Over the (40) plus years I have been blessed to experience life and the journey of it, I have encountered a lot of situations that has at times broke “me” mentally & emotionally, but over time the love, grace & glory of God blessed me through or by each breaking. In one word my most consistent struggles have come from or through “BONDAGES”. Whether physical, mental, emotional or spiritual bondages, I recognize all can take a dramatic toll on u, & for long periods of time. To be honest I was in bondage to Satan, the world & this flesh as earliest as maybe 10 years old & maybe earlier. Throughout my teens and adult life my bondages was strong & lasting because of my own desires. From bondage to drug dealing, idolizing things & self, greed, lust, womanizing, sexual immorality, physical imprisonment, bad relationships, Afton Avenue, to many evil thoughts & actions, I found myself in a life of misery, pain & struggles from chasing pleasures that actually was harming me & could of harmed me more than they did. Out of all the bondages that I found myself in, physical bondage was/is the least harmful & difficult. But I’m just realizing that. See physical bondage unlike emotional, mental & spiritual bondages is evident in all its physical evidence. Its actual pain & suffering is far from an illusion to the natural man and his earthly body other than the fact as Christians we are really no longer under those bondages, including physical infirmities (Matt.8:17). The latter bondages are very manipulating and illusional to the untrained/unrenewed worldly mind. For example when I ripped & ran the streets I actually thought I was free and living a justified life, especially when I spent a few dollars to put a temporary smile on somebody face including my own. Another form of bondage I was caught up in was relationships, & my actions & emotions towards the people of the illusional love affairs I was in. I was so caught up in my lust & selfishness I held on to relationships I didn’t even want, but didn’t want nobody else to have it, which kept me & the other in bondage to a relationship that its pain & destruction was evident, but because of our immaturity & the manipulation of ungodly bondages we were painfully cool with that, and actually called it love. When I look around today, I recognize the many people who are sadly enjoying & rationalizing Satan’s many bondagaes, while on the other hand suffering deerly whether internally, externally or both. This is the confusion the people of this world is in because of the absent guidance of Holy Spirit who reveals truth to us and gives spititual discernment to confirm those intuitions. How can we enjoy what is good if we’re so in tuned to what is evil/worldly, & how can we understand spiritual truths if we’re caught up in the flesh? Its literally impossible! see Micah 2:11; John 6:63; 1Cor. 2:10; Gal.5. But glory be to God that we have a beloved Redeemer, who literally has already redeemed all from all infirmities & iniquities and bondages. And the only separation between us and a redeemed life, is us. We keep ourselves in bondage because our desire to have what has been forbidden (what has been deemed not good for us), rather than the abundant beautiful life that God died to give(thats the Eve in all of us). If we’re not experiencing the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) in our lives and towards others then we’re in bondage to self & Satan, & not Christ. I would like to add that bondage can be many things such as people, places, things, activities and attitudes, with all of them imposing equal detriments to a person’s life, but I would love to add that my bondage(s) may not be your bondage(s) and vice versa, so we can leave the accusations, judgement & condemning to Satan when it comes to what music a person listen to, what movie they look at, food they eat, places they go etc. For myself I know I have a thing with hanging in the neighborhood I grew up, its proven every time I set foot in the hood, old thoughts & habits rise back up & I get the feeling that I can beat the odds this time, but that isn’t to say every Christian should avoid such places where ministering is needed to. Even with music or movies, personally I’m not moved to go commit adultery because of Usher (I done that w/out the music), nor do I get a urge to murder because of Friday the 13th, nor steal because of Ocean 11, 12 nor 13. And even today as a man after my Father’s heart, I enjoy all I named above and more, but I am aware that songs that just scream murder murder, bricks bricks and f#$% that b@#$* should convict my spirit and I should, and Im confident that I will bypass that type of product as well as a show that constantly promotes homosexuality, violence etc to a degree its saying this is cool. But It’s for every believer to grow into discerning what’s appropriate & what’s not. But.. I end with assuring u that even judging can become a bondage. God Bless All &I Love All!!

Davin L. Wallace
DOC #1101851