“I am SO glad to finally be off that boat! It has been so long since I’ve seen the land. That was really, really tough. I hope things get easier now. I think I kind of deserve a break.”

Doesn’t sound terrible, but do you also sense that smidgen of entitlement?

That entitlement that we need a break after times are rough?

Instead, what did Noah do?

“Noah builded an altar unto the Lord… and gave thanks unto the Lord, and rejoiced in his heart.​“ (Genesis 8:20 [JST included])

NOAH SACRIFICED MORE.

He showed even more gratitude to God.

He worshipped and rejoiced even more.

No entitlement, just sacrifice and gratitude with an eternal mindset of what had just occurred.

Did you know that “Noah holds the keys of his dispensation and stands next to Adam in authority” (see Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 104)?

He is also the same individual later known as the Angel Gabriel in the New Testament (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 104).

Noah was one of the most righteous and obedient people to walk the earth, and a man who fully devoted his life to God.

Even though we honestly only get glimpses of his life in the scriptures, mostly through the story of the flood, it is clear that Noah can be a great example to us, standing next to Father Adam.

Noah’s reaction to hard times was to bring himself even closer to God and to sacrifice even more.

What an example!

What do we do during difficult times?

How is our attitude when a trial is finally over?

Is it to show total humility, gratitude, and even greater sacrifice and devotion?

I want to be more like Noah.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post More like Noah  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I think the adversary is super good at helping us get caught up in false benchmarks.

“Ugh, once I can actually stay up with the Come, Follow Me schedule, I’ll be okay.”

“I reach out to my ministering sisters once a month so I’m good.”

“If he serves a mission and gets married in the temple, then he’ll be fine.”

Building our own benchmarks.

Building our own tower, brick by brick.

While those are fine and worthy goals to have, those aren’t what save us or change us.

The people in Babel had their sights set on the wrong benchmark.

“Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven”. (Genesis 11:4)

We need to get closer to heaven? Okay, let’s build a big building to get there, and everything will be fine. God will bless us then.

It’s relying too much on our outward appearance to judge our closeness to the Savior.

So… what are your benchmarks to know if you are actually coming closer to Christ?

They probably don’t look too impressive from the outside.

Here are a few benchmarks that I’ve tried:

Benchmarks like… becoming slower and slower to anger.

Reacting with compassion when someone tells me a story instead of judgment.

Desiring more opportunities for service and honestly seeking them out.

Finding excuses to show love as often as possible.

Meeting outward benchmarks will never save us, just like the Tower of Babel didn’t save the citizens of Babel.

It’s what’s in the inside that matters, and that’s a little bit more difficult to achieve.

The post Benchmarks for heaven  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And let me preface this by saying I was a good kid!

I had a super strong testimony and was active in church.

But I also realize that maybe I shouldn’t have participated in that prank, or I wonder why I felt I was justified in being rude to someone.

I’m not saying I was a bad kid, but I can totally see now that there was a disconnect in my integrity—

My actions did not always line up with my beliefs.

When I read about Noah, he is spoken of so highly in the scriptures:

“Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations”. (Genesis 6:9)

Perfect?!

Well, I’m a big fan of footnotes, and when I looked at the footnote attached to “perfect”, I noticed something:

The Hebrew meaning could also translate to, “complete, whole, having integrity”.

Now THAT makes sense to me.

Noah must have been a man of great integrity.

When he said that he loved God, his actions aligned with making God a priority in his life.

When he said he would be obedient, he didn’t purposefully cut any corners.

When he said he would love and care for those around him, he didn’t make exceptions for anyone.

He was consistent in every area of his life.

This is what makes Noah such a great example and disciple of God.

And it makes me want to consider: How does my integrity measure up?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Noah’s perfection and integrity  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Recently, I’ve been praying for better opportunities to serve other people.

And I got a super clear impression of what to do.

But things kept coming up and getting in the way.

And then I got sick and needed to stay away from other people.

And it just kept snowballing into roadblock after roadblock!

Finally I thought to myself: Am I really being delayed, or am I just using this as an excuse not to follow my prompting?

Pretty clearly, I felt the Spirit’s warmth.

“I know your intentions. You want to serve. Life is just messy right now.”

I felt this peace that God knew completely that my heart was in the right place, and He also knew all the honest obstacles I kept facing.

The people around at Noah’s time were not good.

And it wasn’t just because of their actions.

We learn that “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)

So they did bad things, but they also had evil intentions!

And God knew what the thoughts of their heart were.

Now sometimes, this is so comforting, like my current debacle with trying to fulfill a social service-related prompting that keeps hitting roadblocks.

I get credit for having good intentions!

But on the opposite end, God also knows when I do things with bad intentions.

He knows if that rude comment was said ignorantly or purposefully.

He knows if I decided to skip something important because it was too much for me mentally, or if I just wanted to get out of it.

Of course, our actions matter!

But only God knows the intentions behind our actions.

For better, and for worse.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The thoughts of my heart  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Well… I use the phrase “play a soccer game” very, very loosely.

It’s adorable.

No one keeps score, and no team is declared the winner.

It’s a laidback environment focused on giving these cute little kids exposure to the sport.

It made me think of the contrast in emotions to much higher stakes soccer games I had watched before.

We loved attending BYU soccer games when we lived there, but the emotions were so much more dramatic.

The games were long, the skills were insane, and the anticipation was intense.

There was always a winner, and there was always a loser.

In real life, different people, teams, parties, or groups prevail at different times.

In Noah’s time, the flood waters prevailed against the earth.

They prevailed against every person, every creature.

Total defeat.

“And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth”. (Genesis 7:19)

But who did not fall to the waters?

Those who were in the boat.

AKA those who were obedient.

“Keep the commandments. In this there is safety.”

When the waters seem like they are going to prevail, we can find safety by clinging to the commandments of our loving God.

Because God will always prevail.

So when we cling to God and His wise and all-knowing commandments, we can prevail, too.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Safety against the waters  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.