To me, it’s pretty clear what Ahab was thinking throughout this whole drought when he finally met up with the prophet Elijah.⁣

Because the first words he says to Elijah are found in 1 Kings 18:17: ⁣

“Are thou he that troubleth Israel?” ⁣

In other words, aren’t you the guy who has been making life miserable for everyone in Israel, including me, for years? ⁣

Ahab was putting all the blame on Elijah.⁣

Elijah’s response was so confident and faith-filled. ⁣

In the next verse 18, he responds: ⁣

“I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.” ⁣

Elijah makes it clear that the natural consequences of Ahab and all of his royal family turning away from the Lord were NOT Elijah’s fault. ⁣

They were their own faults! ⁣

Sometimes we make poor choices and must deal with the consequences. ⁣

Sometimes we gossip about someone, and then they don’t want to hang around us anymore. ⁣

Sometimes we make it really difficult to access personal revelation because we fill our lives with so many things that pull the Spirit away from us. ⁣

Sometimes we lose out on cool service or bonding opportunities because we tell ourselves we are “too busy.” ⁣

And it’s so easy to put the blame somewhere else! ⁣

To blame the other person, to blame our busy schedule, or even to blame the Lord. ⁣

It’s not the most fun lesson to learn, but it is important to know who is responsible for our own actions.⁣

Ahab wanted to put all that blame on Elijah. ⁣

But when we take ownership of what we should be doing and are honest with ourselves about where we fall short, we are able to repent and move forward with hope instead of falling into the blame game.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Ahab’s blame game first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Ever since I was a kid, my natural tendency has been to do my work right before it needs to be done.

I mean, I always get it done…

But my brain seems to thrive on the pressure that I have to do it right now.

Every time I study Church history, I am surprised by how many of these early Saints truly believed they were preparing for Christ’s imminent return.

They were ready to witness His Second Coming!

And yet, here we are 200 years and many generations later…

Still preparing for Christ’s return.

When learning about Christ’s Second Coming, the Lord told the Saints:

“. . . the hour and the day no man knoweth, neither the angels in heaven, nor shall they know until he comes.” (D&C 49:7)

Why did they think it was so soon when it was still quite far away?

We have been counseled repeatedly not to procrastinate the day of our repentance.

If I knew that Christ wouldn’t be coming to earth for seventeen years, then I might not change or improve right now with as much urgency.

Just like the ten virgins, we do not know when the bridegroom comes.

I think a very important reason for this is that the Savior knows if we had an exact Second Coming timeline…

We would be tempted to lean even more into our mortal weaknesses and procrastinate the day of our repentance.

Let’s embrace change now and never be complacent with our spiritual growth!

“I have learned from personal experience that spiritual preparation for the coming of the Lord is not only essential but the only way to find true peace and happiness.” – Amy A. Wright

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Procrastinators unite!  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It feels icky. ⁣

Jesus doesn’t want us to be caught in that position for a long time.

He doesn’t want our spirit at war with our body.

He knows what that feels like.

Instead, Jesus wants us to feel the peace that comes when our beliefs and actions are aligned to the best of our abilities.

But this icky position is where many of the Nephites were caught when the signs of Christ’s death came.

They cried, saying:

“⁣O that we had repented before this great and terrible day.” (3 Nephi 8:24) 

In other words, they wished they had changed sooner.

Prophets had warned them for years that death and destruction would happen if they didn’t repent.

And they just hadn’t made that change. . . yet.

Jesus always invites us to change for the better.

Not just for fun.

But because He wants us to avoid being in that spot where our spirit is at war with our body.

What is something you’ve felt uncomfortable with in your life recently?

We don’t have to fix every problem all at once.

And we don’t have to fix it overnight.

But He warns us over and over again about the spiritual dangers of just sitting in that spot where we know we can take a step forward, where He knows we are fully able to change, and yet we don’t.

Our Savior will lovingly stay by our side as we choose to make a small change for the better.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Change now  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

He kept wasting everyone’s time by calling for help where there was no danger.

Eventually, he cried “wolf” so many times that no one came to help him when a wolf actually arrived.

No one believed him when he really meant it.

It’s so easy to believe that we, too, only have a certain amount of times of calling out for help before we look like a hypocrite.

