It’s one of the biggest warnings given throughout scripture. ⁣

Because you know what Satan is so good at?⁣

Making it seem like we can’t trust our spiritual memories. ⁣

Oh, there’s no way you were actually feeling the Spirit at girls camp. That was just all your happy emotions. ⁣

That wasn’t a miracle, it was just a coincidence. ⁣

You didn’t really receive a prompting to do that. ⁣

He’s so sneaky at making us distrust our own memories, right?!⁣

And I think the adversary succeeded pretty well at convincing the Israelites that their memories, as well as the memories of their ancestors, deceived them. ⁣

And there on the battle field, facing Goliath, none of them were remembering what God had done for them. ⁣

They were just stuck in the moment. ⁣

But David?⁣

He remembered. ⁣

“David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37)⁣

He KNEW he could defeat the Philistine BECAUSE he remembered what the Lord had already done in the past. ⁣

The Lord had strengthened David and delivered David from all sorts of dangerous situations. ⁣

And David remembered and accurately gave credit to God for his protection in the past.

This remembrance gave David the spiritual confidence to trust in the Lord again!⁣

Do we have accurate spiritual memories, or are we letting time affect how we give credit to the Lord?⁣

Remember. Remember the spiritual experiences from the past in order to gain strength for the giants ahead.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Don’t let the adversary trick you! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I’ve always wondered what that really means.

I mean, totally just out of curiosity, since secret combinations seem to be so effective at bringing people away from the Lord. ⁣

Here’s my favorite insight from this week:

Cain, the first murderer, gives a perfect summary of the gist of all these oaths and combinations that the adversary uses.

In Moses 5:31, Cain says, “Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain.” ⁣

(Just for context, “Mahan” often refers to “mind”, “destroyer”, or “secret”.) ⁣

Did you catch that false promise?! ⁣

Satan teaches people that they can commit any kind of grievous sin, and that IT WILL WORK FOR THEIR GAIN.

Sometimes, it’s in dramatic ways, like Cain believing that murdering his brother would give him his brother’s flocks. ⁣

But for most people on earth, Satan is much more subtle. ⁣

He convinces us that not keeping a covenant we’ve made will actually be better for our life.⁣

Or that choosing to bend the rules a bit will actually bring much more joy. ⁣

Or that selfishness is actually much more healthy than service and empathy. ⁣

But it’s not true. ⁣

Satan has NOT discovered some secret loophole for gain.⁣

Because his lie has always been the same:⁣

“God tells you to keep all these commandments and try to become like Him? No, I’ve found a secret workaround for all that hard work, and it will make you happier, too.”⁣

It’s a lie. ⁣

It’s a lie that is as old as quite literally the earth itself. ⁣

Committing sin will never bring us on a shortcut to lasting happiness.⁣

And we can push back on any temptations that are trying to convince us that they will.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post  Secret combinations  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Gratefully, that has not been the case in my life thus far. ⁣

But… I sure face temptations. ⁣

In my teenage years, the temptations were more focused on “choosing the wrong”. ⁣

It wasn’t all that difficult to figure out where the enemy was tempting me: to lie, to cross that line, to make that choice. ⁣

It was a clear temptation to do something I knew logically was wrong. ⁣

But as I’ve matured spiritually, I’ve recognized that the adversary has needed to change tactics with me. ⁣

Now the temptations are more like “choose this fun thing over this thing that would be best” or “you’re doing fine compared to these other people so no need to improve” or “you’ll never be good enough so why even bother trying”. ⁣

And I’ve noticed it’s actually harder to call these out as “temptations”.⁣

But Moses gives us the perfect pattern that can help. ⁣

When we remember who we are and our divine identity, the temptations are a whole lot easier to call out and rebuke. ⁣

“I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten… Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not”. (Moses 1:13-16)⁣

Elder Stevenson taught:⁣

“Command the enemy of your soul by saying: ‘Go away! You have no glory. Do not tempt or lie to me! For I know I am a child of God. And I will always call upon my God for His help.’”⁣

He tempts and he lies. That’s his work. ⁣

God’s work and glory is infinitely more magnificent. ⁣

And we are His children. ⁣

The more I understand this, the easier it is to identify: “Wait a second, why would I ever think that it’s not worth trying to improve? I’m a daughter of God and so of course I’m going to keep trying.”⁣

“I’m a daughter of God and I know that so much more joy comes from service and work than from another round of that TV show.”⁣

“I’m a daughter of God so I know I can’t compare myself to others to judge my progress. I want to keep getting closer to God, no matter what.”⁣

Knowing my identity makes it easier to call out the lies.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Calling out the lies  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had a really tough time after I had my first baby. ⁣

I’m a pretty independent person who takes a lot of pride in getting stuff done. ⁣

And suddenly I was on maternity leave from teaching with this brand new little infant who just needed me all the time. ⁣

It seemed like my life as I knew it was over. ⁣

And the adversary sure wanted me to believe that. ⁣

This will never change. It will never get better. ⁣

But the adversary has always used this tactic. ⁣

When the saints in Missouri needed some guidance from church leaders, they were asked to meet and counsel together.

