Freedom

Freedom has been defined as “a state of exemption from the power or control of another; liberty; exemption from slavery, servitude or confinement; freedom is personal, civil, political, and religious. Exemption from fate, necessity, or any constraint in consequence of predetermination or otherwise; as the freedom of the will.” – Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828.

More recently, freedom is defined as “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint; the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved; the state of not being subject to or affected by (a particular undesirable thing); the power of self-determination attributed to the will; the quality of being independent of fate or necessity.” – The Oxford English Dictionary.

“Freedom is fragile, handle with prayer.” – Edna Lister

Freedom from bondage to the senses and the false glamor of earth are the direct results of ascension of consciousness and the sacrifice of self and its appetites to achieve unity of soul in the Light, being at one with God. Freedom is experiential and covers an infinite variety of degrees, for the complexity of soul conquering is far-reaching but individually tailored to the soul who is seeking God consciousness. Because of this, no two souls can or will experience walking the Via Christa in exactly the same way.

Edna Lister on Freedom

The seven lower aspects of love include love of life, love of freedom, love of one’s mate, mother love, love of sensation, love of pleasure and love of things. – Edna Lister, Love, the Highway, November 2, 1930.

Obtain mastery over the self, which is freedom over hate and negative thought. – Edna Lister, January 16, 1933.

Allow your family, friends and loved ones freedom of thought. – Edna Lister, January 31, 1933.

Lift the other fellow into greater Light, don’t push him down. Declare that he is perfect, whole and complete, and is standing beside you in glory, freed of limitations, especially those you have imposed on him. – Edna Lister, February 1, 1933.

Legally, you may never demand or ask, but always give others the freedom to choose their own way. – Edna Lister, Love, the Conqueror, April 12, 1934.

True soul freedom comes through spiritual illumination. – Edna Lister, Ten Plagues on Egypt, May 16, 1934.

Giving love creates a glory so blinding, a glory so great, and freedom beyond man’s ability to fathom – not freedom to do as you please for a few, but freedom for everyone. You are free to express, yet the only way to do so rightly is to prepare the way by ascension of consciousness. – Edna Lister, From Materialism to Spiritual Awareness, September 9, 1934.

God has given you the freedom to express either after the pattern of Spirit, or after the world. – Edna Lister, Learning to Live at Peace, November 11, 1934.

Giving is a miracle, and receiving is a miracle. You attain freedom in giving. – Edna Lister, Learning to Live at Peace, November 11, 1934.

National freedom flows from individual freedom

The idea, "I must be free," indicates bondage. Since no one can bind you, you must be binding yourself. You glue yourself together with the idea. Freedom from problems is the natural result of knowing truth. Truth is the sum of facts and processes as they exist, move and are stated in principle. The truth about life is the sum of facts and processes as you find them in life. – Edna Lister, Problems, December 5, 1934.

National freedom flows from individual freedom. – Edna Lister, God as Government, January 6, 1935.

You may choose between the freedom to seek pleasure and material things for self, or freedom to surrender the self, to obey law, to expand, to express your soul. – Edna Lister, The Christ Standard, February 17, 1935.

Liberty, Equality and Fraternity comprise freedom. – Edna Lister, Ancient Mysteries Unveiled, March 16, 1935.

According to your faith be it unto you. – Matthew 9:29. Your degree of freedom of Spirit ranges from absolute to the merest fraction, depending on your comprehension, which is according to your faith. – Edna Lister, The Laws of Spirit, April 8, 1936.

You can obtain freedom of soul, which is freedom from self, only through agreeing with God that "This is good," and adjusting to your fellow man without arguing about anything. – Edna Lister, The Divine Scale of Twelve, April 30, 1936.

Redeem your unwisely invested love and work to dig yourself out of your self-created darkness to live free in the glory of the Light. When you dig your buried soul from the darkness of self, then all you know is the freedom of Light and God’s glory. – Edna Lister, Greater Love, August 29, 1936.

Love never fails, but bears, hopes and endures all things that stand in its path. Love is not bondage, but shows you how to command freedom. Love is freedom. – Edna Lister, Love Never Faileth, May 30, 1937.

The worse the situation appears, the closer you are to real freedom. Keep your mind and heart clear of all doubt and resentment. – Edna Lister, August 17, 1937.