“Really? You think you are actually going to change this time, even though you thought that last time, too?!”

“You must not really be trying.”

But I’ve learned that the Lord never gives up on us.

“Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.” (Mosiah 26:30)

He never gets to the point where He says we’ve used up His trust and that He won’t believe us anymore.

He’s cheering us on!

As often as we need.

Even when we feel like a hypocrite to the outside world, we’ve still got the Lord by our side.

No matter how many times it takes!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The boy who cried wolf  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Then repented?

And then fallen out of the habit yet again?

I certainly have.

I start to feel pretty frustrated.

But I noticed that after Alma had just finished teaching all of the people what it meant to be a member of Christ’s church by mourning with those who mourn, taking Jesus’ name upon them, keeping the commandments, and being baptized, this is what the people did and said:

“. . .they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts.” (Mosiah 18:11)

I can pretty much guarantee that while these people were amazing, they weren’t perfect.

I’m sure they didn’t hear Alma preach and immediately keep every commandment with exactness afterward.

They were human, with human tendencies.

But do you know what they got right?

They had a perfect DESIRE!

They DESIRED to be baptized.

They DESIRED to make covenants.

They DESIRED to serve the people around them.

So even when we aren’t perfect with prayer (or whatever your habitual sin may be)…

Do we desire to pray every day?

Do we keep trying every single time we forget or mess up?

Do we sincerely want to do better?

Do we desire to commune with God more and more?

If we have a good desire to be righteous, then we are on the right track.

“We are going to be blessed for our desire to do good, even as we actually strive to be so.” – Jeffrey R. Holland

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Messing up again  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Have you been in a lesson like that or heard a talk like that before?

The entire lesson was on a gospel topic that I have been lacking in.

All of the comments that people shared were new perspectives that I needed to hear.

I loved it, and I’ve already started to do better at it.

But the thing is… it wasn’t some new gospel principle.

It’s not like I’ve never known about it or that I wasn’t painfully aware that I needed to improve that area.

But the Lord is so good.

He always invites me to improve, no matter how many times I’ve ignored that invitation before.

“Return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.” (Jeremiah 18:11)

Even if I’m not doing evil, I find myself not doing good quite often.

And I am so grateful for a loving God who invites me over and over to repent, to change, and to be a little bit better.

No matter where you are at, no matter how many times you’ve ignored that call, no matter how many times you’ve tried to answer but fallen short…

Jesus always invites us to return.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Return to Christ again first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’ve noticed that there are times when I start to get really down on myself for how often I’m making the same mistakes over and over.

But I can feel the Spirit whisper that I am facing the right direction.

I feel remorse when I sin.

I want to become better.

I don’t give up on trying to become more Christlike.

Sure, I might be taking steps forward and backward.

But I am still facing the Savior.

One thing that I noticed about the Israelites though, is that they seemed to have made some pretty big mistakes while they were waiting for Moses on the mountain.

Breaking covenants, not keeping commandments, those are all not super awesome things to do.

But even more concerning is what we learn in Exodus 32:8:

“They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them”.

They were facing the wrong direction.

They needed a whole lot of support and intervention before their hearts desired repentance. Before they desired to try to do better.

The Lord knew what kind of commandments and priesthood they needed, what kind of temple worship they needed, what kind of ordinances and covenants they needed in order to keep their hearts facing toward Him.

We will all take plenty of steps both forward and backward along the path back to eternal life.

But when we make those mistakes, what are our desires afterward?

Do we want to keep trying to go back to that comfortable sin? Do we want to be sneaky so others don’t notice? Do we want to find more situations to do the same thing?

Or do we desire to do better?

Even if it takes an entire lifetime filled with sinning and repenting, a desire to repent shows us which way we truly face.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Which way do you face?  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

This short message from our prophet in the most recent General Conference stuck out to me the moment he said it.

That analogy of watching workers dig out debris from the Salt Lake temple during its enormous renovation.

And then a prophet of the Lord asking me to pray to discover what I can remove from my life.

My thoughts and prayers used to center around what I was doing wrong that I needed to change.

The music that I needed to clean up, the prayers that I was forgetting to say, the visiting teaching assignment I wasn’t doing.

