{"id":1845,"date":"2015-02-09T15:57:02","date_gmt":"2015-02-09T20:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=1845"},"modified":"2015-02-09T15:57:02","modified_gmt":"2015-02-09T20:57:02","slug":"50-shades-of-great","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/02\/50-shades-of-great.html","title":{"rendered":"50 Shades of GREAT"},"content":{"rendered":"

I no longer call you slaves… John 15:15<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sex is God’s idea, and everything He created is good. We recognize the Bible as the authoritative manual for life, including sex. In this Manual, which is the Source of our existence, we find that there are boundaries around sex. These boundaries, like a safety rail, ensure that sex will be all God has designed it to be \u2013 abundant and joyful.\u00a0Our ’96 Chrysler is still running strong. Why? Because we follow the directives in the manual. Same with our \u00a0marriage of ’83. We’ve taken some bumps and bruises along the way, but God’s grace has been enough, and here we are, still\u00a0cruising strong and having a great time.<\/p>\n

A few years\u00a0before the\u00a0widely popular\u00a0book\u00a0Fifty Shades of Grey<\/em>\u00a0tantalized\u00a0the eyes and imaginations of men and women throughout the world, a study, titled “The National Survey on Christian Female Sexuality,” found that\u00a0Evangelical Christian women have better\u00a0and more frequent sex\u00a0than American women in general.<\/p>\n

Believers don’t take sex\u00a0advice\u00a0from best sellers nor from the media in general. We take our cues from our God who created sex in the first place (a trusting yet risky gift, as He knew how prone we would be to muck it up). And when we live by the Book, life is better, and sex is best.<\/p>\n

My Father,<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I want to honor You, myself, and my spouse by following the Manual you have given me. I have repented of every sexual sin I have committed that has drawn me away from the light of your love \u2013 True Love. Thank you that my sin has been removed from me “as far as the east is from the west.” And, Lord, teach us in our marriage to live in Your light. To enjoy the gift of intimacy\u00a0that you saw fit to give humanity. We thank you and embrace this gift. You are good, and every good and perfect gift comes from you!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Amen!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

*http:\/\/blog.getrelationshiphelp.com\/2009\/07\/christian-women-have-more-sexual-fun.html<\/p>\n

We’ve designed a process called a Marriage Intensive that specifically focuses on renewing your vision and returning you to joy in your purpose and life together. The first step you can take is to simply learn more. This might just change your life. Click here:<\/p>\n

giantworldwide.com\/mjh-marriage-intensives<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I no longer call you slaves… John 15:15 Sex is God’s idea, and everything He created is good. We recognize the Bible as the authoritative manual for life, including sex. In this Manual, which is the Source of our existence, we find that there are boundaries around sex. These boundaries, like a safety rail, ensure…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,255,32,25,266,8,21,842,1,250],"tags":[919,918,917,483,916,920,560,915,86,644,826,499,1741,616,208,914,482],"class_list":["post-1845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-gratitude-2","category-health-and-healing","category-jesus","category-joy","category-life","category-love","category-prayer-for-marriage","category-uncategorized","category-wisdom-2","tag-50-shades-of-grey","tag-best-sellers","tag-bible","tag-bondage","tag-christian-sex","tag-cleansing","tag-creation","tag-female-sexuality","tag-forgiveness","tag-freedom","tag-honoring-god","tag-joy-2","tag-love","tag-purity","tag-repentance-2","tag-sex-in-marriage","tag-slavery"],"yoast_head":"\n50 Shades of GREAT<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/02\/50-shades-of-great.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"50 Shades of GREAT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I no longer call you slaves… John 15:15 Sex is God’s idea, and everything He created is good. 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