Transformation isn't just about self-improvement or putting on a cheerful face; it's about embracing honesty and confronting our pain head-on. In today's discussion, we delve into the profound truth that true healing begins with acknowledging our struggles and walking in the light of God’s truth. We explore the biblical examples of figures like David, who openly expressed his anguish and doubts, emphasizing that it's not a lapse in faith but a vital step toward genuine transformation. The conversation highlights how the world often encourages us to cover our issues rather than confront them, leaving us trapped in a cycle of denial. So, if you're ready to toss aside the facade and step into the light, join us as we unpack the first crucial steps toward real transformation and healing.

Takeaways:

1. Transformation begins with acceptance of truth and honesty about our pain; denial leads to stagnation.
2. The first step toward healing is not about fixing or trying harder, but walking in the light.
3. True healing occurs when we acknowledge our wounds; we cannot heal what we refuse to face.
4. Walking in the light means living openly and honestly, bringing our true selves into God's presence.

Hello to you and welcome to our study on transformation.

We have already begun this series of studies and we will continue to do so as God permits.

I want to talk a little bit more today about the idea of accepting truth and being honest and to accept pain without denying it.

I want us to look at David and his example and how the Scriptures encourage us to be open and bare with God and with our brothers, the people that we feel safe to do so with.

And so as we continue this series, I want to remind us that we meet, or excuse me, that we mean by that word transformation.

We're not talking about self improvement here or image management or anything like that.

It's not a religious performance.

We're talking about what the scripture actually says.

Don't be conformed to the world.

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

We must think differently and not allow the world to form us and fashion us to its model.

And one of the things that I think the world does is to cover things.

We want to cover the truth, hide the real problem and pretend it doesn't exist.

Transformation is not pretending to be better.

Transformation is being new by the work of God through Christ, but according to truth.

Now, if there's any real transformation going on, there's always first steps.

And we're talking about some of the first steps in these early studies.

And this.

The first step is not fixing.

The first step is not trying harder.

The first step is walking in the light.

And that's today's lesson.

It's the foundation stone for everything else.

We need to accept the pain without denying it because you can't be transformed in the areas you refuse to face.

You can't heal from a wound that you refuse to acknowledge.

You cannot walk in freedom while.

While you're still hiding what's real.

So let me begin with this simple statement.

True healing, and I'm talking about spiritual healing here, begins with honesty.

Honesty before God and honesty before our brothers in the body of Christ.

Some of us have learned to cover sin with appearances.

That's walking after the flesh.

As we've already noted, living according to appearance is walking after the flesh.

We learn how to sound strong, how to look fine when someone asks us how we're doing.

Oh, I'm fine even when we're not.

Now, the Lord doesn't call us to denial.

He calls us to light.

He wants truth, and he acknowledges truth.

John says God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.

Well, for this study, that means transformation begins when we stop hiding in darkness.

Actually, there's some truth to this.

There's some practical value in recognizing this.

We start walking in with God in the light when we stop hiding and pretending.

David didn't pretend that he was fine.

He said, how long, O Lord, will you forget me forever?

Psalm 13:1.

It's just brutal honesty of how he's feeling, the pain that he's experiencing.

And this is very practical.

It's certainly very true about how David presents the Psalms.

He said, my tears have been my food day and night.

Psalm 42.

This is not a lack of faith.

It's not being a complaining person.

It's just brutal honesty in God's presence.

And so today, get this clear thought before you.

Brokenhearted is not disqualified from transformation.

Being crushed in spirit is not rejected.

And in fact, Scripture says that's where the Lord draws near there.

In other words, that's why he wants us to come to him in those situations.

And so when I say, let's accept the pain, I want to define this carefully.

I don't mean that you surrender to just despair and just say, well, I've got broad shoulders.

I'll just take it and go on, tomorrow's another day.

I don't mean that you let pain become your identity.

Now, this is why people who claim that their victims rarely find healing.

They're focused on the victim.

They're being victimized, and it begins to identify them because why they're continuously reliving it.

And like Paul said, I forget the things that are behind the past.

And I. I stress forward, I push forward to the high calling of God in Christ.

I forget what's past and I press on.

So the thought again is again very healing.

It is very practical in nature.

It doesn't allow us to dwell on the past and to relive the pain.

In addition to that, neither am I encouraging you to live in bitterness.

I don't mean to stop, to encourage you to think that, well, God just wants you to accept whatever pain that you have and do it gracefully.

I mean, you stop lying about what happened.

That's the first step.