Because otherwise…⁣

“Satan seeketh to turn their hearts away from the truth, that they become blinded and understand not the things which are prepared for them.” (D&C 78:10⁣)

They would be blinded and not understand the things that have been prepared for them in their future. ⁣

The future is filled with unimaginable blessings. ⁣

Babies grow up. ⁣

People move. ⁣

Jobs change. ⁣

Family dynamics and responsibilities shift. ⁣

But even if that reminder doesn’t seem like a “blessing”, the next life will bring us the greatest blessings of all. ⁣

Our future is glorious. We have so many blessings coming our way. We are loved beyond belief. ⁣

And the adversary doesn’t want us to remember that at all. ⁣

Luckily, I had some friends and mentors give me a glimpse of these changes when I had my little newborn, and I was quickly able to see that things DO get better. In fact, they change every single day with kids!⁣

But still, the adversary works on his message. ⁣

Because he knows that if we understand what is really waiting for us in the future, we will be unstoppable. ⁣

Satan wants us to pick his team and forget that the fight has already been won.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Satan’s most effective lie first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I was super committed.

I deleted apps that sucked my time.

I set time limits.

I was ready.

But then I noticed that even though I had made the goal…

Whenever I had a spare moment, I’d still pull my phone out of my pocket and find something to still distract me!

Something had to change in order for it to work.

I realized that the only way I was going to improve was if I got rid of the temptation.

I started plugging my phone into the charger in a different room.

And funny enough, my success rate suddenly improved!

It’s not a sin to be tempted.

Jesus, the perfect person, was tempted in three different ways as He finished communing with God through fasting.

But we can always control how we react to those temptations, right?

And, as usual, our Savior gives us the perfect example.

He responded with:

“Get thee hence, Satan.”⁣ (Matthew 4:10)

He got rid of the temptation.

He asked it to leave.

He made it so that He wouldn’t have to endure the temptation for too long.

I can attest to this being true.

It is so hard to have to constantly resist temptation.

When I’ve used my creativity and agency to get rid of the temptation (as reasonably as possible), I am much more likely to be able to cast out my distractions and refocus on what matters most.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Get thee hence first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve always wondered what these secret oaths and combinations are really about!

Mostly out of curiosity, since they seem to be so effective at bringing people away from the Lord.

One my absolute favorite insights I’ve gained from studying this week come from Cain.

Cain, the first murderer, gives a perfect summary of the gist of all these oath and combinations that the adversary uses.

In Moses 5:31, Cain says, “Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain.”

(Just for context, “Mahan” often refers to “mind”, “destoryer”, or “secret”.)

Did you catch that false promise?!

Satan teaches people that they can commit any kind of grievous sin, and that IT WILL WORK FOR THEIR GAIN.

Sometimes, it’s in dramatic ways, like Cain believing that murdering his brother would give him his brother’s flocks.

But for most people on earth, Satan is much more subtle.

He convinces us that not keeping a covenant we’ve made will actually be better for our life.

Or that choosing to bend the rules a bit will actually bring much more joy.

Or that selfishness is actually much more healthy than service and empathy.

But it’s not true.

Satan has NOT discovered some secret loophole for gain.

Because his lie has always been the same:

“God tells you to keep all these commandments and try to become like Him? No, I’ve found a secret workaround for all that hard work, and it will make you happier, too.”

It’s a lie.

It’s a lie that is as old as quite literally the earth itself.

Committing sin will never bring us on a shortcut to lasting happiness.

And we can push back on any temptations that are trying to convince us that they will.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Satan’s big lie first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It’s a lie that Satan loves to tell. Probably one of his favorites.

I find this lie creeping up in my life in lots of different ways.

“You haven’t reached out to one of your ministering sisters yet?! It’s too awkward and embarrassing to reach out now.”

“You already forgot to say your prayers today? Just go to bed and don’t worry about it tonight then.”

“You haven’t been fulfilling that part of your calling yet? It’s too late to start doing that now.”

It’s so easy to believe this lie that we are “too late”.

But… too late for what?!

There’s no such thing.

Actually, there’s quite literally no such thing.