Freedom is personal liberty, non-slavery, independence, liberty of action, the right to do, to determine for yourself. Yet, which self does the choosing, I AM or "little me?" – Edna Lister, Freedom to Express Yourself, October 2, 1937.

You cannot live your whole life in one day. Yet, do something toward your freedom each day, and one day you will have that freedom. This is seed time, and one day you will have the stalk, the leaves and the blossoms. It is inevitable. – Edna Lister, May 30, 1940.

God has given us freedom to choose our way in life

When you hold anything against another, speak openly or else speak not at all. To lift it from your heart and lay it on the altar without speech is better. This is the true Christed way in sacrificing the very small self on the altar. Do not criticize. Free all others to live as God gives it to them, while you live with the Master. – Edna Lister, March 28, 1941.

Would you be free? Live in love. Enough love will make anything possible. Enough joyous praise will make the impossible gloriously possible. – Edna Lister, November 2, 1942.

You are indeed free when you free yourself fully by acknowledging your past rebellion against the unjust doings of others. Lift it fully and give it up forever.

Jesus ordered his disciples to preach repentance and remission of sins, in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Then he promised that they would be endowed with power from on high; he ascended and left them with freedom to choose. Each new freedom becomes a bondage unless you have an ever-renewing goal out front, ahead of you. – Edna Lister, December 1, 1942.

In an instant you can turn from selflessness to darkness, which causes delay. So, while you do not plan to delay, you must consider it as a factor in your plan. You often delay the fulfillment of God’s promises to you. He has no power over the will of man and has given us freedom to choose. He builds the lines again and holds them, no matter how often you tear them down. – Edna Lister, June 29, 1944.

When you are free of self, you look out on life from a point of calm poise and draw all good to yourself. – Edna Lister, October 8, 1944.

Five is the number that symbolizes your soul’s freedom to choose, guaranteeing freedom of expression. The five is centered as the balance point between the numbers one through four and six through nine. As the number of law, the five symbolizes balance between body and soul. You have freedom of action to express as you choose. How you act reveals your expression of balance or imbalance. Ideally, you would exercise your freedom to express upward in consciousness. – Edna Lister, The Trinities of Creation, March 17, 1945.

A first law of the universe is the freedom to express for the purpose of learning and to unfold the faculties for wisdom. God does not smite you for experimenting, if the experiment teaches. If not, you incur a debt to pay. If you repeat the experience many times, there is a greater debt to pay for each occurrence. – Edna Lister, April 6, 1945.

“Live with the Master hour by hour in perfect freedom.” – Edna Lister

Live with the Master hour by hour in perfect freedom, leaving all others alone to live and to receive their lessons in God’s ways of rightness for them. Grant the other fellow freedom to be right where he is, as he is, without speaking, only shining from the golden silence to bless. – Edna Lister, May 18, 1945.

All you need to do for freedom is to pray once to your Father, then ask to do it all yourself. – Edna Lister, July 4, 1945.

When you have cleaned out the appetitive soul, no room remains for self, no thought of excusing self. When you have finally cleansed enough self, you will not even remember to say "but." You will hear yourself saying, "Oh, Father, let it come, and cleanse it all." You need not ask, "Am I free? Am I right?" Only the little self poses such a query to prolong its dominance. You do not think, "I am free, down, up or giving." You will be too busy growing. You will remember nothing except to do. – Edna Lister, July 14, 1945.

You are truly free but do not know it. Your bonds are cut and the doors are open. Step into the freedom of Shekinah glory. You shall win. It is a matter of choice how long it will take. Your ability, your strength to reach up into the Light is without question. Power is waiting to be poured through you. It is a question of your contact, of reaching high enough to touch that Power. Push your plug all the way into the socket for results. You say that it is a question of time, yet there is no time. It all rests on you. You are free, blessed, lifted, exalted. – Edna Lister, October 12, 1945.

Every new freedom becomes a new bondage as you grow, expand and advance. – Edna Lister, Love, May 11, 1947.

Once you assume any kind of obligation, emancipation can come only through perfect mastery in love’s conquering of the petty little self, the little me that so loves to wallow in self-pity. The law is, Emancipation comes through conquering self unto all soul mastery. Only the self puts you in deep, dark bondage, not the law or God. The soul remains in bondage as long as selfish desires draw it backward. All darkness is born of selfish desires.

