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Attraction or Transformation : The Gospel of Jesus Christ And The Law Of Attraction · ToddTalks--Spirit By Design: Your Weekly Survival Guide

• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Todd Talks, Spirit by Design, the podcast where we explore the intersection of faith, truth, and the design of the human spirit.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: I like it.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're diving into the topic that's talked about everywhere.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: From self-help trips to motivational seminars to social media feeds.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's called the law of attraction.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: I love the law of attraction.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: I've utilized it in my own life.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: I know it works.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: You've heard the phrase like attracts like, or maybe what you think about you bring about.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Teachers like Rhonda Byrne, Napoleon Hill, Bob Proctor.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: They've popularized the idea that our thoughts influence the reality of our lives and experience.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is true.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Principles they teach are true, but here's a deeper question.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Is the law of attraction actually a gospel principle?
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And if so, how does it align with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the restored gospel as taught by such prophets as Russell M.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Nelson, the scriptures, and other modern apostles?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to unpack this idea from four perspectives: Scripture and Science, teachings of the prophets in the Bible, and what the law of attraction gets right and where the gospel adds to it.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because the truth is the gospel of Jesus Christ doesn't just teach attraction, it teaches transformation.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: I declare that the law of attraction works because it is a universal law and God uses universal laws.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: But we are here to design the life we desire, a spiritual life.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: So how can we use the law of attraction in a spiritual capacity?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: The idea that our thoughts shape our rea our lives is not new.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: It appears throughout the scriptures.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: In Proverbs we read, For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 2037.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: That verse alone captures the essence of the law of attraction.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: An entire book has been written about it.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Napoleon Hill and others wrote extensively on it.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Rhonda Burns created a book, the book in the movie The Secret, which is all about the law of attraction.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Simply put, your inner world eventually becomes your outer world.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: The Book of Mormon teaches the first point in the law even more directly.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: In Alma 32, Alma compares faith to a mustard seed planted in the heart.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you have faith, even as that of a grain of a mustard seed, which is tiny, it will grow and blossom until it becomes a full-fledged plant and bear fruit.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Faith is your thoughts, and your thoughts become the root and the parts of the plant.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: It is a spiritual law of cause and effect.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: You nurture faith, faith grows.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: You nurture doubt, doubt grows.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: You focus on light, light increases.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: You focus on dark, dark deepens.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: This mirrors the principle taught in doctrine and covenants.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: That which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's DNC 2027.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: The more we align our minds with goodness, truth, and Christ, the more we invite those things into our lives.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: But the scriptures go even further.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: In DNC 636, the Lord says, Look unto me in every thought.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Doubt not, fear not.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Notice that phrase.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about this.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Every thought.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Why do we focus on that?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because thoughts direct faith.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Faith leads to action and to heaven.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: So modern law of attraction teachers describe something similar.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Bob Proctor said, thoughts become things.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you see it in your mind, you will hold it in your hand.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Napoleon Hill taught, whatever the minds can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And Rhonda Byrne wrote, The law of attraction is always working, whether you believe it or understand it.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: The truth is that this is an example of showing faith.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel clarifies something essentially.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's not thought alone that shapes reality, it's faith acting through righteousness.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Faith invites the power of God and that changes everything.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's thought becoming faith, faith becoming action.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's science.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Interestingly, modern neuroscience supports this principle.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Your brain contains something called the reticular activating system.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's basically a filter for reality.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Out of billions of stimuli around you, your brain only notices what it believes is important.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you focus on problems, you will notice more problems.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you focus on opportunities, your brain literally begins to notice more opportunities.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen it with my own eyes.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: And in the Matrix, if you focus on the woman in the red dress, you see the woman in the red dress, but you don't see all the bad guys around you.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Psychologists call this cognitive training, but the gospel might call it faith-directing perception.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: In Ether we read, you receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: First comes belief, then comes evidence, not the other way around.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go a little deeper into the science side of this idea because when people talk about the law of attraction, they actually often use the terms and the language of frequency.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: You'll hear statements like, everything is energy, everything vibrates.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Match the frequency of what you want.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Teachers like Nikola Tesla, who is often quoted as saying, if you want to understand the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, whether Nicholas Tesla said this, those exact words or not, the underlying principle is true.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Physics tells us that matter itself is energy in motion.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Einstein's most famous equation equals MC squared shows that matter and energy are interchangeable at the most fundamental level.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: What we call solid matter is actually vibrating fields of energy.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Atoms vibrate, molecules vibrate, light travels as electromagnetic waves, sound travels as frequency through the air.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Even your brain produces measurable frequencies we call brain waves.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Your brain is literally broadcasting a frequency.