That's what we need to do.

You stop saying it wasn't that bad when it was that bad.

You stop saying that, oh, it wasn't bad that my father drank a little bit, yet he beat you every night before you went to bed.

Don't minimize betrayal.

Stop calling abuse a misunderstanding.

You stop calling neglect no big deal.

You stop trying to rush to the happy Ending while your soul is still bleeding and hurting.

And so this is not modern psychology here.

This is biblical truth.

John says if we walk in the light, as he's in the light, we have fellowship one with another.

And the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin.

And so God is light.

And in the very next verse, John explains what he means by walking in light.

If we say we have no fellowship, if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie.

Do you get that point?

We lie.

We're not being honest.

We say one thing, but the truth is another.

So John is tying darkness to lying.

Saying one thing while living another is a lie.

Now, it's not about emotions, it's about falsehood.

It's about hiding, it's about duplicity.

And so biblically, darkness includes much more than just the idea of living in sin.

It's covering up sin.

Darkness does that.

It's pretending it's double life, living.

It's refusing to bring the real condition in the presence of God.

Now, walking in the light is the very opposite.

It's living openly before God.

John says, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, the blood of Christ cleanses us, right?

Verse 7.

Walking in the light is the opposite of lying.

We lie.

It means your life is not built on concealment.

You see, it's a posture of being open before God, pouring ourselves prostrate before him and expressing our need.

John immediately defines what that looks like in verse nine.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Do you see the flow of thought?

You got light, not lying, confession, and it ends in cleansing.

That's real healing.

Of course.

That's why I keep saying light connects us to honesty.

John makes that connection very explicit.

And Jesus says the same thing in John 3.

In verse 19, you know, Jesus is tying darkness to hiding, and he connects light to coming out into truth.

Notice this.

I'll read the few three verses here, beginning in verse 19.

This is the judgment.

The light has come into the world, and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

See, they don't.

They don't want to expose that.

Notice verse 20.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his work should be exposed.

Do you see that?

He wants to cover that up.

Light would reveal it.

But if you're walking in darkness, you don't want that to be exposed.

Verse 21, but whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen.

That's huge.

Jesus is defining coming to the light as coming where things can be seen.

Darkness, on the other hand, is where people hide.

Light is where things are revealed.

And so that's basically the Bible's own logic for why light is connected to honesty.

Paul says the same thing or similar in Ephesians 5:13.

When anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible.

So light equals exposure.

Revealing.

And honesty is simply agreeing with what's revealed rather than hiding it.

Now, how does that apply to pain and rather than applying it to sin in a very broad way?

Well, here's your main concern.

Is this only about confessing sin?

What about being open and honest about your troubles and your anxieties, casting all you care upon him for he cares for us.

How does it relate to the pain that you're experiencing emotionally?

The Bible uses the same light hiding logic from for anything you're trying to keep in the dark.

David said in Psalm 142, he doesn't hide his distress.

I mean, he speaks to God openly.

Verse 2, he says, I pour out my complaint before him, I tell my trouble before him.

And if you read throughout the Psalms, if you're not familiar with it, that's what you see a lot is David's complaints in verse three, the very next verse, when my spirit faints within me, you know my way well.

Why?

Because he expresses it.

He's always just coming out and telling God how he feels.

If he feels like God's rejected him, he'll say, I feel rejected.

How long are you going to not heal this difficulty?

So that's acknowledging it.

That's bringing the true condition of your heart into God's presence.

It's not calling evil good.

It's not pretending you're fine when you're not.

It's not hiding.

And the Psalms do this constantly.

They name fear and grief and anger and betrayal, all of that confusion, and they bring it before God in prayer.

That's honesty.

That's walking in the light.

It means living openly before God, refusing concealment, refusing lies so that the truth can be exposed and cleansed.

And so very practically, walking in darkness is associated with being in pain.

It's the person that lies and says, I'm fine.

Oh, that didn't hurt, or it doesn't matter, but inside you're bleeding and broken.

Walking in the light, however, is saying, lord or brother, this did happen and it hurt me terribly, and I'm angry or I'm afraid.

Show me what's true and heal me.

Now, that's the connection where light is the place where things are no longer hidden.

And so cleansing is connected to walking in the light, it's not to hiding.

It says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Confession, on the other hand, it means agreeing with God about what's right, what's true.

That's what it is.

It's acknowledging what God already knows, confessing what he already sees.

And so it means we stop calling darkness light.

It means we stop covering.