No one regresses unless, despite what he says he thinks, he desires what he will find deeply rooted in the appetitive soul. Until you learn this lesson and conquer the subconscious selfish desires that bind you, you will never be free. Others have nothing to do with this. They are simply your teachers and tempters. Dig out and give up whatever in you binds you to an appetite or a person. Whatever binds you is deeply buried in you. – Edna Lister, July 3, 1947.

Declare, "I AM and I have" freedom from all weakness, from all lack, from closed doors, from all delay, freedom from all darkness. I AM free. I have received now. I AM and I have."

“Hold yourself free from the world so that your
spoken Word shall stand.” – Edna Lister

Use these declarations for whatever you have decreed. Use them to begin each decree you make during the day. Use them a million times a day. Repeat "I AM and I have" seven times seven in rhythm to build Power. Release it in this phrase: "The Power so built shall now finish all ascension work on the outer." – Edna Lister, February 27, 1948.

Hold yourself free from the world so that your spoken Word shall stand. – Edna Lister, June 3, 1948.

Surrender all personal feuds. Ascend until the little self’s demands for recognition no longer feud with your soul’s great responsibility. Be free of self-hate and criticism of the little self, for the world and for others. Be patient with those who miss the high mark, and be loving with all others. Only by giving the love of compassion for all darkness that others commit can we ever cleanse it from earth. Light shall burst darkness asunder until all shall be saved, for the spewing out will warn and protect them. – Edna Lister, February 26, 1949.

Everyone is free to speak or act as he chooses. Some try to push their will on you or fight your desire to do it your way. Ignore this. "I’ll show them" is a revenge idea. Gird your loins and put on your armor of faith. You satisfy your adversaries by agreeing, but inside you know that the door will open at the right time for the next step. Agree that the adversary has the right to say what he thinks, loose him and let him go. Declare, "This person will be divinely happy to see me step through the door to success." You need not agree that what the adversary says is right for you. That may be the law for him, and that’s where you agree. – Edna Lister, August 4, 1949.

To completely heal a mind of a martyr complex gives emotional and mental freedom. – Edna Lister, August 10, 1949.

You must learn your lessons of ascension here on earth to reach soul freedom. – Edna Lister, Promises Made, September 17, 1950.

You have no freedom without Light from above. – Edna Lister, June 11, 1951.

To reach the freedom of ascension, keep your desire mated to your will. – Edna Lister, Be-Attitudes, July 31, 1951.

To pass an initiation, you must be free of heart and mind to "act as if" the present situation were the final perfect thing. – Edna Lister, September 1952.

The fourth dimension, time, is the white Christ Light point, which brings complete soul freedom to make yourself good and the other fellow happy. You are free to conquer self in time. While in the body, your soul always seeks the fifth dimension of eternal perfection. – Edna Lister, The Altar and the Flame, December 14, 1952.

"I have made up my mind that I AM using only God-strength, God-Power, God-Love, God-Glory. I AM an over-flowing chalice of love-light, even as a lake overflows, being fed and filled from above, giving from below, giving from God’s River of Life, ever holding myself free of weeds and my channels free of the obstacles of self." – Edna Lister, January 26, 1953.

The little self has caused you much delay, yet slowly you lift this lesser intelligence. You have felt complete bondage because every time you have allowed self to rule you, self has bound your hands. Only when the Holy Ghost is moving through you in full Power are the bonds broken and you feel free. – Edna Lister, June 3, 1953.

“You have no freedom without Light from above.” – Edna Lister

Housecleaning the subconscious leaves you free to discern and lift all the ideas that clutter your mind with worldly wrongs. – Edna Lister, Success Through Divine Action, July 14, 1953.

God has bestowed on you the freedom to expand upward, limitlessly in agreement with Him. You do not yet know the power behind the freedom of the Love of God. Let the Holy Ghost possess you, for it is perfect. You are free but it doth not yet appear how free that supreme freedom can be. – Edna Lister, October 19, 1953.

Faith is your "open sesame" to the door of freedom from the world. – Edna Lister, I Arise, June 20, 1954.

Most married couples do not want separation. They want freedom from the mate’s possessiveness (possession), from nagging and lack of understanding. If they taught soul freedom in marital relations counseling, many couples would reunite. This is freedom to ascend to comprehension. Then compassion descends for understanding of the mate. Just love God and surrender to Him. – Edna Lister, July 12, 1954.