And slowly, this phrase started being added to more and more of my prayers:

“Please let me know what I can let drop out of my life that will help me to feel the Spirit more.”

And that’s why I loved President Nelson’s short talk so much.

This idea that we all have the junky debris that is keeping us from our full potential.

It’s not straight up sin or filled with evil.

But it’s keeping the Spirit from being as present as possible in my life.

It’s keeping me zoned out and enjoying a dramatic storyline, instead of having that thought to text a friend.

It’s keeping me scrolling through a feed looking at pictures I don’t really care about, instead of spending a few more minutes in the scriptures being taught a lesson I need to hear.

It’s keeping me with frustratingly impossible standards for my family members, instead of learning how to love unconditionally.

The debris blocks out a lot if I let it pile up.

The Lord also gave this advice to Joseph Smith’s own family in D&C 93:48:

“Your family must needs repent and forsake some things”.

Repent = change

Forsake = forget

Your family needs to forget some things they are doing, and make some changes.

Don’t we all need to hear that message?!

I want to build so many great things in my life. I want to build places of beauty, of love, and of safety.

I want to build sacred places in my life.

But even with the best intentions and the perfect building plans…

The first thing I have to do is clear out the debris.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Clean out the debris first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

You know, when someone says something like, “And she never even said anything about it! So rude!”

And you instinctively want to say, “Oh yeah! Crazy!” or something.

I didn’t like that feeling that came after I “kept the peace” in the moment, while sacrificing my integrity.

And so I committed to just not say anything in return. (Unless I felt strongly that I needed to speak up.)

But then, the very next day after making this big commitment, I found myself in a conversation with a coworker where I was just agreeing with some negative things they were saying.

I felt so disappointed when the conversation ended.

Because I had completely forgotten in the moment what I previously had felt such a strong conviction for.

Remembering is strangely difficult, right?!

It took me weeks and weeks and months and months before I made progress on remembering.

And now, it’s pretty natural to me. I remember it virtually every time.

We promise our Heavenly Father that we will always remember His Son.

We KNOW so much about Jesus. We learn of him all the time.

And yet, it can be so weirdly difficult to ALWAYS REMEMBER him throughout the week.

I even feel myself moving along a continuum. Some days, I think very often of my Savior, and my heart is humbled in constant prayer.

But other times, I’m just doing so many things, that I honestly forget to remember him all of the time.

And it feels a little weird to say that – but I’m guessing that since promising, yet again, to always remember the Savior is a part of our weekly sacrament prayers, I’m probably not alone in this.

Remembering is weirdly difficult, despite how much we know about a topic, or even how committed we feel to “remember”.

The only thing I’ve learned that helps?

Practice.

And a lot of prayer.

And slowly, we’ll build up how quickly and how often we can remember.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Trying to remember first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I don’t think anyone has ever explicitly said that it is, but over the past 10 years as most of my friends have gotten married, I’ve noticed this attitude of wanting to make it to a temple marriage, and then life will be good from there.

Like I said, marriage is fantastic.

But anyone who’s married knows it’s most certainly not the finish line for life.

I think we sometimes fall into setting a standard for when we’ve “made it” –

Whether it’s getting married, finally remembering to read scriptures every day, once all your kids serve missions, once you have a certain calling…

We can read the words “endure to the end” and think of getting “good enough” and then just coasting.

But Rebecca M. Craven taught us recently that “enduring to the ends means CHANGING until the end”.

Marriage is a fantastic goal to have and a fun milestone to meet, but LUCKILY my husband and I have changed a lot over our past 7 years.

And we are excited to change even more.

We endure together by changing together, improving, maturing, and loving better.

In marriage, in any role that we hold, and as an individual, we not only CAN always improve, but we SHOULD always improve.

Our humble general authorities are beautiful examples of this, sharing their journeys of faith, their new discoveries, their changes…

We never get to just cruise in autopilot.

Maybe that’s an intimidating thought.

But I like it.

I’m never gonna earn it and then just endure. I’ll always have something to work on.

Fun, huh?!

That’s how we will stand guiltless before God on judgment day:

Not because we are perfect and actually blameless.

But because we changed every day all the way to the end.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post How to stand blameless first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.