So now, yes, that verse is about our sin, but the principle is also relevant to wounds and the harm that we experience.

Hiding doesn't lead to healing.

Covering does not lead to cleansing.

Darkness does not lead to transformation.

When Paul writes in Ephesians 5, he explains, when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible.

That's the transformation principle early on, that we need to recognize what remains hidden remains very powerful.

But what is brought into light can be dealt with.

It won't hold you down and keep you in bondage.

Now, let me say this clearly.

God doesn't ask you to pretend that sin didn't hurt.

He doesn't ask you to pretend betrayal wasn't betrayal.

And he doesn't ask you to pretend the abuse wasn't evil.

God doesn't ask you to pretend that neglect didn't work, evil wound you.

In fact, Scripture shows us the opposite.

God sees the oppression and he sees the oppressor, and he defends the crushed and he judges evil.

In Psalm 103:6, the Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.

So if you've been harmed, don't let anyone pressure you into calling evil.

Nothing.

You don't have to say, oh, that was nothing.

Oh, I got over that long time ago.

Now God doesn't call it nothing.

Now, some of us can hear this and think, maybe isn't this more spiritual to just.

Isn't it better just to move on and forget the past?

Well, it is if you've dealt with it.

Some of us hear this and we think that.

And the Bible doesn't say that healing comes from any kind of pretension.

It doesn't say you just have to grin and bear it.

Healing comes when truth meets God's.

Mercy.

Look at Jesus.

He doesn't invite performers.

He invites the weary.

This is not an invitation to deny heaviness.

It's an invitation to bring it before him, is what it is.

He doesn't crush fragile people.

He doesn't shame the wounded.

Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus.

And Scripture says in verse 35, Jesus wept.

Tears are not a sign of unbelief or weakness.

And grief and pain and even complaints is not associated with rebellion.

Honest pain is not spiritual failure.

It's just simple truth.

And it happens to everyone who lives Now.

I want to bring in Paul here.

Paul gives us the same pattern.

He names sin, he exposes it, and then points to the cross, where it's dealt with.

And Romans 6:23.

The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life.

Chapter 6 and verse 12.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body.

Paul calls it what it is.

He refuses to deny the struggles.

He says in verse 15 of chapter 7, I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate.

In Second Corinthians 1:8, he refuses to deny suffering.

He says, we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength, and we despaired of life itself.

That's the biblical pattern.

That's not a motivational quote.

That's the apostle just telling the truth.

He doesn't stop there, he says, but that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead.

The very next verse.

So here's the transformation pattern.

Tell the truth about what's real and then place your hope where it belongs.

It's not in denial.

It's not in your own strength.

It's in the God who raises the dead.

Now, let's name the types of wounds and some that you might carry.

Some of you may carry pain from abuse that was done to you.

Whatever that was, was never should have been done.

It was wrong.

Some carry pain from betrayal that was promised and then violated.

Some carry pain from neglect, what you needed but never received.

The Scripture gives language for betrayal in Psalm 55, verse 12.

It is not an enemy who taunts us, he says, but it is you, a man.

My equal, my companion, my familiar friend.

Betrayal is not new, friends.

God did not include that in Scripture.

So you could pretend betrayal didn't hurt, or that it wasn't important.

He included it to show you I see it, and I gave you words for it.

And God speaks against those who harm others in Isaiah, chapter 10, verse Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees to turn aside the needy from justice.

Verse 2.

So God does not shrug this off.

He doesn't shrug at someone being oppressed.

We need to clarify something, because this is about transformation, not condemnation.

When you bring pain into the light, as we've expressed already, you're not stepping into shame or any cause.

Yes, it hurts, but you're stepping into the place where Christ can heal, can restore, and can rebuild.

We also need to distinguish.

When someone speaks of condemnation, we need to distinguish that from conviction.

Condemnation says that I'm rejected because I'm ruined, and that's not the voice of the shepherd that said, come unto me all ye that labor and heavy laden.

But conviction is different.

Jesus said that that was the Spirit's work.

Convict the world concerning sin and of righteousness and of judgment.

Conviction is God saying, this is real.

Let's deal with it.

Come to me.

So if your pain reveals anger and numbness or fear or bitterness or whatever it is that you're hurting with, don't hide it.

Bring it into the light, not being ashamed, but in order to be healed.

I want to give you some practical steps toward this.

And because.

This is a transformation series, I want you to see that we're not just feeling something here today.

We're laying a foundation for future steps.

So here are five very clear steps that are rooted in Scripture.

