This has come to my mind a few times recently.

I LOVE connecting with God through the scriptures.

But things have felt a little… off?

Then I read a very simple scripture I know I had read many times before:

“Prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you”. ⁣(D&C 132:3)

Boom.

That was the answer that I needed. ⁣

I needed to prepare my heart a bit better to receive whatever I needed the Spirit to give me in these scriptures. ⁣

I had grown lax with my preparation.

So I prayed for a softer, more prepared heart. ⁣

I humbled myself and was ready to be taught. ⁣

And then I read the scriptures again. ⁣

This time, I found what the Lord wanted to teach me. ⁣

At least, I found what He wanted to teach me right then, because I’m sure there is much more that I can learn. ⁣

Sometimes, we just need to prepare. ⁣

Prepare our hearts to be sensitive to hard things. ⁣

Prepare our hearts to not worry about the stuff that we don’t need to worry about right now. ⁣

Prepare our hearts to be a little more humble and submissive to the Spirit. ⁣

So that’s what I learned. ⁣

Scripture study isn’t always easy. Finding inspiration isn’t always easy. ⁣

Maybe the scriptures will be easy for you. ⁣

Maybe you’ll struggle a bit as I did. ⁣

It’s all good. ⁣

But there is still always something to learn, and my testimony of that was strengthened even more as the Lord taught me about the power of preparation.

“The condition of our hearts directly affects our sensitivity to spiritual things.” – Gerald N. Lund

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post When the scriptures don’t inspire  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

When it was finally bedtime, I walked into my room and pulled out my scriptures.

I was exhausted.

But knew I needed the blessings of scripture study more than ever.

As I took a deep breath and started to read, I knew I could expect peace and inspiration.

I find this promise so reassuring:

“When we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” (D&C 130:21)

I remember someone once telling me that we shouldn’t want to do good things and become good people only because of the blessings.

I agree 100%.

Obeying because we love the Lord and desire to become like Him is the best motivation!

But sometimes… life is rough.

And I think it’s okay to want blessings.

I knew God wouldn’t take away all my trials as soon as I read my scriptures that evening.

But I was focused on the blessings I knew God could provide through His holy word.

And guess what?

I did feel peace and inspiration.

My problems were still there, but God blessed me with a calming perspective.

We should absolutely want to obey the commandments because we love God and want to become more like Him.

But, on the off chance that you also need some blessings right now…

It’s always good to add a booster of obedience into our lives.

“Obedience makes us progressively stronger, capable of faithfully enduring tests and trials in the future.” – Robert D. Hales

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Why did I obey? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

“Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter.⁣

“I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face.”⁣

These are from Joseph’s own words, as recorded in D&C 130:14-16. ⁣

Joseph keeps praying and asking the Lord when the Second Coming will happen. ⁣

The Lord finally says, listen, if you live until you are 85, you’ll see Jesus Christ. Please don’t ask again.

And my absolute favorite part is how Joseph responds!⁣

He knows how the Lord teaches and reveals. ⁣

And so Joseph knew better than to think that the Lord just told him the Second Coming would happen when he was 85 years old. ⁣

I mean, it COULD mean that. ⁣

Or it could be referring to another appearance of Jesus Christ, since the “Second Coming” wasn’t specified. ⁣

Or it could mean that he is going to die before he reaches 85, so he’ll see the face of Jesus in the next life. ⁣

The Lord doesn’t give us the answers in specifics and literal details. ⁣

I can see that while reading the scriptures.

And I’ve seen it in my life in much smaller ways when I get a strong prompting to “apply for that job because it will change your life.”⁣

Only to not get the job… and then be led in a completely different, better direction. ⁣

When I’ve felt, “yes, this is the time to serve a mission, so start preparing”.⁣

Only to have my life go in a different direction, one where I am blessed by my preparation to serve a mission every day. ⁣

The Lord isn’t always literal and obvious…⁣

And I love that. ⁣

It’s like this giant, exciting, God-led mystery that’s about to unfold and I get to see how all the clues fit together as I act in faith and move forward.

How has acting in faith led you to beautiful, unexpected blessings?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Not so literal first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

That’s what I used to think this scripture was referring to:⁣

“Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.” (D&C 130:18⁣)

Learn as much as you possibly can from school and classes so that you can still be super smart in the next life, too. ⁣

As if you aren’t going to be able to learn anything new in the next life. ⁣

But that doesn’t make sense, because I sure hope I learn tons more after I leave this life!⁣

So what could this mean?⁣

What about emotional intelligence?⁣

Social intelligence?⁣

Spiritual intelligence? ⁣

There are so many different kinds of intelligences. ⁣

I think the Lord is telling us to become well-rounded people. ⁣

To grow in any area we can. ⁣

To figure out how to handle our emotions and not get so angry and reactive. ⁣

To figure out how to make friends and reach out to others in ways that connect. ⁣

To recognize when the Spirit is prompting us and when prayers have been answered.

To learn about new subjects that are interesting to us and keep us engaged. ⁣

To master the right tone while you sing, to get the perfect bake on the cake, to improve your mile time, to finish that difficult project…⁣

Gaining intelligence in any area is encouraged! ⁣

And won’t that make the next life so much more amazing?!⁣

An expanse of people who used their time on earth to grow in so many different ways!⁣

And then can you imagine meeting people from other dispensations and exchanging knowledge? ⁣

I have absolutely no clue what things will be like, but I imagine something beautiful like this. ⁣

Knowing things is always better than not knowing things. ⁣

But we also don’t have to know it all. (Because I have no clue how to get a perfect bake on a cake.)⁣

But I believe that any effort we make to improve any area of intelligence will be worth it because it helps us become more like Him.

“Some of your most important learning will be outside of the classroom.” – Mary N. Cook

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Gain intelligence  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.