Beautifully Naked

By Marisol Martinez

Beautifully Naked is a unique devotional that takes the reader on a journey of self-evaluation and reflection to embrace her spiritual life in this modern-day society. While the image of women is being attacked in many ways, Beautifully Naked challenges young women to live a transparent and unashamed life. This devotional will include journal entries for women to reflect on themselves in order for them to develop a genuine relationship with Christ, activities for both groups or individuals, and open discussions.

This devotional will appeal to a wide age span of young women from the teenage years to young adults. Furthermore, this devotional book is meant to empower young women in their godly identity within this secular culture. Women who are feeling the desire to be comfortable in their skin will find hope in Christ. Metaphorically, to be beautifully naked means to be embrace how God intended us to be, exposed for who we are and not ashamed. We are made by Gods design, and that makes us worthy of the freedom in Christ to express his purpose for us as women.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 22, 2017
• ISBN: 9781973609674

Marisol Martinez

Marisol Martinez is a graduate of University of Texas at San Antonio with a B.B.A in Accounting and a dedicated blogger. Her website, which has evolved to a lifestyle forum is called www.sarisol.com and her content is aimed toward empowering young women on a Christian journey.

Book preview

Beautifully

NAKED

MARISOL MARTINEZ

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Copyright © 2017 Marisol Martinez.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®)

Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

All rights reserved.

ESV Text Edition: 2016

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0968-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0967-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017918062

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/22/2017

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Understanding Who I Am

Chapter 2 Respect

Chapter 3 Become a Living Testimony:

Godly Wisdom and Obedience

Chapter 4 The Righteous Romance

Chapter 5 Atonement Nurtured through

Prayer and Meditation

Chapter 6 Practice a Healthy Lifestyle

Chapter 7 Learn to Walk in Beauty

Chapter 8 Embrace a Joyful Heart

Chapter 9 You Are Worthy

Chapter 10 Love Life

About the Author

This book is

dedicated to my little sister, Sarai.

CHAPTER 1

Understanding Who I Am

Everyone has a background. We all come from different cultures, and inside of us we have this burning desire to be different. Before our destiny can be revealed, however, we must first understand who we are. There are three categories that define our identity and describe who we are: name, gender, and ethnicity.

We all have names to identify us. Some of us have names with a significant meaning, while others do not. Nonetheless, our names label us and—through their uniqueness—indicate who we are.

In high school, there was a student in my class named J, whose name was spelled with only the letter J. Many of the other students made fun of him, stating that his parents were uneducated because they could not spell his entire name and gave up after the first letter. He showed pride in his name, and I thought it was fascinating because it was different.

In the Old Testament, God changed Sarai’s name, which meant princess, to Sarah, signifying princess of the multitude. In changing her name, God established a new identity for her: she would become not just princess of the Israelites but princess of all races. The name change was a reminder to Sarah about God’s divine plan to fulfill her purpose.

Who else’s name did God change in order to fulfill their purpose?

God also said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.

– Genesis 17:15 (NIV)

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.

– Proverbs 22:1 (KJV)

Now some are named as plainly as Jane, and some as uniquely as Avocado. One might ask why someone would name their child Avocado. Perhaps those parents loved guacamole immensely. If an avocado is their favorite fruit, then giving their child the name Avocado would indicate their immense love for their child. The name might not have a significant meaning to the child, but it would surely hold meaning for the child’s parents.

Then there are parents who do not know why they named their child a certain name. The child may decide to google the meaning of his or her name online, only to find that it does not suit his or her personality. The child must define his or her own name. In the end, the significance of your name is to help you shape your destiny. To decipher who you are, you must take notice of how valuable you are by defining your name.

I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

– Isaiah 45:3 (NIV)

But now, this is what the Lord says—

he who created you, Jacob,

he who formed you, Israel:

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine."

– Isaiah 43:1 (NIV)

Wait a second. How can you define your name? Simple: look into the mirror, and state this:

I AM _______.

Now, to create a dynamic of power, say it loud and confidently, even if your name is Avocado:

I AM AVOCADO.

The tone of your voice has a strong impact on you, letting confidence flourish both internally and externally. Something so simple can have a huge impact on your life.

Now that we accept the uniqueness of our names, let’s take a closer look at our gender and the beautiful aspects of being a woman.

We should always embrace our womanhood. This is something we have struggled with, and sometimes we have even given in to the absurdity of stereotypes. Don’t fill your mind with the filth of what this world has to offer. Fill your mind instead with God’s Word, and encourage other women to take a stand by understanding the beauty of their gender.

God created woman to be the helper, and He intended for man to acknowledge and respect her.

The LORD God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.

– Genesis 2:18 (NIV)

Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

– Genesis 2:22 (NIV)

God did not make Eve from the foot of Adam or the head of Adam. He made a woman from the rib of man—in other words, women are equal to men and they deserve the same level of respect. Do not believe that you do not have the ability to do something because you are a woman. You are a woman of God, and your job is to glorify Him daily and demonstrate to others that no one can step on your dreams. However, the fact of the matter is that men and women are designed differently according to their biological functions, yet they are created to complement one another. Wisdom, strength, nurturing, delicacy, patience, beauty, sacredness, dedication, harmoniousness, compassion, courage, inspiring, committed, genuine, tender, strong, heroic and loving are terms that describe the very nature of a godly woman.

The world believes that the only way to embrace your womanhood is by embracing your sexuality by empowering your body in being provactive in showing lots of cleavage or being nude. Girl, if you think this is the way to embrace your womanhood, then I must say that you are incorrect. There is grand power in being a woman, and it takes dignity and grace.

Now that we have discovered how our name and gender add to our identity, let’s analyze our ethnicity. Many of us are a mixture of many ethnicities, while others receive only one ethnicity from their parents.

How do you define ethnicity?

Do you identify yourself as part of a certain group, or do you find that you would rather disassociate yourself with an ethnic group?

There is nothing wrong with associating yourself with an ethnicity; on the contrary, it is beautiful to know where you are from, and