I’m not a natural “crafter” by any means, so I was making sure I followed the instructor’s every word!

She told us the next direction, and I picked up my paint brush to do what I assumed she meant.

She quickly mentioned: “Wait, make sure you DON’T saturate it with paint! You want to keep it super light, otherwise you will ruin all the other work you just did!”

I put my paint-drenched paintbrush back in the cup and scraped off a bunch of paint.

Whew. Close call.

It is great to know what to do.

But it’s also great to know what NOT to do, right?

One of the most straightforward examples of this is found in Zephaniah 3:2 this week. Using feminine pronouns to refer to Jerusalem, he taught:

“She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God.”

Pretty straight forward, right?

Jerusalem didn’t obey the voice of the prophets. They didn’t receive correction. They didn’t trust in the Lord. And they didn’t actively find ways to draw near to their God.

And it didn’t turn out well for Jerusalem.

Knowing that fantastic nonexample, now which area can you work on with even more diligence?

Obey. Receive correction. Trust. Draw near.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The best nonexample first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I said this my freshman year at BYU.

I grew up in a household of all sisters and football seemed like a weird, confusing sport.

It wasn’t just “score a goal”— there were tons of weird rules for how to get there and all sorts of strange hand motions and formations.

So I was the stereotypical clueless girl attending football games, yelling “first down” when everyone else did, just having fun.

“Football is so confusing! None of it makes sense!”

But I actually hate not knowing what’s going on, so curiosity got the best of me.

I started asking questions.

“Why is everyone booing?” “What do the downs even mean?” “What position is that guy playing?”

And surprisingly… football started to make sense!

I “got it”. I could attend a game and make a comment while sounding vaguely educated.

It turns out that if you never ask questions about how football works, it will always seem confusing.

And it turns out that as soon as you start asking questions, you start learning and things make sense.

It reminds me of the classic exchange between Nephi and his brothers:

“And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?

“And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.” (1 Nephi 15:8-9)

AKA— I don’t know how football works because no one has told me.

Even Zephaniah prophesied:

“And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him.” (Zephaniah 1:6)

He’s teaching us that the people who turn away from the Lord are the ones who aren’t inquiring for Him.

They aren’t seeking Him. They aren’t yearning for a relationship with Him. They aren’t asking Him the questions in their hearts.

If we want more knowledge, a stronger relationship, or more devotion, we can’t forget how essential it is to inquire from the original Source.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Inquire and seek  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’m not an avid climber, but I was surprising myself with how well I was doing!

And then…

I went to grab onto the next big rock, and my hand slipped right off.

My confidence was dashed to fear and then a little bit of embarrassment.

Even though the rock had looked like a good one to hang onto from the view below, it was acutally rounded on the top, and my hand wasn’t prepared for it.

I hung there for a bit and looked around and found a rock that looked like it would be a much better strong hold.

I examined as many angles as I could.

That one worked.

I’ve had some difficult emotional moments in my life.

From health struggles, to busy schedules, to heartbreaking losses, I’ve had to figure out what wasn’t worth holding on to.

And I’ve had to figure out what my strong hold would be.

The best strong hold I’ve ever had is my good friend, Jesus.

As the prophet Nahum taught, “The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble”. (Nahum 1:7)

I want Jesus to always be my top priority.

He is someone I know I can hold on to.

He won’t surprise me.

He won’t bring fear.

He won’t embarrass me in front of others.

He’s just strong. And steady. And reliable.

The type of friend I know I can rely on, in any day of trouble.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post A Strong Hold  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.