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: And this can be measured.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Today it can be measured.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Aren't we smart?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Neuroscientists measure brain activity through an electronephilism.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Some scientific name piece of equipment.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: These brain waves operate at different frequencies.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: For example, theta waves are active thinking, alpha waves, calm and focus, beta waves are for deep meditation or prayer.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Delta waves are for deep sleep.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Your emotional and mental state literally changes your brain's electrical frequency pattern.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: When you are stressed, fearful, or angry, the brain operates differently than when you are peaceful, grateful, and open.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: What you are exposed to and how you respond prayer, meditation, scripture study, worship, music, song, these are practices that calm the nervous system and move the brain towards alpha and theta states, which are associated with clarity, creativity, and spiritual insight.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost like seeing a radio.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine the universe is a giant radio spectrum, which technically it is.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Every station is broadcasting, but you only hear the station you're tuned into.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: If your dial is set to 98.7, you won't hear station 101.5.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Not because the signal isn't there, but because your receiver isn't aligned.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: In a similar way, your mind and spirit are the receiver.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Your beliefs, your focus, your emotional state, these things tune the dial of your perception and experience.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: The scriptures hint at this principle.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: In DNC we read, Spirit giveth light unto every man that cometh into the world.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: DNC 8446.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: That light is always broadcasting, but we experience it according to our spiritual alignment of spiritual truth.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: The scriptures also describe something fascinating called light and truth.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: In DNC 93, the Lord teaches light and truth forsake the evil one.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Truth attracts truth.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Darkness cannot remain where light increases.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Just like tuning forks, spiritual realities follow and it resonates.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: They resonate and match their frequency.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: What I'm getting at with all of this is that as you align your frequency, align your thoughts, your words, your actions with the life that you want to have.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel life, the spiritual life, truth brings truth, light brings light, darkness brings darkness, etc.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: These things fundamentally change the state of the human part of the mind.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Prayer, attention, service, gratitude, forgiveness, principles of the gospel.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Your frequency changes with your alignment with Christ.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: The principles I just talked about are the principles and practices that Christ invited us to live.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: President Russell M.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Nelson once said, Nothing opens us to heaven quite like gratitude.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: I love the idea about using a gratitude journal.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: On and off again throughout the years, I've had a gratitude journal, and when I've written in it, it truly changed my days and weeks.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: It opened me up to see more and feel more grateful.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because gratitude changes your perfect perception.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: And perception changes your internal state, and your internal state shapes the way you perceive and experience the world.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's like adjusting the dial and the frequency until the signal becomes clear.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Christ is the highest frequency.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: If we take this idea all the way, all the way to its spiritual conclusion, something beautiful emerges.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: The highest spiritual frequency in the universe is love.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: And the purest form of love is charity, the pure love of Christ.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: In Moroni 747, we read, Charity is the pure love of Christ.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: When our hearts are filled with that kind of love, we become aligned with heaven itself.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Peace replaces anxiety, hope replaces fear, faith replaces doubt.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Not because we force the universe to give us something, but because we became the kind of person that resonates with God.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because we become the kind of person who resonates with God.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: We don't force the universe into giving us something.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: So when people talk about raising your vibration, they're showcasing the truth of the gospel, hidden inside that idea.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel way to raise your frequency is simple.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Come unto Christ.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Become closer to him.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Because the nearer you draw unto him, the more your spirit begins to resonate with light, truth, and divine power.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: And when that happens, miracles start to feel a lot less like coincidence and a lot more like heaven responding to your spiritual alignment.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's take this even deeper.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I've not studied quantum physics, so I do find it fascinating.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: I do know I've studied the law of attraction.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that you can go really deep and delve into the quantum physics of it.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I used AI to help me with the segment and the observations and analogies that go with it.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: So in classical physics, the universe behaves like a different machine.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: When a scientist began studying matter at the smallest scale, atoms, subatomic particles, etc., they discovered something that was very surprising.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Reality behaved differently when it was observed.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: One of the most famous experiments which demonstrated this is called the double slit screen.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the simplified version.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Scientists fired particles, tiny particles like electrons, towards a barrier with two slits in it.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: The particles behaved like little solid balls which pass through one slit or the other.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Except when they ran the experiment without observing which slit the particles passed through, something astonishing happened.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: The particles behaved like waves and not small balls, spreading out and creating an interference pattern.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: But when scientists focused their attention and observed which slit the particle went through, the particles behaved like solid objects again.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: The act of observing changed the reality.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Physicists like Niels Bohr and Werner Helsinberg realized something profound.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: At the smallest level of reality, the observer cannot be completely separated from the observed.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now this does not mean thoughts magically control the universe because of this, but that would be cool, wouldn't it?
