Isaiah And The Naked Truth
There is a term used in Australia that was made popular years ago in the movie “Crocodile Dundee”. When Mick Dundee would wander around the Australian Outback, he said he was on a walkabout. Years ago, Jehovah God told the prophet Isaiah to go on a walk about, as recorded in chapter 20 of Isaiah.

“at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go and loosen the sackcloth from your hips and take your shoes off your feet.” And he did so, going naked and barefoot. And the LORD said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign and token against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast.” (Isaiah 20:2-5 NASB)

And before you conclude that the text could not mean actually nakedness, the word in Hebrew is the same one used to describe Adam and Eve in Eden!
So why would God tell his prophet to do something like this? To communicate the shameful way that Egypt and Cush would be led into captivity. But what lesson is here for us today? Why did God make sure this chapter was preserved for us today?

In our western culture, we are constantly bombarded by sensual imagery. Pornographic material is now piped into homes via the Internet with such privacy and ease that even those who once would never have frequented an adult store or movie house are trapped in its addictive snare. (Duh. Why do you think they call it the web?) We are witnessing a nation that was once characterized as a Christian nation being led into moral slavery. I believe that this flood of nakedness and fornication has gone largely unchecked and will be symbolic of the way this nation will fall.

“if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV)

Just because a nation declares itself to be secular does not in any way exempt it from the judgment of God! Unless we as the church in America repents and turn from our wicked ways, God will not hear from heaven and heal our land. The call is not for the post to turn and change their behavior. The promise of God is contingent on those who are called by His name forsaking their wicked ways! Don’t believe for a second that there are not church members all over the country trapped in these sins. The time is now, and it needs to begin with each of us as individuals or it will never happen to us as a group!
Let’s start today to be the light in this dark time and lead the way by humbling ourselves (before the Lord does it for us) praying and seeking God, and turning from our sins so that our land will not go down in shames!

What A Shame!

“To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust,
Do not let me be ashamed;
Do not let my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none of those who wait for You be ashamed.” (Psalm 25:1-3a NASB)

It is a beautiful and wondrous thing to experience the forgiveness of sin that is found in Christ alone! Especially when we contemplate that price that was paid to make that forgiveness available to us! But often, even though we have been forgiven from the sin, we still carry around the shame of it with us.
Shame can be spiritually debilitating. Whenever we begin to step out in faith and do the work of the Lord, our adversary whispers in our ear saying, “who do you think you are, telling people about Jesus? If they only knew about your past, they would see what a hypocrite you are for trying to do something in Jesus’ name.”
It is shame that causes people to believe the lie that they are unworthy of God’s forgiveness and grace. As a result, many spend their lives addicted, defeated, and feeling like they have messed up their spiritual lives beyond repair and are no longer useful for God. That is why so many times we turn from a sin, especially an addictive sin, and eventually go back to it. We stop the behavior, but because we have not left the shame, we don’t feel any better than we did before, and it draws us back into the trap.
And all because they have believed a lie! I love a quote I heard today by Beth Moore. She said, “Shame is satan’s laughter morphed into a human emotion.”

But walking in shame over forgiven sin is not the way Christ would have his children to live! For on the cross, Jesus not only paid for our sin, but he also bore our shame!
“keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NET)

Isaiah prophesied about it this way (from the Amplified Bible):
“Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.” (Isaiah 53:4, 5 AMP)

When we carry around guilt over sin that God has already been forgiven, we are in effect saying that either we don’t really believe what God has said about forgiveness, and/or that the blood of Christ was not sufficient to pay for their sin. We dare not go there!

I am not saying that we don’t try to make amends when we sin, or not to not remember how bad the guilt and shame felt before we were forgiven. But we must also remember to leave behind both the sin and its guilt at the foot of the cross and not go back for it!