When you are ready to register your vows at the highest point, you will know what great freedom is. No freedom is like freedom from self. This is the sum of all freedom for the soul, never to block your own light, or to speak a stinging word that pulls you back from glory. – Edna Lister, October 17, 1954.

God always puts you slap-bang in the middle of a sphere of darkness to split it asunder, freeing all who are involved with you. When you land, appraise the place, and those in it by logic, reason, discernment, discrimination, and discretion. Then see all as it must become and march straight up. You will always be free, and you will haul ‘em up by the dozen. – Edna Lister, March 9, 1955.

With your heart cleansed of blaming others for holding you back, you will be free. No one may open the doors of life for you. You are your own door-opener. Only you can open your door with love, and you are free of earth when you so accept. Yet you are not free from service or responsibility, for you must either lift your share of the world’s debts, or return to earth. – Edna Lister, July 23, 1955.

Five represents freedom, where you are free to choose your course, up or out, in or down. You are free to ascend to the Oversoul’s I AM consciousness, where you contact Power. – Edna Lister, The Beatitudes Are Be-Attitudes, February 12, 1956.

You are free to say, do think and imagine what you want, but what do you want? Freedom is the personal liberty to determine your life for yourself, but which kind of self? You are free to express, to pour forth, to push forth, to produce what? Which self do you express, the lower weak self or the higher strong soul? For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. – Deuteronomy 30:11-14. – Edna Lister, The Greater You, April 15, 1956.

An emotional self-love always reaches, grabs and snatches what "I want." When no one meets its demands, it sits and waits, but never serenely, always with resentment and blame for someone else. It controls your life, and in it, you find no freedom. Devotional love’s first thought is always of God. Dwelling in the love of God, I give up my own way. I give to others freely, and give others their freedom. – Edna Lister, Nourishing Love, May 13, 1956.

Faith is your "open sesame" to the door of freedom from the world.

Hold yourself gracefully and in an accepting attitude. Declare, "I accept all loveliness and everything else to lift." You can travel the way of full freedom of the spheres open to you to the Source of your attainment. Warning: If you do not desire this, do not follow the Via Christa. You may go as high as you please, but it requires that you bring your inner responsibility to the outer. Be joyously, happily responsible and know the result will be perfection. The trick is to look in the face of darkness and say, "You are the result. Be Light." You have the joy of inner service before the outer accomplishment. – Edna Lister, July 16, 1956.

I declare that you shall achieve. I declare that you shall be strong. I declare clear seeing for you. I declare most of all that you will hear yourself always so that you may not delude yourself in any way or excuse yourself. You have inextricably woven your lines of responsibility together. No matter what anyone does, one disobedience of law does not excuse another. That which one does, does not excuse this one over here from being perfect. The time has come. You may not hide things from yourself under self-delusion. You may not use treachery or lies under self-delusion. You may not evade issues and tell tales under self-delusion.

You have become of the truth and only truth, only becoming, only practicing truth will set you free from the wages of sin, which is the death of soul. So you are on your honor, honor above all things, in which is no covering up of treachery toward oneself. Treachery turns inward and devours the one who practices it. Make this final sacrifice. Every point of self that you hold onto binds you in pain. I declare that you shall be perfect in your application of principle. You are not in bondage. You are free. The bondage is in your own mind. Clean it out and ascend. – Edna Lister, July 20, 1956.

You feel as though you are in complete bondage because self has bound your hands every time you have allowed self to rule you. You feel free only when the Holy Spirit is moving through you in full Power and the bonds are broken. – Edna Lister, November 2, 1956.

All lessons serve to free your soul, to lift you back into your own place. We wandered so very far away when our curiosity led us into experimentation with darkness to pleasure the self, to experience sensation, and the climb back is hard. Hold fast to your love of God. Do not let any antagonism or rebellion in your heart color your voice when you speak. – Edna Lister, June 30, 1957.

Study the difference between personal and objective analysis of the facts to see the difference between what to put in the fire, and making it a mess by dramatizing a situation. You invest your life in situations and people rather than in God and new creations. When you listen to the other fellow’s emotional troubles or complaints, then dramatize it in the retelling, even for lifting, you hold everyone involved down with subconscious condemnation. Wearing blinders, passing judgment and blaming are the sources of some forms of blindness.