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: It does suggest something deeply interesting.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Awareness interacts with reality.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Your focus affects what becomes visible and measurable to you.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that principle echoes something we found throughout Scripture.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: In the Book of Mormon, we read again about the particle of belief as a grain of a mustard steed.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Faith is a message.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you observe it, nurture it, and focus on it, it begins to expand, enlarge, and grow in the soul.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: Observation makes it grow.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Attention feeds transformation.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Faith grows where focus goes.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's not quantum magic, it's a spiritual law of attention directing belief.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: So now let's connect this idea with the world of it, intention and faith.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because the gospel, in the gospel, miracles are never random.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: They're always connected to faith directed toward God.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: In the New Testament, Christ repeatedly said something about performing miracles.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't say, My power heals you.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: He said, Thy faith hath made you whole.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: That phrase appears again and again in the New Testament.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: Faith wasn't just passive belief, it was focused spiritual attention directed towards Christ.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: Consider the story of the woman who touched the hem of the Savior's garment.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: When she reached out in faith, the Savior stopped and said, I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Faith created a connection.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: The connection drew power.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Her faith drew power out of the Lord.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: In the modern day, we practice and teach the same principle.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: President Nelson repeatedly taught that faith in Jesus Christ is the greatest power available to us in this life.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Notice the wording: faith is not just belief, it is power.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: It leads us to act and it invites the power of heaven to act in our lives.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: When intention, faith, and righteousness align, something remarkable happens.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: Heaven responds.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: This is why miracles often occur when people pray with real intent.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's not wishful thinking, it's alignment.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: The heart aligns with God, the will aligns with heaven, and faith becomes the channel through which divine power flows.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: The frequencies match.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: The law of attraction.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: So when you hear phrases like focus creates reality or match the frequency of what you want, there's actually a deeper gospel truth that underlies those statements.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Reality doesn't bend to our will, but heaven responds to faith.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: The law of attraction works because our faith in something is the universal principle which aligns with our frequencies to that life where our thoughts, interactions, intentions, and actions aligned with Jesus Christ and we step into a higher spiritual order of nature.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: And in that order, miracles are not rare interruptions of nature, they are expressions of divine law.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: As I said in the beginning, the Lord always works according to divine laws of the universe.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: Modern prophets repeatedly emphasize the power of our thoughts.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: President Nelson taught that thoughts are sacred, powerful tools requiring intentional focus.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Elder David A.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Bednar often teaches about the enabling power of the atonement, that power transforms desires, which means the gospel doesn't just attract blessings, it changes who we become.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: Think about success and becoming successful here.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: These are true laws of the universe and will work.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think the law of attraction is part of the gospel.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: The gospel, when utilizing the law of attraction, teaches something right and true.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Christ didn't say seek wealth first.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: He said seek first the kingdom of God, and then he promises all these things should be added unto you.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: The real law of attraction in the gospel is this: when you align the heart with God, heaven comes into you.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: Not always with comfort, not always with ease, but always with purpose, growth, and eternal blessings.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: What does this truth of the gospel teach?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: It teaches a deeper law.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Light attracts light, faith attracts miracles, righteousness attracts revelation.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Charity attracts spirit.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: When you seek true revelation and act on the revelation given, you receive more.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: In DNC 8840, where it explains, it explains it clearly.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Truth recognizes truth.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: Light gathers light, goodness gathers goodness.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: That is the divine version of the law of attraction.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Where we become a magnet, a True magnet to heaven.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Let me leave you with this thought.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: The greatest spiritual magnet in the universe is to develop qualities like Christ's life and character.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: When we develop faith, humility, gratitude, charity, we become spiritually aligned with heaven.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: And when heaven trusts you, revelation flows.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: When you act on revelation, you receive more.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: And when you have peace, you receive enough.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Guidance flows.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Again, when you act on the guidance and see, you receive more.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Miracles flow.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: And when you see the miracles in your life, not because you demanded them, but because you became the kind of person that God trusts.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: Let me reiterate that.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Not because you demanded them, but because you became the kind of good person that God can trust with them.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: Then he sends you more.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's why if you don't act on personal revelation, you receive less.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: When you do act on what you receive, you receive more.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: I know that from my personal life, that's not just attraction, that is spiritual design.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: So in summary, the law of attraction is the law of the universe.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: It falls in line with God's gospel teachings.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: However, when you thrive in the spiritual universe, the law of attraction becomes a faithfully powerful tool to help you live.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what this podcast is all about: giving you the tools you need to improve your life, your spiritual life.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Todd Talk Spirit by Design.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who's seeking to.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, the most powerful tool and the most powerful force in the universe isn't just positive thinking, it's faith in Jesus Christ.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: And you can use that as you design the life you desire.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep designing your spiritual life and have a blessed day.