Creation Devotional June 24 - Botany
Daily Devotional – June 24
Botany
How can a major oil spill on the ocean be cleaned up? We use floating booms to contain the spill and absorbants/pumps to remove the oil from the surface, but what about the submerged oil droplets?
Believe it or not, technology that copies cactus spines will clean this submerged mess. The tapered spines of the cactus Opuntia microdasys efficiently collect water droplets from fog in the harsh ecosystems of central and northern Mexico. When micron-sized, spherically-shaped fog droplets land on the cactus spines, the spine’s shape distorts the water droplet into a clam-like shape. The water droplet wants to stay spherical, so a battle between these two forces pushes the droplet to the base of the spine. The base of the spine is larger than the water droplet, and so the water droplet is immediately absorbed. Copying the cactus spine, researchers made a copper-silicon array with a cactus spine shape and submerged it into a mixture of oil and water. They blasted the mixture with ultrasonic sound waves to create micron-sized oil droplets. The underwater oil droplets collected on the man-made cactus spines in the same way fog droplets collected on real cactus spines. God has designed everything in nature for our wonder and benefit. It is our privilege to search out the Creator’s secrets and apply them to our daily lives. In Scripture, God calls us to “have dominion” over creation; searching out the Creator‘s secrets and applying them to our daily life.
O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
~ Psalm 7 1:17
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional June 23 - Biology
Daily Devotional – June 23
Biology
One of the wonders of the Pacific Ocean is the Japanese puffer fish. During mating season this fish creates an underwater sculpture which would astound any artist and make a beautiful wall decoration in any home. Using only it fins, the tiny fish produces a perfectly circular, six-foot sculpture on the ocean bottom with uniquely placed ridges and channels. The fish cannot even see from one side of the sculpture to the other, yet it is a perfect circle and the channels it creates between the sand ridges are produced with mathematically perfection.
The fish literally has a map of the finished sculpture in its brain and works non-stop, 24 hours a day, for over a week to complete the plan. Where did this plan come from? How did it learn to move sand, shells and rocks around to create such beauty? Could such plans and ability have slowly “evolved” over time a small step at a time? Not a chance! God created such wonders to show us his creativity in the animals he has made.
For all those things hath mine hand made...
~ Isaiah 66:2a
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional June 22 - Design
Daily Devotional – June 22
Design
Golf balls made during the 1800s were made with a smooth surface. It seemed logical that the smoother the ball, the farther it flies. At some point, golfers noticed that older balls covered with nicks and grooves seemed to fly farther. By the 1930s, the standard golf ball was covered with dimples. Just as golf balls are designed with “dimples,” so is shark skin.
Shark’s skin is made of tough, enameled, tooth-like scales called denticles that point in the direction of the tail. When running your hand over a shark’s skin, toward the tail, the skin will feel smooth. When running your hand in the opposite direction, the shark’s skin feels like rough sandpaper. In the past, shark skin was even used as sandpaper.
To swim faster, a shark bristles with its denticles, causing tiny whirlpools to form within the cavities between the denticles. These tiny vortices reduce the drag. This same design can be observed with dimples on a golf ball. As the dimpled golf ball flies through the air, tiny whirlpools are created, reducing drag. Golf balls are made with dimples to create less drag in the same way the shark skin with its “dimples” was designed.
Would we say a golf ball happened by chance? Hardly! Neither can we assume the shark’s skin made itself. God created and designed the shark’s skin to maximize its speed.
So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.
~ Psalm 104:25
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional June 21 - Paleontology
Daily Devotional – June 21
Paleontology
The following commentary on the fossil record appeared in World Magazine:
Darwin, while not having the benefit of cellular technology that is available to scientists today, did recognize that the fossil record posed a problem. He wrote, “Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain, and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be raised against my theory.” 2 Unfortunately for Darwinists, the fossil record still does not support evolution, but it does fit [a biblical viewpoint].