When you use "if/then" statements about others, you obstruct their progress on the path. Instead, ponder how the Father will direct them to freedom in His own inimitable way under His own perfect timing. All fear will be lifted in God’s perfect time. The Father does not blame, judge or condemn, but praises the ascending soul. It is not your job to set a goal for another to reach, for this only encourages him to outer enslavement to compete. If you entertain a question about why, how, when or where God will handle it, whose nose is where? – Edna Lister, November 21, 1957.

Lift stubbornness and willfulness. Trace it back to your birth to be free of this burden. Stubbornness, turned around to hold you in Light, is a wonderful thing, but not otherwise. – Edna Lister, December 5, 1957.

The work on the Via Christa is designed to free and build you, the descended creator god, into your full potential. – Edna Lister, December 30, 1957.

You are your own enemy with idle words, sorry thinking and negatives. The Master’s work serves to break your bondage to little self and brings you into the glory of soul conquering. – Edna Lister, February 5, 1958.

All lessons serve to free your soul, to lift you back into your own place.

Leave all the personality "messes" in the office when you go home. You cannot sleep with those characters mentally and ever be rested in the morning. Put each coworker on his own cloud continents of Light. Every time he falls off into your mind, boost him back again. Gradually he will stay there, where he belongs, and you will be completely free. – Edna Lister, February 24, 1958.

When someone for whom you are responsible does not come through, it creates a love burden, a heaviness on your heart. When they do come through, it is as though your heart room has been opened and aired and you are free. – Edna Lister, May 19, 1958.

Your work, at whatever earthly career you have chosen, is your duty service and does not earn sacrificial credits. What you do for your family freely, lovingly, knowingly gains you your own great place and freedom. – Edna Lister, May 30, 1958.

When you forgive and truly forget, the increased Light flowing through you vitalizes and quickens you. When you give love, you get love. Once you give enough compassion, you are free. Then you cannot be hurt because you are so busy pouring it out. You are then free to ascend completely, free to cover the transgressions of others with enough love, and free to love enough. – Edna Lister, September 8, 1958.

As you free yourself, you free your Guards and all those on your lines of Light and responsibility. – Edna Lister, September 17, 1958.

You are never free until you have ascended into Christed consciousness and are worshiping God night and day. – Edna Lister, October 9, 1958.

You must love God enough to free the world of you. – Edna Lister, October 20, 1958.

Put all enemies (fear, doubt, self-pity, critical attitude) on a cloud and free them! Free the thing you have been in order to return to your true place. – Edna Lister, February 4, 1960.

Selflessness in all ways is the goal. The greatest thing a candidate for ascension may do is to learn to share love, never possessing, always free and the loved one free. – Edna Lister, May 13, 1960.

Two phases of faith are important, first and last, the faith of God and faith in your individual freedom.

You have faith in freedom, but may claim no freedom where it hurts another. Today’s difficulty is that some overstep that Godlike freedom, which is ruled by the principles of honor, loyalty and justice.

Faith in freedom is not mine versus yours. You must free the world and your fellow man of "me." Only so can you be free to unfold gloriously. – Edna Lister, From Adam to Jesus, May 22, 1960.

Live by the five freedoms: Love God. Love thyself as one identified with the Crown. Love thy fellow man with compassion. Love the freedom of the spheres. Love thy illumination and comprehension.

You must love God enough to free the world of you.

God uses the evil ones to release His Light and glory into their force and violence, as we declare it so. They will fight each other and regress together. Complete freedom for the world is on the way. The shock of Power will heal many, but those who are not healed will grow madder before they are displaced to where they can do no harm. It will take a little while until freedom is complete. – Edna Lister, May 23, 1960.

"Try" is an unconscious disbelief in freedom. "Try" admits a "belief in" and presupposes an obstacle, an unneeded condition. Your subconscious mind feeds the doubts into faith to dilute it, and lulls your conscious mind. – Edna Lister, July 12, 1960.

You must loose people and let them be free, and they will be free. You may not demand anything of our loved ones. You have been chosen, if you can accept the fact that you have no right to make demands on anyone. According to the height of your acceptance of the fact that you have no right to demand anything of anyone, you are chosen. You are the only stumbling block of the self. You may demand of self only, never of another. When you bow to another’s demands, to obey what he demands, you are gone. However, the minute you no longer even consider the worth of every demand, not to take it into your being, you are finished with the basic lesson. – Edna Lister, January 1, 1961.

