You know those spoiled, wealthy kids who have parents that give them a giant sum of money to “help them get started” and then continuously bail them out of every ridiculous decision they make?

I don’t think we are too far off from that, spiritually.

We are sent into this world with so much going in our favor, regardless of our physical circumstances.

We are here on a beautiful earth.

We are given bodies that are totally unique and have been especially created for us, with minds that can think and problem-solve.

We are given the light of Christ to point our consciences toward good and righteous things.

And we are given a Savior who keeps rushing to our assistance every single time we make a mistake, as long as we sincerely call on Him for help.

And so can you imagine how Jesus Christ feels when we actively choose to turn away from Him?

“They are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge”. (Moses 7:32)

Christ weeps.

Not to try and guilt us into choosing the right.

Not to shame us.

Not to make us feel bad for Him.

But He weeps because He knows what brings true happiness and peace, and He is so sad to see us bring more pain into our lives.

Christ weeps out of pure compassion.

Pure love.

As our Creator, as someone who has given us absolutely everything, He weeps.

He has probably wept for you and wept with you many times.

He loves you so much and He cares so much about the decisions you are making each day.

The Lord weeps.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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

I’ve wondered a lot this week about why Enoch was the guy who created this literal Zion city here on earth.

There have been so many mighty prophets and righteous people beforehand and since, and I don’t think that Enoch was objectively THE most righteous.

But what was his special gift, his spiritual superpower that made him perfect for this particular role of creating a Zion community?

And the word COMPASSION couldn’t help but jump out as I read Moses 7.

This guy wept when he learned of terrible destruction that would happen.

He wept when he saw the Savior crucified.

He wept when he saw latter-day destruction.

But he didn’t just cry and feel sad about these things:

He always tried to do something about it.

He saw Noah’s flood?

Enoch wept, and he also pled with the Lord to make a covenant to bless Noah’s seed who would remain on earth.

He saw even more destruction?

Enoch wept and asked the Lord when our poor Mother Earth would get relief from having to bear the pains of mankind.

He saw more wickedness and the Savior being slain?

Enoch asked if the Lord would come again to bring peace.

What a fantastic example of compassion, right?!

He saw the suffering of others, whether it was his fellow man, the Earth, or the Savior.

And he wept because of the pain they were enduring.

And THEN, he did what he could to try to relieve their suffering, or to at least learn about what would relieve it.

We don’t get many details about what Enoch actually did in his city with the righteous people who lived there.

But I imagine this pattern was repeated day in and day out.

Tough times would happen. Someone would come to battle against them. Someone would lose a loved one. Someone would mentally and emotionally have a rough day.

And people would notice, mourn, and do what they could to help.

Over and over.

Compassion. Enoch showed it, the Lord shows it, and each member of a Zion community shows it, too.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Enoch’s compassion first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And he wept.

This encouraged him to plead with the Lord for a blessing on Noah’s descendants.

And the Lord made an oath:

Never again would the earth be covered in a flood of water, and Noah’s descendants would be blessed to multiply and stay on the earth.

Ready for some of the most poetic language I think the Lord uses throughout all of scripture?!

I love it.

When He talks about the dark days that will accompany the Savior’s Second Coming, Enoch becomes mournful again.

And so the Lord makes this promise, RIGHT after they had discussed Noah’s flood:

“Righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood” (Moses 7:62).

Righteousness and truth is sweeping the earth like what?!

Like a FLOOD!

The destructive flood waters will not cover the entire earth again.

But now, WE are the flood!

Sharing righteousness and truth across the entire world in unprecedented ways.

Covering literally every corner of the earth with the influence of goodness.

Helping Christ to be known, loved, and worshipped by anyone who desires to.

I am beyond grateful that I am not living in the time of Noah’s flood that Enoch foresaw.

We missed that flood.

But I am also beyond grateful that I am here when another flood is sweeping the earth:

This one filled with truth and righteousness.

And I think this is one I definitely want to be swept away in! 

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Two floods first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Creating Zion requires multiple people each doing really good things.

I can’t just create Zion on my own. Right?

“The Lord called his people ZION, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.” (Moses 7:18)

But I think the real question is…

Am I doing my part to build Zion?

“Love and kindness are at the center of having Zion in our hearts and homes.” Quentin L. Cook

This is the essence of the gospel, right?

Love and kindness.

We say those words so often that sometimes I think I forget what they mean.

Love— like REAL love.

It’s easy to say, “I love everyone!”

It’s easy to think we love everyone from far away.

But I’ve noticed it’s really difficult to actually love someone if I don’t know them or if I haven’t prayed for them.

It’s a lot harder to love up close.

When I’ve needed to love a child more, I’ve prayed like crazy about them.

When I’ve needed to love an acquaintance more, I’ve asked them questions to get to know them better.

Kindness— another overused but such an important word.

Are my outward actions kind?

Even if they “deserved” the response they got?

Even if they made me annoyed?

Being kind to everyone is actually super difficult, especially when I’m running on empty.

Love and kindness.

It sounds too simple, and yet I’ve found it is pretty complicated.

But I’m working every day to be a bit better, to do my part to create Zion.

To lift up those who are poor in spirit and poor in circumstance around me.

Not because I am a perfect person, but because I know who the Perfect Person is.

I’m pointed toward Him, and I can help do my best to point others toward Him, too.

And I think that’s how I’m working to build Zion, a little bit of love and kindness at a time.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Creating Zion first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It’s so relatable— thinking our shortcomings disqualify us from the work.

And Enoch felt that his poor command of language disqualified him.

But did you catch what change had happened by the next chapter?

It’s SO COOL.

Enoch is now leading righteous people as enemies come to battle against them.

Enoch is causing the earth to tremble with his great faith.

And the nations of the earth fear Enoch.

Why?

“So powerful was the WORD of Enoch, and so great was the power of the LANGUAGE which God had given him.” (Moses 7:13)

Where’s Mr. “slow of speech” now?!

He’s using such powerful language and words that he is able to control elements, display mighty faith, and gather righteous people together.

His weakness became his strength.

But we can’t skip over that last part of the verse, because Enoch’s weakness didn’t become his strength just because he wanted it to.

“… which God had given him.”

The lesson of Enoch’s story isn’t that if we work hard enough, we can turn our weaknesses into strengths.

Instead, this is a lesson that God can do anything.

He needed Enoch to be mighty in speech and in language, and so he worked a mighty miracle to grow this faithful man’s talents.

But Moses also felt that he was slow in speech, and God directed him to Aaron instead of changing Moses’ abilities.

Even thinking of latter-day prophets, there have been some who have been powerful orators, and others who seem less comfortable at the pulpit.

It’s an interesting lesson to internalize— we don’t all get blessed with the same gifts just because we want them, even if they are for a righteous purpose.

Why?

It’s up to God.

Maybe we will have the chance to grow our weakness into a strength.

Maybe our weakness will stay our weakness.

Maybe we will use our strength to complement others’ weaknesses.

Maybe we will learn to rely on others more.

God can give us anything!

And sometimes that takes a lot of trust to believe that He knows what we need more than we know.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Weaknesses to strengths first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.