Guidance, blessings, comfort, opportunities, peace, love…

All good things!

All things that I know He is willing to give and that He loves for me to ask for.

But the gratitude, the worship, the joy aspect has been lacking in my prayers recently.

At the same time, I’ve started to realize that the Lord encourages gratitude toward Him EVERYWHERE.

In the scriptures, in the temple, in covenants…

He always wants to remind His people of everything that He has done for them first.

And then He asks for obedience or commitment from us.

But there is always a big emphasis on the mercy, the blessings, the creations, His love FIRST.

He knows how important it is for us to feel that overwhelming gratitude and devotion toward Him before we ask for or commit to anything else.

And so I’ve taken what I’ve learned in my studies and started to apply it to my prayers.

How can I pray with so much complete gratitude and worship and joy, that by the time I think to even ask Him for anything, I’m in a much holier and devoted mindset?

“The Lord is my strength and song”. (Exodus 15:2)

He is BOTH my strength and my song.

He answers questions, gives me blessings, and guides me.

AND He is the one I gladly worship through my internal songs of gratitude and devotion.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Strength AND joy first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It was towards the end of the day and she was crying from the pain.

She’s a super logical kid, so her dad and I comforted her and explained that the best way for sprained ankles to get better is to give it rest.

We told her that when she slept that night, her ankle muscles would start to relax and heal.

She eventually calmed down and she went to sleep pretty soon after.

Well, when she woke up the best morning, she was not too happy to discover that her ankle still hurt!

“I rested it all last night, so it’s supposed to be better now! Why does it still hurt?!”

I realized I needed to better explain that even though it is amazing that our bodies heal themselves, often it takes a lot longer than we want.

Within a few hours, she was running around like normal again and hasn’t mentioned her ankle since.

But how often do we tell the Lord our own timetable for healing?

“Okay, I took a nap, did some service, and prayed about it. Why is my emotional pain still here?”

The Lord taught the Israelites:

“I am the Lord that healeth thee.” (Exodus 15:26)

He has blessed us with beautiful bodies that are, for the most part, able to heal ourselves when we have injury.

He heals the wounds of sin.

He heals emotional hurt.

He heals broken hearts and broken trust.

He heals pride and contention.

He heals quickly and miraculously.

He heals slowly and gradually.

He heals in a completely different way than we thought we needed to be healed.

Elder Christofferson recently taught about how we can heal and receive blessings from the Lord:

“We do our best but must leave to Him the management of blessings, both temporal and spiritual.”

The Lord heals.

But how and when is up to Him.

How has the Lord healed you recently?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Healing on the Lord’s timetable first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’ve had this experience recently, and I’ve been praying constantly for how to help solve this person’s problems so that they aren’t in so much pain.

But the impression that keeps coming back to my mind is: “This is their trial to deal with. What you can do is support and love and lift.”

And I’ve taken that to heart.

I can’t take away the trial or the pain or the heartache.

But I can love and support and lift this person through little acts of service, communication, heart-to-heart conversations, and lots of prayer.

So often, the story of Moses raising his hands in prayer to help the Israelites win their first battle in the wilderness is interpreted one specific way.

But these words touched my heart as I read Exodus 17:12:

“But Moses’ hands were heavy;

“and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon;

“and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side;

“and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.”

Two friends.

One of them a brother, in fact.

Staying by Moses’ side until the sun set.

They couldn’t take away the heavy task that had been given to Moses, of staying with his hands raised in prayer.

But they knew that they could be there to love, support, and lift.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Lifting the heavy hands first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

As the Israelites escaped from the Egyptians, they, “walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.” (Exodus 14:29)

There have been so many times in my life where dangerous and chaotic waters are swirling all around me.

Lost jobs, financial setbacks, or emotional trials have made it seem like everything is piling up.

It has seemed overwhelming. Like I’m just one step from it all crashing down.

And anyone else looking into my life would see how turbulent it is.

But yet…

My feet have stayed on dry ground.

I have felt peace.

I’ve had others join me on the journey so that I feel supported.

I’ve focused on just taking that next step forward.

All because of Jesus Christ.

He is the one who makes it all possible.

The chaos and the swirling waters pile up sometimes.

But they don’t need to mean my destruction when I have faith in Jesus Christ.

When I keep looking forward and taking a step.

Even when that step forward means the waters are getting even higher and higher.

There is peace in Christ.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Waters all around  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Here are a few notes I wrote down, all from different speakers:

• Is my faith in Jesus Christ central in everything I do?

• How can I change “what do I want” to “what does God want”?

• We can hear the Holy Ghost best when we are being childlike and submissive.

• Am I being “authentic” to Jesus?

• To be converted, we have to consciously accept doctrines, and let them change who we are.

• Sometimes we think we know the exact blessings and exact timetable for our “reward” for keeping commandments and covenants.

I can’t even imagine how the children of Israel felt.

They had finally escaped from bondage.

It had been a dramatic, spiritual end to years of oppression.

They were free!

But then… the Egyptians caught up to them.

And cornered them.

Against a giant sea.

This had all gone wrong. Where were the blessings? Where was the Lord with keeping His covenant to Abraham? What had all of these plagues been for?

Because now there was literally no way out.

Egyptians on one side, and uncrossable water on the other.

It honestly would have been better to just stay in bondage instead of die here. At least their oppression was familiar.

“And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.” (Exodus 14:13)

We have been told to expect miracles.

I’m sure the Israelites couldn’t yet fathom what the Lord would do to get them out of this impossible situation.

Just like I’m sure I can’t fathom what the Lord can do for me in the struggles I face.

I can’t see a solution. I keep trying and thinking. I can’t come up with anything. I keep hitting roadblocks.

But instead, I’m going to try expecting a miracle.

To let my will be swallowed up in God’s will so perfectly, that I have sure faith He has a plan that’s better than I could even imagine.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post My will and God’s will first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.