“Love at Home”. ⁣

NOT “Love One Another” like I had practiced. ⁣

I hurriedly glanced at the program next to me to confirm that yes, he had announced it correctly. ⁣

I had no time to even panic – I just turned to hymn 294 and started the introduction. ⁣

It was my grandpa’s funeral a few years ago, and I had been asked to play the organ for the service.

I had snuck into the chapel the night before to practice on the organ.

And I had diligently practiced “Love One Another” over and over again until the notes, registration, and volume were perfect.

So in that moment when I realized I had practiced the wrong “love” hymn, I started to pray.

I immediately and silently pleaded with the Lord to help me transfer the practice time and energy from the one hymn to the new one. ⁣

“Love at Home” actually isn’t that difficult of a hymn to play, but I had the most beautiful experience.

I KNEW that everything was going to be okay.

I felt strength and confidence in my playing.

I’m sure my dear musical Grandpa, my Heavenly Father, and maybe even others were supporting me. ⁣

To me, THAT is GRACE. ⁣

Divine assistance to carry us through our human frailties.

(I checked my phone afterwards— the correct hymns had been sent to me, I just read it wrong!)⁣

I put in the practice time – that is GOOD WORKS. ⁣

I asked for divine help once I realized my mistake – that is FAITH. ⁣

I was able to play a song flawlessly with zero practice, resulting in a beautiful spiritual experience for myself, and in a reverent introduction for the congregation celebrating my Grandpa’s life – that is GRACE.

“By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:2)

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Grace learned at an organ  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

In the scriptures, we frequently read about “righteous” people and “unrighteous” people.

But if none of us are perfect, how can we possibly know whether or not we are at least on the right track to being considered “righteous”?

Paul gives us a great clue!

He was speaking about those who are NOT righteous when he said:

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” (Romans 3:10-11)

If a group of people doesn’t have any righteousness in them…

It’s because they aren’t SEEKING after God!

So, are you seeking after God?

If I lose my cell phone during the day, I’m proactively going to get up and look everywhere until I find it.

That’s how I picture “seeking after God”.

It’s someone looking for the Spirit, service, personal growth, and prayer with God with earnest.

Don’t forget, we still don’t have to be perfect at this!

We just need to take some sort of action each day to SEEK after God.

Even if it’s just a silent, sincere prayer in our hearts that we are on the right track.

Small but proactive actions like that add up to righteousness!

“Although we may not be perfect, brothers and sisters, we can be worthy.” -Becky Craven

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post How do I know if I’m righteous?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I commit to make a spiritual change in my life.

“Okay, I’m never going to skip a day of saying my prayers ever again.”

“I’m going to show more love to my family members.”

“I’m going to do better at fulfilling my calling from now on.”

I’m ready to repent!

And I do make a change… for a few days.

And I fall back into my same weaknesses.

Let’s look at one of the most famous and powerful scriptures about grace:

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”. (Romans 3:23-24)

We all sin.

But we can all be forgiven.

(“Justified” means redeemed or forgiven.)

So, how do we receive this grace from Jesus Christ? ⁣

Good works AND faith!⁣

When we make a mistake, we adjust our actions. (Good works!)

But we also have to have the accompanying FAITH with our change.

Repentance is a PROCESS, not an event. ⁣

Many times, we will commit the same sins over and over. ⁣

But if we get discouraged each time we fall back into “our sin”, then we’ve lost the FAITH necessary for true change. ⁣

Instead, we need to keep returning to those two elements of grace (and ultimately, forgiveness): 

Do our GOOD WORKS (meaning, try to change the behavior)…

And have FAITH (meaning, believe that you actually can change).⁣

And when we fall short again -⁣

Return to the good works and faith that Jesus really can make all the difference.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. ⁣

It’s a process.

It’s a life-long process. ⁣

Grace. Repentance. Redemption. ⁣

They are all possible because of and through our Savior. ⁣

Our good works are because of His example, and our faith is in Him.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post What do we do when we sin over and over again?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It was a Sunday morning in college, life had dealt me a couple of rough blows recently, and I just wanted to stay in bed.

Just this one time.

My roommates kindly encouraged me to get up and go to church.

Even though people surrounded me, I felt alone that Sunday.

I thought that no one could really understand what I was going through.

But as I sat in Relief Society, the teacher started to share some struggles she was currently dealing with.

And she was dealing with almost the same exact issues as I was!

Tears welled in my eyes as she talked about how hard it was.

But she also shared how she was turning to God and having some incredible spiritual experiences despite her trials.

That was the message I needed to hear!

I had been so frustrated and overwhelmed that I wasn’t turning to God like I knew I should.

On that Sunday morning, I needed to be comforted by someone else’s faith so that I could grow my own faith.

When Paul wrote his letter to the Roman saints, he told them that he couldn’t wait until they were united.

Why?

“That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.” (Romans 1:12)

When we meet together with friends, family, or ward members during tough times, it’s not just “social.”

We can help comfort each other by sharing our experiences and our mutual faith in Christ!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post We go to church to comfort each other  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.