Like, I don’t ever re-read.

Once I’ve read a book, know the story, learned about the topic, or discovered the secrets, I find it so boring to go through again!

Truly no offense meant to those of you who are avid re-readers (my husband included, who I think is almost constantly re-reading a Harry Potter book).

But, obviously, the scriptures are different to me. ⁣

I could (and do) read those books over and over and over again.

We read that, “. . . the word of God. . . is quick and powerful.” (Helaman 3:29)

If you look up some different translations for the words “quick” and “powerful,” you get:

Alive

Active

Living

Effective

Aren’t those amazing words?

⁣⁣The word of God is alive in the scriptures.⁣

And that’s why I don’t “get bored” reading the scriptures over and over again.

It’s because these words are alive, powerful, and effective, as long as I am inviting the Spirit to be with me as I read.

When the Spirit is with me, the scriptures teach my heart the words that I actually need to know.

I know, I know, the words themselves don’t change.

But each time I read the same story, a different detail might pop out.

Or a random phrase might make a strong impression.

Or as I’m pondering the familiar lesson, my mind is brought to an application that I need to know for my current circumstance.

The word of God is quick, powerful, alive, active, living, and effective.

And the more I read and study with real intent, the more I discover the messages that are meant for me from a loving Heavenly Father.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post I don’t like to re-read books first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I recognized that I felt pretty uneducated about the subject, because most of the “knowledge” I had was what some leader had taught me in class, or what I read in a blog post one time.

So I went on a search for knowledge and truth from the best sources that I could find.

And I actively tried to ignore anyone else’s perspectives or interpretations, no matter how right they sounded.

My search brought me to 4 places, essentially.

The scriptures.

General Conference manuscripts.

The plethora of other church-produced materials provided on the church’s website.

And prayer.

I stuck to those 4 locations.

I searched a lot. I pondered a lot. I took it slowly.

D&C 88:118 really touches my heart and reminds me of this time in my life.

Here, the Lord teaches:

“Seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”

I didn’t read my answer anywhere written in stone.

But eventually, I had as much knowledge as if it had been.

I prayed and had promptings and felt the spirit whisper to me enough that I realized I knew at least portions of the answers I had been seeking.

And I felt a deep, eternal, and confident peace in the things I still didn’t know.

That was hard sometimes for my brain to wrap itself around– the fact that I didn’t find my answer explicitly hidden somewhere.

Instead, I had to also use faith to fill in some of the spaces.

But deep down, I was just as sure in my knowledge as if I had learned it through any other way.

Knowledge and wisdom are out there. It’s hard to imagine that someone hasn’t already discovered the truth and I can just google enough that I can find it.

With the real, deep stuff, I’ve learned to rely on my own judgment, to be led by the Spirit to the best sources.

And then to let my faith step in for the rest.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

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