Your life on earth has ended. ⁣

You get to meet God the Father, face to face. ⁣

You are waiting right outside the door. (Or gate? Or garden?)⁣

What is your mind doing?⁣

Really think about that for a second. ⁣

What are you thinking about?⁣

Maybe your mind is going to some of your shortcomings on earth. The times you forgot about Him. ⁣

Maybe you have some stories you want to tell Him that would make Him smile. ⁣

Maybe you have questions you want to ask. ⁣

Maybe you don’t know if you’ll say anything at all. ⁣

Maybe you are excited out of your mind. Maybe you are nervous. ⁣

I’ve thought about this reunion a lot, and how it will go changes pretty dramatically in my mind all the time. ⁣

But I’ve always been fascinated by this promise of what we can feel in God’s presence:⁣

CONFIDENCE⁣

Not pride or superiority. But a righteous and humble confidence. ⁣

And where does this confidence come from?⁣

“Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God”. (D&C 121:45⁣)

The confidence comes from our thoughts. Virtuous, loving, God-focused thoughts. ⁣

But it’s actually not so much about that future, glorious moment, as it is about right now. ⁣

We can be in God’s presence here, even though we may not see Him. ⁣

So what are our thoughts like on a daily basis? What are our thoughts like in the temple? What are our thoughts like at home?⁣

Because we can’t fake those. Our thoughts often reveal our heart. ⁣

And the great news about thoughts? If our thoughts aren’t always where we want them to be right now, if they aren’t always virtuous and loving, we can change them. ⁣

And when we slowly change our thoughts to reflect the most important things on our heart, we gain confidence before the Divine.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Confidence wax strong  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Cramped conditions. ⁣

In a jail. ⁣

Terrible food. ⁣

Poor lighting. ⁣

Freezing cold. ⁣

Isn’t it tempting to consider our outside circumstances as a sign of how we are doing in life?⁣

“How are you doing right now?”⁣

“Terribly. Because of all these things that are going wrong…”⁣

But Elder Cook made a wise assessment: 

“Joseph’s time in Liberty Jail demonstrates that adversity is not evidence of the Lord’s disfavor nor a withdrawal of His blessings.”⁣

If we look at the physical trajectory of Joseph’s life, it doesn’t really look awesome. ⁣

A humble farmer boy. A poor young couple, accepting financial support from others. Moving to Ohio and getting a little more established. Being beat up by a mob. Reputation ruined by false rumors. Serious financial distress. Forced to move to Missouri with a hopeful promise for the future. Hope quickly being turned to conflict and fear. Arrested and stuck in a miserable jail for months. ⁣

This trajectory looks terrible, honestly. ⁣

But as with virtually everything, the Lord looks on the heart. ⁣

What was the trajectory of Joseph’s heart throughout his life?⁣

Consistent spiritual enlightenment. Moments with the Divine. Priesthood power. Peace and certainty. Forgiveness and meekness. A growing love and concern for all. Teaching others and sharing his light. Inspired scriptures that have touched millions. Peace and comfort found in a miserable little jail cell. ⁣

Our physical circumstances have virtually no indication of how blessed we are. ⁣

It’s all about the status of the heart. ⁣

Has your heart been growing, softening, turning to the Lord throughout your life?⁣

Then I might humbly suggest that you are living a very blessed life indeed, just like the prophet Joseph.

⁣Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Joseph’s terrible trajectory first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I usually kept things super high energy and busy on the first day, so that the kids didn’t have an option but to be engaged and get to know me. ⁣

And within just a few minutes, this particular student was already being defiant and apathetic. ⁣

So I made it a goal to say 5 positive, non-behavior-related comments to him each day. ⁣

⁣I complimented his shoes. I asked him what they did in P.E. today. I asked him to help me hand out pencils. He wrote a sentence about a movie when I had asked for a paragraph, and I talked to him all about my favorite parts of the movie. ⁣

He seemed surprised at first. ⁣

But he started to warm up to me. ⁣

Then, I slowly introduced private conversations about his behavior. ⁣

“Hey, I get that you were trying to be funny when you made that comment earlier, but it really derailed the entire class for a while. Could you help me out and save those kinds of comments til after class or when we have some free time?”⁣

And then, when he’d start to talk out in class again, I’d give him a little “knowing” look.⁣

He caught on. ⁣

Honestly, he was a good kid. He really struggled academically, but the behavior issues subsided to the point that they weren’t so disruptive. ⁣

I made A WHOLE LOT of mistakes while teaching. ⁣

But I never let a child leave my classroom without knowing that they were seen as a real human being, and that they were loved. ⁣

I LITERALLY thought of this scripture often, and even taught a training to my co-workers using this “saying that I once heard”…⁣

“Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;” (D&C 121:43⁣)

I now use this in my parenting all the time.

When the positive comments VASTLY outweigh the corrective or negative, no matter how many there are, there is a feeling of love and “I’m on your team”-ness. ⁣

God sees us as more than our mistakes, and I think He wants us to emulate that, too.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The defiant 6th grader first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It’s easy to assume that life will be so much better when we get something new.

Or when we finally accomplish a big goal.

But then we discover that what we thought would solve our problems doesn’t bring us the happiness we are searching for.

I think the same thing applies to peace.

Peace doesn’t have to wait for some magical outside circumstance.

Joseph Smith received a similar message in the depths of Liberty Jail when the Lord said, “My son, peace be unto thy soul.” (D&C 121:7)

The Lord didn’t promise peace in the future.

Under those brutal circumstances, He told Joseph to feel peace right at that very moment.

Personal peace is a blessing available to each of us, no matter what our grass looks like right now.

No matter your kid’s choices.

No matter the diagnosis.

No matter the family drama.

No matter the financial struggle.

The answer can be found in one of my favorite songs:⁣

“When there’s no peace on earth,⁣

“There is peace in Christ.”⁣

Christ is the answer. ⁣

Christ is the answer to still feeling peace in our hearts.

Joseph found that peace while enduring months of confinement, starvation, and mental torture because true, lasting peace is found in Christ.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post There is peace in Christ  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.