I KNOW a lot of religious things.

In fact, I could give a great lesson about how life is meant to be challenging.

I could teach about how prayers won’t always be answered right away.

And I could speak about how relying on our faith is essential.

But then in my real life…

When my prayers aren’t answered immediately, or when a big trial comes…

I feel like everything has gone wrong!

That “knowledge” doesn’t always translate perfectly.

That’s why I find beautiful comfort in this sweet statement that Mormon made:

“Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.” (3 Nephi 26:11)

The Lord wants to try our faith.

Intellectually, it makes sense that Jesus wants to try the faith of His people.

But when I allow that message to really sink into my heart, it is so peaceful to remember that absolutely nothing has “gone wrong” in my life.

When I let that knowledge transform into belief, my entire perspective shifts.

The good will always outweigh the bad.

Love will conquer.

And joy is available to anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ!

“Yes, God can provide miracles instantaneously, but sooner or later we can learn that the times and seasons of our mortal journey are His and His alone to direct.” – President Jeffrey R. Holland

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Knowledge vs. belief  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I was going through a time in my life where I felt really lonely.

I was venting to a friend, and she asked me this question.

Boom.

Immediately, ideas, comfort, and perspective came to my mind!

Have you ever noticed that before?

It’s sometimes a lot easier to coach other people through their hard times than ourselves.

We can see the little tender mercies that other people may have missed!

We can offer them an eternal perspective!

We can give advice for how they can improve the situation!

But when we are going through the tough time, doesn’t there seem to be a lot more self-pity?

“I don’t need comfort because I should be able to figure this out in my own.”

“There’s nothing I can do to make this better.”

“This isn’t fair, and I’m not sure why I have to endure this.”

One of the most transformative experiences is when we start to realize that all these things we “believe” ACTUALLY and LITERALLY apply to our own situations.

In one of the most tender and vulnerable interactions in all of scripture, a father approaches Jesus and asks Him to heal his son.

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief”. (Mark 9:23-24)

Elder Bednar has commented about one possibility for this father:

“He may have believed in Christ generally but not believed Christ specifically and personally.”

What a sweet admission, for this man to tell Jesus that he needed help to believe with even greater conviction.

To make the transition from “Jesus heals everyone!” to “Jesus can heal my son.”

We usually only find out where we are at when we need the help and the miracle the most.

Do we believe in Jesus AND do we believe that Jesus can actually make a difference in our lives, no matter the circumstances?

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Help thou my unbelief first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I remember it was around middle school that religious differences between my friends and me started to become more obvious, and people became curious about what I believed and why I did or didn’t do certain things.

So one day at a friend’s house, one of my closest friends asked, “Cali, so what does your church believe?”

I felt like I had been preparing for this my entire life!

I decided to launch into an explanation about the Plan of Salvation, and I even remember drawing out the whole diagram with arrows, earth life, and ending with the three kingdoms of glory.

That moment was so powerful in my mind because I was totally on my own, having to explain my beliefs. I was proud of what I did.

But I also realized that what I was explaining wasn’t having the impact that I wanted.

I could tell I had lost their attention and their interest. (I’ve always been a very self-evaluative person.)

Should I have started with Joseph Smith instead? Or maybe the Book of Mormon?

This dilemma stuck in my mind for a long time. I wanted to find the right thing to start these conversations with, so that other people would really “get” our religion without me launching into obscure concepts right off the bat.

And then, years later, I saw the opening lesson in the Preach My Gospel manual.

It is a lesson on the First Vision, yes, but the first concept that is taught is:

“God is our loving Heavenly Father.”

That felt so right to me. That’s where I should begin.

And then I made the connection…

What’s that first Article of Faith I had learned all those years ago?

“We believe in God, the Eternal Father…”

We believe in God, and we know that God loves us.

That statement was much more simple than the answer I thought I had been looking for.

But that statement is also so much more powerful.

Do you believe in God?

And do you believe that God is a loving, eternal, Heavenly Father?

What a blessing that is to believe!

And I’ve found that when I share that joy and that belief with others, I am able to give them the quickest glimpse into what truly matters to me.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post I believe in God first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

You can’t prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, in a way that all bystanders would agree with, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true.

To me, yes, there is tons of evidence to prove it.

Enough for me to feel completely confident turning my heart over to Him and dedicating my life to this work.

But we can’t actually prove it to other people.

It will always take just a little bit of faith.

A little bit of trust. A little bit of listening to your feelings and your heart more than your head.

The Lord taught the saints in Ohio in D&C 63:9 that:

“Faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe.”

Proving the gospel is true and that Christ really exists, is never going to be enough to really convert someone.

Including ourselves.

Piling up all the evidence can only get my mind so far.

I have to rely on the faith that comes in my heart to keep me truly converted.

Faith can not come by signs, or proofs, or total knowledge.

In fact, I usually am not so great at recognizing signs or miracles until AFTER they have happened.

Hindsight is 20/20, right?

Our Heavenly Father WANTS us to have faith.

He wants us to believe first.

The world thinks that it’s a little silly.

But that’s okay, for I’m learning to overcome what the world thinks, anyways.

Belief and faith first, and then come the miracles.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Faith and miracles first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Are you a get-up-every-fast-and-testimony-meeting type of person?

Or only-in-smaller-settings?

Or only-in-the-family?

Or… rarely at all?

I don’t usually bear my testimony in formal settings.

And sometimes, I’ve felt like I’ve fallen short for not bearing my testimony at every formal chance I get.

But I’ve slowly expanded what I understand it means to bear my testimony.

It doesn’t need to mean verbalizing an extensive talk where I testify in perfect wording about every single thing that I believe or know.

A testimony is often just a quiet witness of a truth that I know by the Spirit.

It can be in a casual setting.

It can be unplanned.

It can be in the context of living my real life.

It can be short and incomplete.

As the group of men traveling from Missouri back to Ohio met up with their friends headed in the opposite direction, they bore testimonies together.

The Lord told them In Doctrine and Covenants 62:3:

“Ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you.”

Every time I say a simple truth, I am bearing my testimony.

When my daughter is playing and I remind her: “Jesus loves you!”

That’s bearing my testimony.

When I tell my friend that I’m actually not worried about outside circumstances because I feel peace from believing in Jesus Christ…

That’s bearing my testimony.

When I write down in my journal where I saw the hand of God in my life today…

That’s bearing my testimony to future self.

I’m not sure exactly what gets recorded in the great Book of Life, but I know that my life has been richly blessed when I make an effort to insert bits of testimony into my day.

To not shy away from mentioning Jesus’ name or stating what I really believe.

A quiet witness of a single truth that I know.

I want to bear my testimony even more.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Bearing testimony in quiet ways first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.