It means to persuade someone to do something.

King Benjamin taught:

“For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit.” (Mosiah 3:19)

So King Benjamin is saying that the Holy Ghost is trying to persuade us to do good things.

The Spirit is trying to entice us to be helpful and kind and loving.

Can you think of a time you’ve been persuaded or enticed to do something good this past week?

Did you follow through on it?

Because someone else is trying to persuade us to do things that aren’t good.

Satan uses persuasion and enticement to make his way seem more pleasing.

He tries to convince us that his way is much less work.

We know that the more we give into temptations over and over, our desires start to change and then it becomes even easier to sin more in the future.

But this is the same thing with the Holy Spirit, too!

The more that we “give in” to the Spirit’s enticings, the easier and easier it becomes to follow promptings in the future.

Our desires start to change as we yield to these persuasions, and it becomes natural to become more Christlike each day.

“Each time you seek for and follow the promptings of the Spirit, each time you do anything good—things that “the natural man” would not do—you are overcoming the world.” – Russell M. Nelson

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Persuade and entice  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I was so sick and my 2 kids at the time were running around chaotically, but I pulled myself off the couch and to my front door.

I wasn’t expecting anyone.

When I opened the door, there was a friend from my ward.

She was standing with her husband, both of their hands filled with trays and containers of food.

“My daughter in California has been so sick with her pregnancy right now, and I feel so sad that I can’t be there to solve her problems.

“I wish I could make her dinner tonight.

“But I remembered that you said on Sunday how sick you are with your pregnancy.

“So since I can’t serve my daughter right now, I wanted to bring you dinner instead.

“I know it’s 5:00 already so you might already have something going for dinner, but I made lots of extra food and wanted to bring you some.”

It was one of the only times in my life where I was truly speechless.

Of course, dinner had not even crossed my mind. And my family appreciated the meal.

But my friend’s reasoning and action has been the most impactful to me, even a few years later.

It’s tough to watch someone you love go through a trial and not be able to help them out. ⁣

I like to imagine our Heavenly Parents looking down on us in the same way. ⁣

With never-ending love, but not able to physically be with us as we experience the highs and lows of mortality. ⁣

And this is where Benjamin’s famous teaching becomes pretty literal:⁣

“When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” (Mosiah 2:17)

When we help each other, when we serve and celebrate and mourn and surprise, we are serving God. ⁣

We are His hands. ⁣

Currently away from Him physically, but never spiritually. ⁣

And so, He depends on us. ⁣

He depends on us to look around. ⁣

To look around with the knowledge that everyone is a child of God. ⁣

And then to act as a loving parent would. ⁣

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Serving as loving parents would serve  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Pray?

Remember my Savior?

Serve someone?

Repent for my sins?

Use my time wisely?

Be kind to everyone?

Share the gospel with someone?

Fulfill my calling well?⁣

I immediately feel overwhelmed when I think about everything I’m supposed to be doing.

Sometimes I think, “I have to do ALL of this?”

I mean, it is so much.

But King Benjamin gives us a great perspective shift.

He teaches: “And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments.” (Mosiah 2:22)

That’s it!

We can never even begin to give the thanks, praise, recognition, and service to God that He deserves. ⁣

In fact, King Benjamin clarifies:

“If ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.” (Mosiah 2:21)

We would not exist without Him.

We wouldn’t be able to have friends, families, jobs, or places to live.

And ALL He asks in return is that we keep His commandments and love Him.

And when I remember this, I find myself thinking, “That’s ALL I have to do?”

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post I have to do ALL that?! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

What a terrifying time.

Absolutely everything was changing, and he didn’t know what would happen next for sure. ⁣

But he was still compiling the plates. ⁣

It seemed a little redundant to include the small plates with the large plates he had abridged, but he felt like he should do it, so he did. ⁣

Mormon probably felt in varying doses: loneliness, confusion, fear, and uncertainty for the end of his people. ⁣

And yet he shows a beautiful example of true faith in God. ⁣

“And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.” (Words of Mormon 1:7)

He follows through on every single prompting he receives because he knows that the Lord is in control. ⁣

And that’s where true peace can be found. ⁣

I have felt similar feelings when I know change is ahead in my life.

Sometimes, I give into the fear of the unknown, my mind tunneling through every possibility.

… and other times I give it all to God. ⁣

Acknowledge that I have NO clue what is going to happen – but God does.