A vibration is finished if you have given all the love you have. Lift the person, see Light on him and see him free. Declare, "I love God and free you." When you free a person to go his own way, you feel as though a great burden has lifted. The Power rushes in and you are absolutely soft and malleable to the love of God. – Edna Lister, September 7, 1961.

Declare, "Let the white Light of the Christ surround me now, and let it dissolve, dissipate and eliminate every adverse thought, idea, condition, emotion and personality trait. I stand free in the Light of truth. I am free with the freedom of Spirit, manifesting my divinity now. I lean on my God and His strength is sufficient for me." – Edna Lister, October 3, 1961.

Your freedom ends where the other fellow’s ribs begin, so if you cherish your freedom, do not step on his toes.– Edna Lister, Your Contact With Cosmic Power, October 8, 1961.

When you accept a promise from someone in thanksgiving, praise and joy, law must fulfill that promise. Give the promise-maker freedom, even if he himself does not fulfill the promise. God always fulfills the promise, with compound interest. It may come in some different way, but always is fulfilled. – Edna Lister, December 27, 1961.

Always enfold the best of the old into new when you make a choice. Each new choice is like a little death because you are always giving up something for the new thing you choose. Each new freedom you gain eventually becomes too tight a fit, and every old vibration in life shrinks. – Edna Lister, Loyalty, April 15, 1962.

Observe yourself as you read the Declaration of Unquenchable Love. See if you are more free than the last time you spoke it. – Edna Lister, May 6, 1962.

Joy is your liberty
and your freedom.

After your life here is finished, you leave no soul records save those regarding your involvement with others, which would include an exchange of life sparks. Examples of involvement with others are your failure to forgive, idle words, and criticism. The law to apply is What is that to thee? Follow thou me. – John 22:21, with nothing of the little self involved. If another berates you for a remark you’ve made, and you find yourself saying, "I didn’t mean it that way," you are not in the Light. If you say that you leave the other fellow free to do it his way, you must mean it although you wouldn’t do it that way. Anything else exposes pride of self. Even the statement, "What you’re doing is contrary to law. I lift you. The Power goes through you and you are clean," which lifts the life sparks, could be complete pride of self.

Anything of self in a statement causes your life sparks to cling to that person. Pride of self is an attitude of being too wise to fail as you believe another has. To criticize the other fellow because you think he’s wrong coats him in your life sparks. Lift, keep him on a cloud, and declare it cleansed. The curse behind healing prayers is thinking that God needs you to do the healing for Him. Instead, declare, "Father, let every prayer made for that person heal me and all who prayed." Do not invest your life sparks in anyone or anything. Merely glance at evil to lift it. It is just an act of freedom to surrender self to God. – Edna Lister, June 7, 1962.

When your mind and heart are enlarged enough to accept the fullness of God’s glory, then one by one the taints of earth that enslaved, the bonds of earth shall be broken. – Edna Lister, August 19, 1962.

God Himself is not free from the challenge of darkness, and you are His agents. The only way that you, the descended Elect, can lift earth is through your sacrifice of self. – Edna Lister, December 13, 1962.

Joy is your liberty and your freedom. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. – James 1:2-3. – Edna Lister, The Crown of Roses, June 30, 1963.

As you ascend in soul consciousness, you will receive outer rewards in great measure. Keep yourself completely free of the past and the tendencies of backwardness and inferiority. Instantly, when some dread or secret concern touches you, reach for the stars, and lift. – Edna Lister, July 17, 1963.

Freedom from bondage to the world does not mean letting go, but a tighter rein on self than ever before. It means to double your watchfulness, rigid training and discipline of self. There is only one way to go, and that is up in consciousness, through the soul and the ascending pathway of Light before you. – Edna Lister, July 24, 1963.

When presented with a challenging situation, look up in consciousness, get the answer and make a stand. Give the positive declaration to treat the situation, then stand, hold and lift to keep the lines of Light lifted. Remain in the Light with all your faculties alive and do the next step next while holding the situation in Light. Just go up in consciousness and stay in the Light without words, without concentrating on it. Do not sentimentalize it or review it in mind. Keep your mind clean and remain free of self.

