acquiring knowledge

Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge."

..... a lack of knowledge.... oh dear!!

"...make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
from 2 Peter 1....

The last thing I aspire to be in this life is ineffective or unproductive!!!! How about you????
I would guess that you spend many hours a day doing the menial tasks we all do. Things like folding the laundry, picking up toys, and shoes and clothes that are strewn ALL OVER THE PLACE ,vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms, changing diapers, mowing  lawns, preparing meals, reading stories, listening to stories, and trying to have fun and be a good parent, or friend, or spouse along the way.
But apart from stopping, praying, reading God's Word, being still and listening to His voice, I am in danger of being UNPRODUCTIVE!
Wow! With all the trivial, time-consuming tasks that I have pulling on me, it is easy for me to put off my time with God....At this point in my life, it's not the hours-long devotion I often enjoyed before homeschooling and newborn-ing, but I still try to get in at least my "daily Bread" even if it means 10 minutes here and there and many small, intermittent prayers throughout the day!!!!!

For more literal bread, I also enjoy flipping through cookbooks, and collect them where'er (  I just like how that rolls of the tongue) I go.....

Here are a few that I have kept even as i have "weeded out" my vast collection due to the lack of storage a Victorian home allows!!!!
This one was published in 1905 and contains "cooking,toilet and household recipes,menus,dinner-giving,table etiquette, care of the sick, health suggestions, facts worth knowing etc."
...it's a bit worn and the pages are very fragile, so I have copied the ones I use, but there are some whoppers in there!!!!!!!

This ever-popular Bisquick cookbook contains a recipe Mary will be featuring this week!
.......Impossible Cheeseburger Pie!!!!

I have always wanted an O'Keefe and Merritt oven with a window....Dream big, you know!!!!!
But I just adore this picture on the cover- I don't think I've ever tried a recipe......maybe I'll have to now!!!!

The Household Searchlight Recipe Book....they must have searched ALL OVER for these little gems of cooking genius!!!!!"Shrewsbury Cakes", "Popcorn Fruit Cookies","Squash Doughnuts" and the like....

You may know I have a love of all things cake- though no one else in my family seems to share this affection, so my cake-ing is limited to when we have company mostly...so if you ever come over...prepare to be a guinea pig for some kind of cake-ation!!!!!!

.......and what collection would be complete without couple of local yocals?!?!?!?

Or a children's cookbook?????This is Mary's favorite and we have yet to try something from it we didn't like!!!

Here is a cookbook of recipes I had made up a couple of years ago for Christmas for everyone in the fam. We have a lot of great cooks in the family (and some who are not- you know who you are!!!!-hahha)- it is a collection of some of the family's "signature recipes"!!!!!

and lastly, there is this little unassuming little number that contains almost all of my everyday standbys...from pancakes to chicken cordon blue (or "bleu" if you prefer!). On the outside it looks all nice and neat......

but on the INSIDE.....whoa!!! Look out!!!!!!!!!!

In the same way that it would seem strange to read all these cookbooks and not try out the recipes in them, reading the Bible just for the sake of studying it would be pointless too. God wants us to be changed by having His Word in our hearts and on our minds!!!! Isaiah 55:11says this-  "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."


 God literally SPOKE and the world was created...His Word is not "just words" but there is an unimaginable, indescribable power in His Words....they accomplish something- God's desire...in my own life, they TRANSFoRM me....
I study the Word of God not only to attain knowledge, but also because God tells me it is a sword that enables me to do battle with the enemy of my soul and my own fears and weaknesses. His Word helps me to discern errors in my ways, before God resorts to allowing circumstances to shear them off!!!(ouch!!!!!) So the study of God's Word is essential in learning how to live life in the same way that a cookbook is essential in learning how to cook!

Happy reading!!!!!