And if I just listen to the little promptings and then act on those little promptings, I feel peace. ⁣

Faith and fear don’t live together very well.

So, to cast out fear of the unknown, we can learn from Mormon to tune into the little promptings, act on them, and grow our faith to give God the rest of the control.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Fear and faith and Mormon  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And have you ever wondered what the difference is between fasting and not eating?

“Continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end. . . .” (Omni 1:26)

The answer to both of those questions is:

Prayer.

“Fasting without prayer is just going hungry for 24 hours.” – Elder Carl B. Pratt

If you’ve ever struggled with fasting, you are not alone.

I have conversations with people about this all the time.

Going without food is tough.

But here’s what I’ve learned as I’ve studied this principle:

Fasting is meant to help us develop spiritual strength and humility.

Spiritual strength. And humility.

It’s a symbolic and literal manifestation of our desperate desire to commune with God.

It shows our seriousness in requesting specific blessings.

But blessings require some work on our part.

Fasting and prayer are two of the most humble and sincere forms of work we can do for our Father in Heaven.

My fasting experience has improved as I’ve focused on communing with God.

And I’ve learned it’s okay to feel pain. To have that headache. To realize just how fragile I am without literally a small amount of food.

It’s good for me to humble myself.

And when I couple fasting with prayer, I slowly build my spiritual strength.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Fasting and what?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Enos goes into the forest to pray for his own soul. ⁣

After a long wrestle and many hours, he hears God’s voice reassuring him that his sins are forgiven.⁣

And then, Enos begins to feel a desire for the welfare of his brethren. ⁣

“When I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren”. (Enos 1:9)

So the lesson is that when you feel conversion, you should naturally want to share the gospel with other people. ⁣

While that is 100% a beautiful application of this scripture, what if there is a different way to look at it?⁣

True prayer is when our faith in God is so strong, that our wills become the same. ⁣

“Prayer is the act by which the will of the father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other.” -Bible Dictionary, “Prayer”

Enos went into the forest looking for freedom for his own soul. ⁣

But as his faith grew stronger and stronger during this lengthy prayer, his desires began to change, too!⁣

At first, he desired to help his brethren.⁣

And then, he desired that God would preserve the record of his people so the Lamanites could one day read it and be converted. ⁣

Numerous other prophets before him and after him would have that same desire.

Why?

Because they were all aligning their wills to God’s. ⁣

In our lives, this looks like saying a prayer to know how to deal with your boss, and leaving the prayer with the desire to search for a new job. ⁣

This looks like praying for your ministering sister who won’t respond, and leaving with a specific thought of something you can drop off. ⁣

This looks like praying for your child to solve their problems, and leaving with a deep love for them, no matter what struggles they go through. ⁣

When our faith in God increases, we trust that His will is really what is best for us.

And when that faith and trust grow, we naturally allow God’s will to take precedence over our own. ⁣

We just have to engage in the wrestle to let our own will go.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Aligning wills through prayer  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Jarom prophesied.

Jarom received revelations.

He may have even had an amazing conversion story, gave a powerful sermon, or had a unique life story.

And yet, when it was his turn to write on the plates, Jarom wrote:

“It must needs be that I write a little; but I shall not write the things of my prophesying, nor of my revelations. For what could I write more than my fathers have written?”(Jarom 1:2)

Now, really, I don’t want to pass judgment on Jarom. It’s possible that he was asked to only write a little. And clearly God made it work with whatever Jarom did or didn’t do.

But his question of “What could I write more than my fathers have written?” Is so intriguing to me!

Where am I selling myself short?

Do I think other people have more important things to say than I do?

And does believing that others are better than I am limit what I do?

I matter!

I know that Jesus loves me and cares about my experiences.

I don’t think He would want me NOT to talk about something cool I learned in the scriptures just because someone else had said something like it before.

I don’t think He would want me to stay silent when I feel I should bear my testimony just because I have nothing unique to say.

I don’t think He would want me to not teach my children the gospel because I don’t feel I know it well enough.

“Our clumsy efforts can lead to miracles.” – Elder Vern P. Stanfill

I wonder what Jarom could have shared if we got to learn more about his life, his prophecies, his difficult moments, his conversion, his joy…

Jarom didn’t think he could add anything that Nephi and Jacob hadn’t already said.

But I believe we’ve all got something.

We might not realize it, but our unique little experiences and perspectives matter.