Your only true freedom is to agree with God

Do not endlessly recreate the event. Some people have partners in this. One friend consults another for pessimistic reinforcement. You permit this in your family by not going up and staying up in consciousness. You invest your soul substance when you hold onto the past or what people have said. So what if you must clean the Augean stable every day with your spouse and family? It holds them and will continue to hold them. You have done and continue to do this work. Stand high with me on this point. – Edna Lister, October 1, 1964.

Something arriving on your doorstep to be lifted is a sign of greater freedom from slavery. – Edna Lister, February 12, 1966.

Your only true freedom is to agree with God that this is good, and adjust to your fellow man. – Edna Lister, Following Your Path of Destiny, December 4, 1966.

Theology gives provides an attitude for life as inspiration, faith and devotion, which are the three freedoms of religion. – Edna Lister, The Religion of Jesus, October 22, 1967.

Freedom of soul leaves you invulnerable, untouchable except to make things right. – Edna Lister, March 23, 1970.

Freedom is fragile. Handle with prayer. – Edna Lister, August 31, 1970.

The word "try" is a complete unconscious disbelief in your freedom to achieve, to do, to conquer, and to climb. – Edna Lister, September 10, 1970.

This Is It!

How often we hear someone say, “This is it!” Every “it” has a root, and this declaration is almost equal to saying, “This is good!” For when you say, “This is it!” — meaning annoyance, frustration or irritation — you name “it,” claim “it,” give “it” a home in passing by, and from there, “it” can be lifted. All the “its” are little clouds besmirching, and so long as they float about, they nibble at the edges of the mind, even causing sleeplessness in their desire to be lifted into Light.

If darkness could be personified, it would be as a beggar begging to be changed into Light. Therefore, when one of these things strikes the present, causing a lesson to be remembered, this is "it!" The vagrant, the thief of peace, the blot on honor is named and lifted and frees you from the past. To lift “it” cleans up an obstacle that either causes you to stumble or blocks the doorway to your next step.

“Soul taints block the path to freedom ahead.” – Edna Lister

Your decision to “let down” is God’s cue to let you sink and so push open all these doors to the detrimental past. Letting down really goes to the root of all your present lifetime escape attitudes. This has nothing to do with outright dishonesty, but is a perfect example of how soul taints block the path to freedom ahead unless you scrape them from your records of life. Pursue the line back, back, back in imagination until every past cloud is lifted.

As you wipe out each taint from the far past, one record of the Book of Life will be rewritten from above as though a human hand had changed it. You cannot do this by prayer and petition, but by honestly going up in consciousness and releasing Power over the past. This is the way true law works. God throws out the line when you are taking things too lightly, and hopes the bait attracts you up to what He is now able to do for you.

Until you righteously accept your responsibility and clean up any idea of blame for past ignorance or misdirection by others, God can do no more. When you accept, your guards can touch your book of records with Light as Power to wipe the pages free of any taint and rewrite them with angelic hands. Your Book of Life shall register perfection whenever the records are reviewed in heaven.

All is well. Go forward, onward and upward, with no looking back except to cleanse and wipe the pages white as snow. Hold your gains and remember day and night: No detail is unimportant and you must keep each up to date. You cannot lag behind or seek to escape. This is it, for you have reached a point in ascension that to receive an answer to your prayers for illumination, for wisdom, for seeing, for hearing, you must draw in all the little “its.”

I would suggest that you make a great adventurous mission into your youth, and for every time you misled someone else for any reason whatever, put it on a cloud in all its ramifications — meaning everyone connected with it. Ask for Light to cleanse them and wipe it from the pages of your Book of Life. Lift those who misled you and they shall be cured of their tendency toward this indoor sport. Thus, all shall work together for good.

This is not only “it” — this is good, for when a thousand tiny clutching vines pull you back, “it” can be a heavy weight causing untold delay. As you release a clutching tendril from the past, it shall cleanse the present of any limitations and remove all obstacles until doors will open on the slightest knock. Doors that are shut fast to the rest of the world shall be open to you.

Although none can set aside the past that must be lifted until you gather it up and speak the word, it shall be done upon your spoken words. In all ways you shall be defended against all the fiery darts of the wicked and against all evil. Lift the one who misled you and he shall be cured of his appetite for such “indoor sport.” All shall work together for the good of all. – Edna Lister, November 27, 1963.

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Freedom in the New Testament

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage … But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. – Galatians 5:1, 18.

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. – 1 Peter 2:11-17.