So it didn’t surprise me in the least to read Hosea preach that the Lord would say:

“I will love them freely”! (Hosea 14:4)

Love them freely.

I know that “freely” in this case probably refers to loving without holding anything back.

Which is totally perfect for our Savior.

But… I also couldn’t help but think of another definition of that word.

Freely.

He loves us freely.

He loves us for free!

We don’t have to do anything to earn it.

We don’t have to cash in on any big promise.

We don’t have to make a grand gesture to prove we are worthy of it.

He just loves us, completely for free.

So, can we learn from His example as we live here on earth right now?

Can we practice that free kind of love?

Loving without limits, without qualifications, without resumes and checklists?

Or do we make people “earn” our love, filled with contingencies?

I want to be a little bit more like Jesus and learn how to love for no cost at all.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Love freely! first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Like ALL over.

Before washing the shirt, I treated it with some stain remover.

When I pulled the shirt out of the washing machine, I realized you could still totally see the stain.

I started googling all the tips and tricks to get this kind of stain out, and realized we probably weren’t going to have much luck.

I tried a few different cleaners, but I wasn’t having much luck on this light-colored shirt.

Eventually, the shirt had to get tossed in the trash.

When something is stained, it takes so much work to get the mark out.

And let’s be real, even if you “get” the stain out, there is usually some sort of faint marking that never lets you forget what used to be there.

I think that’s what makes this famous scripture so powerful:

“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

Repentance is so complete and whole, that after we feel sorrow and turn our heart back to God, the place where the sin used to be is now as white as snow.

No stains left behind.

No lingering remnant of when “we used to…”

No discernible difference than something that had never been stained in the first place.

From large sins with life-altering effects, to smaller omissions or changes in attitude.

The Savior can help create a future with us that has no trace of what we are willing to leave behind.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Scarlet to white first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Heading out on the first mission for the tiny church.

Heading west, with strong end goal, but not sure how the details would play out.

They were going to share the Book of Mormon with the Native American tribes west of Missouri.

And the Lord told them He would be in their midst.

And that if they decided to let God prevail in their personal lives, that He would prevail against any obstacles they met.

And within a few months, they would return back home…

WITHOUT converting a whole bunch of Native Americans to the restored gospel.

A failed mission.

So… where was God?

Why had they failed if God said that He would prevail?

Because their mission resulted in the doubling of church membership.

DOUBLE.

It wasn’t the Native Americans.

It was the people they visited in Ohio along the way.

It was Sidney Rigdon. It was Edward Partridge. It was countless other faithful new Saints who were converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God most certainly prevailed.

Because not ONLY did church membership double, but the next location for all the Saints to travel to was established.

A place that would be home to numerous essential revelations.

A place that would house the first temple of the Lord in this dispensation.

A place where the Savior, Jesus Christ Himself, would visit.

The Lord most certainly prevailed on the sacred mission that these four men faithfully embarked on.

But we can’t define “prevailing” as accomplishing the end goal that we had in mind.

I mean, even the Lord told them that their mission was to the native tribes!

But how else would He had gotten these four faithful men to His beloved children in Ohio who were ready to hear the gospel?

It wasn’t a failure. Not by a long stretch.

When we let God prevail in our personal lives, nothing will prevail over us.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Did God really prevail? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.