And when we share them with others, it might be exactly the thing that connects with their soul, too!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post We’ve all got something to share  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I can picture righteous Jacob, trying to convince the Nephites more fully of Christ, just throwing his hands up at the end of his sermon. ⁣

“Just be mature and smart, and I won’t need to keep giving you directions on every little thing!”⁣

“O be wise; what can I say more?” (Jacob 6:12)

I feel like President Nelson can relate. ⁣

How exactly do we keep the Sabbath day holy?!

How do we gather Israel?!

How do we keep our covenants?!

Just be wise. ⁣

You have knowledge. Now, counsel with your Father in Heaven, and just make good choices. ⁣

I obviously don’t know exactly what the living arrangements in heaven will be like, but I like to picture myself living by righteous saints from all walks of life and all time periods!

Some kept the Law of Moses while on earth.

Some served missions for multiple years around the world.

Some saw Jesus.

Some had the Come, Follow Me program.

Some held church in a small isolated house. ⁣

There’s no single “right way” to do everything we are supposed to do. ⁣

Essentially, we have been told to “be wise”. ⁣

We use our knowledge of Sabbath day observance, scripture study, teaching principles, modern-day prophets, love of family, and so much more…⁣

And we apply those principles with as much spiritual maturity as we can. ⁣

This doesn’t mean perfection is our goal (or even attainable).

But we do our best to gather our knowledge and seek for wisdom.

We study correct principles, and then we figure out how they are going to realistically and wholeheartedly apply to our lives.

If we are doing this, then we are choosing to be wise.

And there’s not much more to say.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Just be wise!  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Am I showing good results as a member of the Lord’s restored gospel?

I try to study my scriptures each day.

Say prayers.

Serve others.

Fulfill my calling.

Keep the sabbath holy.

It can start to become too much. I can start to become weighed down.

Yes, it’s good fruit.

But when it starts to outgrow my roots, that’s when there’s a problem.

When I study the olive tree allegory, the Lord of the vineyard seems the most concerned with two parts of His olive trees:

The roots

AND

the fruit.

“And this I do that, perhaps, the roots thereof may take strength because of their goodness; and because of the change of the branches, that the good may overcome the evil.” (Jacob 5:59) 

Sometimes, I’m so focused on producing “good fruit” that I forget it’s impossible to do so without strong roots.

And roots need constant nourishment.

Instead of just checking off my scripture study for the day, I try to really connect with God and feel the Spirit in order to nourish my soul.

I turn off the fun TV show and listen to a conference talk, really focusing on connecting with God.

I find meaning in my church service instead of just getting things done.

And it makes a world of a difference.

When I feel “exhausted”, I’m usually not taking care of my gospel roots. I’m usually only focusing on the “good fruit” that other people might see.

But when I start taking care of nourishing my “roots” a lot more, feeding them a steady stream of scripture, doctrine, and goodness, guess what starts to happen?

When my roots are strong, my “fruit” is naturally good, too.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Roots and branches  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

He was doing his best. ⁣

Preparing powerful sermons, sharing meaningful allegories, listening to the Spirit’s promptings. ⁣

But many of the Nephites still were not fully converted unto Christ and righteous living. ⁣

And then Sherem came. ⁣

He was smart. He was flattering. ⁣

He convinced many people to fall away from the gospel of Christ. ⁣

This was surely making the situation worse, right?! ⁣

Jacob’s prayers were not being answered. ⁣

Jacob and Sherem met. Sherem said there is no Christ. Jacob said there is. Sherem asked for a sign. Sherem “fell to the earth” for many days. ⁣

When Sherem woke up, he asked for all the people to be gathered together so he could speak to them before he dies. ⁣

The multitude came to listen to Sherem. ⁣

Sherem spoke about the reality of Christ. The power of angels. Of the Holy Ghost. ⁣

And the people listening were overcome by the power of God. They all fell to the earth. ⁣

The result when they woke up?⁣

“Peace and the love of God was restored again among the people; and they searched the scriptures”⁣. (Jacob 7:23)

Jacob’s prayers were answered. ⁣

“Now, this thing was pleasing unto me, Jacob, for I had requested it of my Father who was in heaven; for he had heard my cry and answered my prayer.” (Jacob 7:22)

In a completely unexpected way. ⁣

Things had to get much, much worse in order for the prayer to be answered. ⁣

But the prayer was answered.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The worst answered prayer  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.