Trough faith also Sara herself recieved strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, BECAUSE SHE JUDGED HIM FAITHFUL WHO HAD PROMISED." It doesn't say anything about her mocking God or even lieing to Him. Why? Because her sins were washed in the Blood that Jesus shed for us. He took them unto Himself. OUR SINS ARE GONE FOREVER!!!!!!!!. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!
So what does this all mean? We need to stop focusing on the problem and focus on God's solution.
Take a look at Isaiah 61:1. If you read it, I'll say this to you, The prison doors are opened so why are you still in the prison?
Mark 2:4-12. I'll say this, You have to know that you are forgiven of you sins before faith breaks out.
Come on my Brothers and Sisters of God!!!!! Break that bondage that has been binding you!!! Because of the New Covenant, we are completely free and delivered. JUST RECEIVE THAT IN FAITH!!!!!
God Bless!
-Andrea
And, no, I don't think this applies to married people since, uh, married people are sanctioned to have sex---spiritually, which is what's most important. THOSE PEOPLE can do whatever they want in the bedroom.
That is a really dangerous comment. And, to me, sounds like justification. Before I was married, I was so incredibly broken and tried to fix that by giving myself away. Since I've been married, I've had more healing from my sex life with my husband and his grace & forgiveness of my past. I can do whatever I want in the bedroom because God has entrusted me with the privilege of handling my husband's heart for the rest of my life. His body is the bonus of our covenant. His body is only mine, and mine is only his. You can't find that kind of fulfillment or healing while having sex UNLESS you are married.
