Bondage or Liberty? The Choice is Yours.

By Rev. Andrea M. Graham

In Exodus 3:7-8, the Lord said to Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings…”

The Israelites were suffering because they were in bondage to the Egyptians. This suffering actually caused them to lose sight of their true inheritance as children of the Most High. New Thought teaches that the primary cause of suffering is forgetfulness of one’s spiritual identity. When we suffer, we have forgotten who we are.

Have you ever been there? Have you forgotten who you are as a spiritual being? You may not have ever had a slave driver as your taskmaster. However, you may have felt that you have been in bondage to some circumstance, habit or memory in your mind that haunts you. You may have felt that you are being held captive by fearful thoughts. Thoughts of lack and limitation may cause you to believe that you don’t have enough or that YOU are not enough. Worry may have led you to believe that you are not going to be successful. Feelings of unworthiness may even cause you to believe that you do not deserve to succeed. For many, the taskmasters that hold them in bondage are low vibrational emotions like these that paralyze them. Emotions like fear, doubt, worry, anger, jealousy, and feelings of unworthiness will hinder you from expressing the wonderful gifts and talents that you have been blessed with. They will prevent you from fulfilling the plan and purpose that has been placed over your life.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REMAIN IN BONDAGE! THE CHOICE IS YOURS!!!!

In her foundational work, “Lessons in Truth,” H. Emile Cady poses a very pertinent choice, “Bondage or Liberty, which?” YOU have the power to choose! The choice has everything to do with YOUR belief system: What you believe about God, yourself, and your relationship to God. Do you believe that God is a big dude in the sky that is separate from you? Do you feel that you must beg and plead with God to bless you? What about your beliefs about yourself and your relationship to God? Do you believe that you are a hopeless sinner that is unworthy of the unconditional love and grace of God? Do you even know who you are? How you answer these questions will determine what you are experiencing in your life, world, and affairs.

Beloved, you are a child of the Most-High. Any belief that is less than this falls short of the truth of your being. YOU are spirit; created in the Image and Likeness of Spirit. Affirm daily: “I AM spirit, and I am blessed with a multitude of spiritual attributes.” At some point we all must acknowledge this Truth for this is the Truth that will set us free. Every knee must bow, and every tongue must confess that the Christ (right within you – your hope of glory), is Lord.!

Metaphysically, the Biblical story of the children of Israel’s exodus out of Egypt represents the various stages of spiritual development that every soul must go through.

“Man, who is at first living in the selfish animal part of himself, will grow up through various stages and by various processes to the divine or spiritual understanding wherein he knows that he is one with the Father and wherein he is free from all suffering, because he has conscious dominion over all things.” (Complete Works of H. Emilie Cady, p. 21)

This is an inner journey that will take you from bondage to liberty. In Lessons in Truth, Cady states “every man believes himself to be in bondage to the flesh and the things of the flesh.” (Complete Works of H. Emile Cady, p. 19). This belief is the cause of much suffering, addictions, and obsessions. These are the new taskmasters.

If you feel you are in bondage to any experience, thought or habit, the first step out is to choose. Choose not to be in bondage. Make this intention very clear to the Universe and ask for assistance from your own Indwelling Christ to strengthen you. The next step is simply to remember who and what you are. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God‘s Spirit dwells in your midst?” I Cor 3:16. If God’s Spirit dwells within you, the Power and Presence of the Almighty is within you. If God’s Spirit dwells within you, the spiritual attributes of the Creator are within you. Attributes such as love, strength, power, and abundance are right within you. Literally, the Kingdom of God is at hand. You can touch it and feel it because it is right within you. Moreover, as children of the Most-High, this is your inheritance. However, if you do not know who you are, you cannot claim your inheritance.

When I think of how we sometimes find ourselves in mental and emotional bondage, I often think about the fable about the eagle that thought he was a chicken. Now, if you know anything about the animal kingdom, you know that the eagle in nothing like a chicken. An eagle is the king of the sky. However, in this fable the eagle had no remembrance of its true nature. You see, as a baby eagle, it had fallen out of its nest and a well-meaning farmer found it and raised it with chickens. These circumstances held the eagle in a kind of bondage. Instead of soaring the heights of the sky, this eagle was clucking and pecking like a chicken. When we forget that we are spiritual beings, formed in the image and likeness of the Creator, we become just like that eagle, clucking and pecking for crumbs on the ground when we should be soaring to new heights in Spirit.

It is your destiny to remember who and what you are. You are destined to rise into the heights of Spirit. In Truth, your true nature is spirit. In Truth, anything contrary to this is an illusion. In Truth, you are never sick, hurt or afraid because these concepts are not a part of your spiritual DNA. Your spiritual DNA is your Divinely Nourished Advantage over any and all circumstances. You just need to remember who you are. You are the King’s kid. Any belief that falls short of this is a lie.

By the end of the fable, the eagle remembered its identity and flew into the infinite sky. The eagle chose liberty! Choose liberty NOW! Choose liberty over bondage by changing your thoughts. Change your thoughts from lack to abundance. Change your thoughts from hopelessness to faith. Change your thoughts from procrastination to power. Change your thoughts from fear to love.

This is simple but not always easy because an erroneous belief system may have conditioned your mind. You must now begin the process of de-conditioning your mind from the error thinking that has held you in bondage for so long. Remember, the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years before reaching the promised land. The actual trip should have taken eleven days. However, the journey back to Spiritual Awareness is a process. The children of Israel were no longer in physical bondage to the Egyptians, they were in emotional and mental bondage to their old mindsets. Old limiting mindsets must be cleared from consciousness before we can leave the wilderness of our own cluttered, error thinking and enter the expanded awareness of the Promised land. Our thoughts must be in alignment with who we are as spiritual beings. We do this through prayer and meditation. We do this by using denials and affirmations. Denials and affirmations are the soap and water of consciousness. Prayer and meditation are how we communicate with God. If you really want to enter the Awareness of Spirit, you must spend time in the Spirit daily. Meditate on aspects of God until you enter the Silence. Listen for the whispering of the Still Small Voice that is always speaking to you. Pray unceasingly.

It is time to develop the spiritual eyes that allow you to see the Power and Presence of God — everywhere. See the colors of Spirit painted on the Canvas of the Infinite Sky. Feel Spirit moving through the wind and in the trees. Smell the fragrance of Spirit in the atmosphere. Immerse yourself in the divine energy of Spirit.

“Finally…Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Phil 4:8 

Deny any thought that is not in harmony with your Indwelling Christ to have space in your heart or mind. Affirm daily: “I am not sick. I am not hurt. I am not afraid. I AM spirit and there is only Good in Spirit for Spirit is God.”

Now give thanks for the magnitude of your blessings!!!

Remember who you are. Remember who God is. Choose liberty over bondage.