You have felt “fire in your bones”, have experienced “exceeding great joy” and have entered high levels of the spirit, but how are you feeling today?

Why is it that we often find ourselves in valleys of shadow? The truth is, when we feel less than alive and joyful inside, it can almost ALWAYS be traced to our thoughts.

If you are in this situation, ask yourself, “What HAVE I been thinking? (The details of a recent movie or TV program? Sentiments about political figure exploits? Recent uncomfortable conversations with family members? Things that you think others are thinking about you? Etc.)

Thoughts have a resonance to them, and they determine the feelings that we experience. How good we feel is directly proportional to what we are thinking at the time. If we’re thinking low-resonance thoughts, we’ll feel lower emotions. Low spiritual levels can only be transcended by acquiring additional light.

When we can navigate through the jungle of our thoughts into God’s realm, it’s astounding the light that can permeate our souls! He has said, “And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.” (D & C 88:67)

It is an interesting and deeply profound concept that solely by FEELING our way to God, we can be transported into His Presence! We have His promise. He said, IF we focus solely on Him, our bodies WILL be filled with light!   Negativity and low emotions simply cannot exist in that environment.

What if we took this scripture at its word and for ten minutes did nothing but focus on the Glory of God?

What does the “Glory of God” mean to you? Have you experienced it? Of course you have. It always is the backdrop of any powerful spiritual experience. These wonderful experiences are unexplainable. Your deepest most poignant spiritual experiences cannot be sufficiently conveyed to other humans, unless it is the Spirit who conveys them.   A simple example of this may be when you see a magnificent sunset. It takes your breath away!   At that moment, all thought stops, and you begin to FEEL the awe and majesty of God. You can try to explain it, but it will always fall short, because the sum of the experience is more than what you saw. It created glorious feeling within you.

In order to focus on the Glory of God, we have to monitor our thoughts. It takes a lot of awareness to notice our thoughts, and how they are trying to suck us into the vortex of some negative experience or feeling. Once we observe these thoughts, we need to consciously leave them and seek light instead.

Try this exercise to let go of your thoughts and tune in to God’s Presence. (Set a timer for 5 minutes. It aids in the concentration when you know you have a time limit.)

  1. Be Physically and Mentally Still

Sit in a comfortable place where you can have private, quiet time. 

  1. Allow Yourself to FEEL the GLORY of God.

Initially, you might simply ponder on D & C 88:67 over and over. That will propel you upward.   Close your eyes and imagine what the “Glory of God” means to you. Let your “eye” be “single” to Him. You might imagine God on his throne, as you enter His Presence.  You might see yourself sit by Him or embrace Him. IMAGINE YOUR BODY BEING FILLED WITH HIS LIGHT. 

  1. Bear your testimony in your mind                                                        

Think of and bear your testimony in your mind. What has the Lord done for you? What knowledge has He given you personally? Feel that grateful projection going outward to Him. FEEL how much you love Him. The higher we allow ourselves to climb, and the more we feel “one” with Him, the fewer actual words we actually think. This is prayer… and beyond! These reflections seem to turn our beautiful and poignant feelings into a heightened sense of oneness with Deity more powerful than words can ever express.

  1. Evaluate

When the alarm goes off, evaluate your progress.   Did you succeed in “being single minded?”   Did you notice negative or stray thoughts take over your mind? (Notice when they come. If they overtake you, simply be aware of them; let them go, refocus and try again.) If you did succeed, you will notice that you felt the energy of the Spirit flowing into your soul. Try it for another 5 minutes. This time the result will be stronger.

When we’re not feeling light in our souls on a given day, it means that we simply have walked on a lower mental path for a time.   We can correct that and again bask in grace and brilliance.   Ten minutes of intense “light” can change the direction and focus of our day. Over time, you might want to extend the time dedicated to this empowering endeavor, combining it with additional scripture and prayer.   It will open you up to joy, bliss and wisdom.

For ten+ minutes each day we can choose to have an intimate reunion with the God of the Universe. He wants to give us many things that we can only receive when we enter His presence.    “…Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Cor. 2:9)  The key to success is A: Be still enough to concentrate solely on God and His glory, and B: Don’t allow any negative thought in.

The Lord gives us His PROMISE that if we focus on Him completely, He will enlighten and rejuvenate us, until we eventually have the ability to comprehend ALL things.  Only He can put the “fire” back in our bones and the intense joy in our souls.

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