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.

Not being moved.

Elder Holland so eloquently taught:

“It is inevitable that after heavenly moments in our lives, we, of necessity, return to earth, so to speak, where sometimes less-than-ideal circumstances again face us.”

Holy moments are precious.

Sometimes they are big and notable.

But more and more often lately, they’ve been really small and mighty.

A quick prayer offered in a time of need met with immediate assistance.

Glancing at my kids’ faces during a particularly difficult moment and seeing their divine potential.

Pondering that leads to life-changing realizations.

Writing my gratitudes down and seeing how obvious the Hand of God is in my life.

I do all that I can to stand in holy places throughout the day. To create holy moments.

And then… a kid starts crying.

And I get a headache.

And someone asks me if I’ve finished that project yet.

And the dishes need to be done for the millionth time.

And I have an awkward moment with someone I meet.

And all of a sudden, I’m down, off the mount.

Back to real life and all the weird, lame, uncomfortable, frustrating moments.

To stay in a holy place all the time seems impossible.

But I at least have the desire to experience holy moments all of the time.

And… God actually tells us that He will bless us for our desires, as we strive to do so.

So even when the world is in chaos around me after I come down off the mount of my holy moment, my desire to keep holiness with me can be strong enough to carry that feeling in my heart.

Because even though I am moving from the holy place…

My desires are not moving.

My intentions are not moving.

My Savior is not moving.

That is what can stay constant. My desire to be good. Even if I’m on a roller coaster of what my actions look like, my desires of my heart keep me tethered to Christ.

I can stand in holy places as often as I can, and my thoughts and righteous desires can never be moved.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Standing and then moving first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I love Instagram and I don’t plan on leaving it, but I know that so many people prefer to listen rather than to read.

Plus, I love to talk about as much as I love to write!

But as much as I wanted to start a podcast, I knew the timing wasn’t right.

Until Kristen Smith invited me to speak as a guest on her podcast.

And after we finished recording our episode together, I felt the desire to work with her more.

The desire was just natural. (And as I told Kristen about the desire to work with her more, I told her I hoped she didn’t think I was sounding weird or obsessed! Luckily, she didn’t!)

Eventually, after many conversations, Kristen invited me to permanently co-host the One Minute Scripture Study podcast with her.

And boy, did that feel right.

I had held onto such a strong desire to start a podcast, and now the opportunity was presenting itself, and I felt the Spirit confirm that this was the answer I had been waiting for.

My desire to share my testimony in new ways was the prompting I needed to guide my decisions.

I’ve been really struck by David, Oliver, and Martin’s passionate pleadings this week.

I had always pictured Joseph asking God who the Three Witnesses to the gold plates should be, and receiving these three men’s names.

But really, David, Oliver, and Martin were all moved with a desire to become one of the witnesses that they knew had been prophesied of.

And they ASKED Joseph to be witnesses to the gold plates.

Section 17 is the result of Joseph asking the Lord if these three men were acceptable for this sacred responsibility, and the Lord approving.

But these weren’t random names that the Lord happened to approve—

Because they each had a burning, righteous desire to be a witness in the first place.

Our righteous desires can be promptings from the Lord on how we can use our talents to build up the kingdom of God.

The things that we really want to do? The things that are righteous, selfless, or useful?

Those desires can be the first whisperings of the Spirit on what direction we should head, or what opportunities we should be on the lookout for.

And then we can ask.

We can ask to be included, we can ask to be in consideration.

We can let our righteous desires drive us to righteous action.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Righteous desires first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.