Discover 4 Ways to Focus Your Heart and Mind on God.

Post 7 by Judy Rix...

While Christ was on the earth, His one and only focus was to do His Father's will. Another way of saying this is that His eye was single to God. By emulating Christ's example, we also can draw nearer to our Heavenly Father by having our eye single (focused) to His glory.

D&C 88:67 is one of my favorite "If/Then" scriptures:

"IF your eye be single to God, [THEN] your whole bodies

[physical and spiritual] shall be filled with light and there shall be

no darkness in you. And that body which is filled with light comprehends all things."

What a promise! I want that!

What does "Having your eye single to God" mean to you? As we live our busy lives, are we thinking only about God the whole time? Of course not.

However, as we Emulate Jesus Christ and focus on Him, we become new and improved versions of ourselves. Our behaviors and thoughts -- conscious and sub-conscious -- come from a celestial perspective. Instead of seeing a gray rainy day, we'll thank God for the April showers that bring May flowers. The negative darkness will diminish, and we'll be filled with light as promised in D&C 88:67.

Focus on Him.

My friend was trying to teach this concept to her kids when her six - year - old confidently exclaimed, "I've got it all figured out." Without hesitation, he sprinted upstairs and reappeared with a pair of binoculars.

"All you have to do," he said, "is look up into the sky with your binoculars, find God, and then focus on Him."

Creative thinker!

So, back to the question: How do you find God and then have your eye single to His glory? There are a million ways, but here are four ideas.

(1) Show Love Through Positivity.

Christ's attributes are positive, filled with light. Satan's are negative, filled with darkness.

Being positive and focused on God's glory is akin to bringing light to others. Christ asked His disciples to be a light to the world by doing good and being good. As His disciple, your positive good deeds bring light to those you serve. In other words, your actions glorify God.

Jesus is the perfect example of love. In His life on earth, He cared for the poor, healed the blind, welcomed little children, and even forgave those who crucified Him. His love is endless and available to any who need it.

Think back on today. How did you show love to others? Did you follow the example of the Savior?

Did You Go the Extra Mile?

• When you were shopping for clothes, did you leave them laying all over the dressing room floor? Or did you put them back on the hangers so someone else wouldn't have to clean up after you? Did you go the extra mile by telling the sales girl how nice her department looked?

• Did you assist an elderly person who was having difficulty loading her groceries into the car? Did you go above and beyond by helping her get into her vehicle?

• While your neighbor was raking his yard, did you grab your own rake and help out? Did you add value by spending a few more minutes bagging leaves? And did you add even more value by whistling a happy tune while you worked?

• This morning when your kids left for school, were they rushed and unprepared? Or did you plan ahead so they had a good breakfast and clean clothes to wear? Did you start their day by opening the blinds so they could be uplifted by the sunshine? Did you add even more value by smiling and offering positive encouragement to begin their day?

Get the idea? When you do good and positive things, your eye is single to God because that's what He would do. It honors the two great commandments to love God and to love your neighbor.

But here's the bonus: The person who benefits the very most from your goodness is you! The more you Emulate Jesus Christ, the brighter His light will shine within you because you are growing to become like Him.

Now, What I'm Going to Say Next Is Really Important!

I just described some ideal scenarios. But hey! You and I might be in the early stages of developing the Savior's qualities within our own characters. It's a "line - upon - line" process that takes practice. We mess up! So what? We repent. We just do it better next time. The whole reason for repentance is to learn and do over.

How else can we have our eye single to God?

(2) Let Go of That Ego and Learn Humility.

We all struggle with weaknesses. One of those may be our natural desire for praise and recognition. What if that frailty is getting in the way of having our eye single to God -- His praise and recognition and not our own. Maybe we need to forget our egos and embrace a lot more humility, a key attribute of the Savior. Our progression may be a two steps forward and one step back thing, but practice makes perfect.

Satan is the master of ego. He said: "...Behold, here am I, send me. I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor." Moses 4:1

Marlin Jensen teaches, "If we pause and quietly reflect on our role,... we will come to know that placing our egos and our vain ambitions on the sacrificial altar is one of the most important offerings we can ever make. Well might we acknowledge, as did Moses after beholding in vision God’s glory: 'Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed (Moses 1:10).'" ("An Eye Single to the Glory of God")

(3) There Is Power in Anonymous Good Deeds.

Another way you can have your eye single to God is to do nice things anonymously with pure motives and no expectation of reward or recognition.

Once again, we learn from Jesus Christ. When Christ healed the leper, remember how He directed him to tell no one about that good deed? (Mark 1:44). This is only one of several times that He asked the receiver of His miracle to tell no one.

Marlin K. Jensen states: "[Those] whose eyes are single to God’s glory see life from a vastly different perspective than those whose attention is directed elsewhere. They care little about receiving credit or recognition for their good deeds. In fact, they frequently find their greatest happiness in serving anonymously, thereby leaving the beneficiaries of their kindness with no one to thank or praise except the Lord." ("An Eye Single to the Glory of God")

In my efforts to let go of ego, I had a good experience many years ago. John and I were raising our young family in a neighborhood of young families. Money was scarce for all of us. On my birthday, I was gifted a $100 bill by my parents. I carried that money around in my wallet for months just waiting to spend it on the "perfect thing."

During a neighborhood meeting at my home, I overheard a lady tell someone that her baby was sleeping in a cardboard box because she couldn't afford a crib. Immediately I knew just what that "perfect thing" was. Her purse was sitting on the floor in another room. I snuck into the room like a cat burglar, rolled the $100 bill into a tiny tube shape, and quickly dropped it into her purse.

I wasn't around when she made the discovery. But for years afterward, I pictured her face when she found that money. I pictured her wondering how it got there. I pictured that baby finally having a real bed of his own. In those days, you could actually buy a crib and mattress for $100. Every time I saw that young mother, it made me happy all over again. I can't remember anything ever giving me so much joy. So who was blessed the most by that small act, her or me?

(4) Ask God to Help You Have Your Eye Single to His Glory.

Let God direct you by asking in prayer how you can glorify Him today. He knows who needs you and what errand to send you on. It's a privilege when He works through you, and for a brief moment you are allowed to be His hands. Your actions may be a very small hinge on the very big gate of someone's life.

So grab your spiritual binoculars, and think creatively of ways to "Let your eye be single to God." Focusing solely on His glory means caring for the Lord and His children more than you care for yourself. Whatever reward you receive is just a happy natural consequence of doing that.

_______

Go to the Source -- What Do the Scriptures and Respected Teachers Say?

"And faith, hope, charity, and love with an eye single to the glory of God qualify him for the work." (D&C 4:5)

“Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see Him; for He will unveil his face unto you. And it shall be in His own time and in His own way and according to His own will.” (D&C 88:67–68)

"The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single [focused on God], thy whole body shall be full of light." (Matthew 6:22)

"Blessed saith the Lord, are they who have come up unto this land with an eye single to my glory, according to my commandments." (D&C 59:1)

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