First of all, pour your heart to God without editing it.

Just trust in him at all times.

Psalm 62:8 Pour out your heart before God, and God is a refuge for us.

So you can say, just as David did, lord, I'm hurting, Lord, I'm angry.

You can say, lord, I feel unsafe here.

Lord, I don't know how to trust.

And then once you come out, that's opening yourself, being honest, being open.

It's walking in the light, not trying to expose and express the real truth that you're experiencing.

Second, bring your anxieties to him.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

First Peter, chapter five, verse seven, says, third, seek some wise counsel and safe crowds.

That is someone that don't try to express some of these things to unsafe crowds who walk after the flesh and cannot really relate to anything you're saying.

If they can, they have a different value placed on it altogether.

In an abundance of counselors, the wise man said, there is safety, but just choose your counselors wisely.

Galatians 6:2 and many other New Testament scripts passages indicate to us that the safety of crowd, the safe crowds, is a fellow brother or sister who loves you.

So Galatians 6:2, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Fourth, renew the mind instead of rehearsing the lies, right?

Romans 12:2, Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

Second Corinthians 10, verse 5, we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

Fifth, Practice wisdom and practice boundaries.

And setting those boundaries up in Proverbs 13, verse 20, whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

First Corinthians 15, verse 33 says, Bad company ruins good morals.

So boundaries are not automatically bitterness.

It doesn't mean that you hate somebody.

Boundaries are just wise.

Boundaries, protections.

Boundaries can be obedience.

Boundaries can be protection for what God is rebuilding in us and working in us.

And so now, because this is a series on transformation, I want to end by noting or pointing out to what the next steps will rest upon.

And that simply, is the cross.

Paul never named sin without pointing to the cross.

In fact, the cross is where justice and mercy meet.

It's because the cross is where God deals with sin.

And hear this clearly, the cross is not God saying, oh, it wasn't that bad.

Ah, this is nothing.

This is no problem.

I'll come and I'll take care of the problem.

The cross is God saying, it was that bad, and I'm dealing with it.

That's what the Lord is saying.

While he walked upon the earth, He Himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree.

First Peter, chapter two, 24 says, and so.

And he ends it by saying, by his wounds you were healed.

And that doesn't mean everything becomes instant, but it does mean Christ is not powerless over what's happening in your life.

There is real cleansing.

There is real restoration and real transformation.

And when you feel weak, when you feel like the pain is bigger than you, God says, as Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 12, 9, My grace is sufficient for you, Paul would say, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

And so today, I don't want you to deny your pains.

Don't downplay it.

Don't treat it as if it's nothing, no big deal.

But bring it into the light of Christ.

Acknowledge it, talk to the Lord about it.

Don't let it define you.

Because cleansing is in the light, mercy is in the light, and wisdom is in the light.

And so here's how this all connects.

And it certainly is part of the rest of our series.

It's all based upon the truth and walking in truth, walking in the light, naming what is real, not pretending something that doesn't even exist.

Oftentimes I have seen in much of my life where we would go to church, as I often did as a child, and shake people's hands and see a lot of smiles and see a lot of people singing songs.

They're just.

They denied the power thereof.

But there's something wrong inside.

And how are you doing, Sister?

Well, I'm just fine or I'm blessed, they'll say, not knowing this, of course, but finding out much later that they were living in pain and agony and hurt.

They're hurting.

And it becomes a little, I don't know, a little shot in the arm, little encouragement.

They feel a little pumped up and encouraged by maybe a good lesson or some of the wonderful songs that have been sung.

And they can go away for the moment feeling good, but it's just hidden.

What's problem?

What's the issue is hidden underneath.

And so all that becomes a facade.

It becomes just a means of covering up for the moment, getting a little shot in the arm, a little bit more of encouragement than going back.

And then living in this pain and all the while denying that it even exists.

It's no big deal.

God loves me.

God cares about me, and nothing is ever done.

This, my friend, is walking in darkness.

It's nothing to do with walking in the light.

We need to express and expose these things and talk about them with the Lord and involve our brothers and sisters who love us and are concerned about that.

And so next we'll talk about what God does with what you bring into the light, the renewal of the mind and the reshaping of those desires, replacing of lies with truth and the practical obedience that follows.

Because you see, transformation is not merely feeling relief.

It's learning to walk differently, step by step in the newness that Christ gives us.

Well, I thank you so much for your kind attention.

I trust that some of this is helpful.

If just a little thought would encourage you to study and open your word and go to God, it would have been worth it all.

Have a good day.