“The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God”. D&C 138:58

You could leave this life here on earth, and there are STILL opportunities to change, to become more Christlike, to accept ordinances done on your behalf, and to keep covenants.

Death isn’t even the finish line.

I personally believe that we will get opportunities to repent and change until our truest and most sincere desires are revealed, and that they match up with our actions.

But no matter what it looks like in the next life, we can still change. We can still learn and grow.

Not to DELAY repentance, since that is never awesome for softening a heart and molding desires.

But not being worried that we have to figure it all out in this life.

We’ve got time. We’ve got a lot of time, in fact.

And it will never ever ever be too late to repent in the ways we want.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Never too late first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had a really tough time after I had my first baby.

I’m a pretty independent person who takes a lot of pride in getting stuff done.

And now I was on maternity leave from teaching with this brand new little infant who just needed me all the time.

It seemed like my life as I knew it was over.

And the adversary sure wanted me to believe that.

This will never change. It will never get better.

But the adversary has always used this tactic.

When the saints in Missouri needed some guidance from church leaders, they were asked to meet and counsel together. Because otherwise…

“Satan seeketh to turn their hearts away from the truth, that they become blinded and understand not the things which are prepared for them.” D&C 78:10

They would be blinded and not understand the things that have been prepared for them in their future.

The future is filled with unimaginable blessings.

Babies grow up.

People move.

Jobs change.

Family dynamics and responsibilities shift.

But even if that reminder doesn’t seem like a “blessing”, the next life will bring us the greatest blessings of all.

Even the lowest kingdom is much greater than earth’s current state.

Our future is glorious. We have so many blessings coming our way. We are loved beyond belief.

And the adversary doesn’t want us to remember that at all.

Luckily, I had some friends and mentors give me a glimpse of these changes when I had my little newborn, and I was quickly able to see that things DO get better. In fact, they change every single day with kids!

But still, the adversary works on his message.

Because he knows that if we understand what is really waiting for us in the future, we will be unstoppable.

The fight has already been won, and Satan wants us to forget that so that we still pick his team.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Ignore your future first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

But I don’t think I’ve ever talked specifically about this one.

We can pray in order to conquer our temptations from the adversary.

Conquer Satan!

What a powerful and true promise.

But sometimes… not quite as easy as it may seem.

A few years ago, I had a certain temptation that was bothering me.

I knew I needed to pray, and so I did.

A lot.

But the temptation was still there.

I knew it couldn’t be that simple – God can’t just remove every temptation from my path after a single prayer.

But then I started thinking about solutions to avoid this temptation.

How to remove this temptation from my life on my own.

I started making some changes, and then suddenly, the temptation wasn’t as strong.

And that’s when it clicked – THAT was my answer to my prayers.

My pleading for this temptation to be removed was answered by my mind being enlightened on how to remove myself from the situation to lessen the temptation in the first place.

We can conquer Satan and those who uphold his work.

But it takes constant connection with heaven in order to welcome the Spirit in exactly the way that we need.

In fact, we need to pray a lot in order for this temptation to lessen.

Pray always.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Come off conqueror first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

At dinner time, the boys with the longer reach were able to grab the most food.

But the family realized that this was bringing a lot of contention.

Greed from the older boys, and resentment from the older boys.

And so they counseled together and came up with a solution:

Each boy had to keep at least one foot on the floor when they reached for more food.

This led to a fun way to eliminate contention.

President Nelson (who shared a version of the above story) counseled:

“My concern is that contention is becoming accepted as a way of life. From what we see and hear in the media, the classroom, and the workplace, all are now infected to some degree with contention.”

He said that in 1989.

I think it’s powerful to notice two things:

First, contention is literally from the devil.

He will try anything to get us to avoid the first two great commandments – to love God, and to love others.

But the second lesson is much more hopeful:

Rooting out contention starts at home.

The parents of the boys at the table didn’t let the contention stay. They didn’t throw up their hands and say, “Boys will be boys!”

They modeled and encouraged their sons to find a way to solve the problem in unity, while getting rid of contention.

Kyle and I know as our kids grow that this will be one of our biggest responsibilities – to show them that differences can be solved by working together.

We can show them to avoid contention.

But in order to show, we have to know how to do that.

I believe fully and completely that we can stand up for the things we believe in, point out injustice, discuss various opinions, and be powerful forces for good, without needing any contention.

And how did our Savior teach the people to turn away from this evil attitude?

Of course, the answer is to turn to Jesus Christ.

He is the one who shows us the true worth of others, who wants us to feel nothing but love for the people we interact with every day.

But we have to try – we have to want it. We have to ask our Savior to remove all contention from our hearts. And then we can receive.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Literally of the devil first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.