Jonathan Wells, a biologist who holds Ph.D. degrees from both Yale University and the University of California, Berkeley, has written a book, Icons of Evolution, which demonstrates that much of what is taught about evolution is wrong or even fraudulent. Wells notes, “Although the abrupt appearance of animal fossils in the Cambrian [period] was known to Darwin, the full extent of the phenomenon wasn’t appreciated until the 1980s.” 3 He further notes, “The fossil evidence is so strong, and the event so dramatic, that it has become known as the ‘Cambrian explosion,’ or ‘biology’s big bang.’” 4 Thus, the fossil record does not support the theory that living things developed gradually over long periods of time, but instead appeared rather abruptly in their present form. Henry Gee, chief science writer for Nature, is quoted by Wells as saying, “To take a line of fossils and claim that they represent a lineage is not a scientific hypothesis that can be tested, but an assertion that carries the same validity as a bedtime story—amusing, perhaps even instructive, but not scientific.”
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
~ Colossians 2:8
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional June 20 - Biology
Daily Devotional – June 20
Biology
Have you heard of the boxer crab? It carries around pom poms like a high school cheerleader - but its pom poms are deadly sea anemones. The crab uses these anemones to sting small animals in order to eat them. The sea anemones then share in the meal. This is a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) relationship. The tiny boxer crab, measuring only one inch across, would be an easy lunch without the protection of the stinging sea anemones. The threat of a one-two punch from the sea anemone’s “pom poms” is enough to scare most predators away. If the predator is not scared away, the stinging cells on the sea anemone’s tentacles have enough poison to kill small animals – now the predator is lunch! God in His wisdom knew that boxer crabs and sea anemones would need each other and so designed this symbiotic relationship to benefit each animal.
He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
~ Job 9:4
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional June 19 - Botany
Daily Devotional – June 19
Botany
Why are trees round and not square? If we had a square tree, think of all the time and effort we would save when sawing them into lumber! Let’s pause and think, why our Creator made trees round and not square?
- Wood layers grow outward from the center in all directions.
- Cylinders provide maximum strength against stresses in all directions.
- Round trees can bend more easily than square-sided trees when a wind is blowing.
- Round trees can bend in all directions; square trees would be more vulnerable to breaking at the corners.
The best design for trees is round; if that were not true, telephone poles and light posts would be square and not round. Sometimes, we overlook what is so common in nature, like why a tree is round. But when we stop and consider it, we see a wonderful design that gives glory to our Creator.
All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord
~ Numbers 14:21
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional June 18 - Anatomy
Daily Devotional – June 18
Anatomy
In the late 1800s, after Darwin proposed his theory of life’s slow evolutionary development, nearly 200 organs were considered “useless” – that is, unnecessary leftovers from our evolutionary past. The gallbladder was considered one of these “useless” leftovers. Does the gallbladder have a necessary function?
Recently, my husband had a terrible pain in his side. An ultra-sound test identified the cause of the pain to be gallstones blocking the exit duct from his gallbladder. The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ on the right side just beneath the liver. This human organ stores bile, which is made in the liver. One job of the gallbladder is to release this bile, into the small intestine as needed. This bile is used for the breakdown and absorption of fatty foods. If the gallbladder is removed, the bile oozes continually into the intestines. If an overly fatty meal is eaten, not enough bile will be released, causing incomplete digestion - resulting in gas, bloating, and diarrhea.
It is possible to adjust our diet such that we can function without the gallbladder, but it is far better to keep it. A person without a gallbladder needs to be a little more careful in the consumption of fatty food. But that hardly implies the organ is a worthless evolutionary leftover. Isn’t it interesting how our wise Creator God knew we would have problems with our deteriorating bodies and designed them to cope with a wide variety of dietary circumstances? God doesn’t make “useless” parts; the gallbladder is needed.
Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us,.…
~ Psalm 100:3
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional June 17 - Christian Truth
Daily Devotional – June 17
Christian Truth
Over twenty years ago, scientists first cloned a large mammal (a sheep named Dolly in 1996). Cloning is a process where the donor’s DNA is removed from the nucleus of a cell. The recipient’s fertilized egg DNA is removed and replaced with the donor’s DNA. The egg is then placed within the recipient’s womb. This will make an exact biological replica of the donor creature rather than the offspring being a blend of the characteristics of both the mother and father. Scientists have greatly improved their ability to clone creatures over the last twenty years, but it is still illegal in most countries to attempt to make exact replicas (i.e. clones) of ourselves. Why is this illegal, and if we could make an exact copy of ourselves, would such a person have a soul and be fully human? To answer such questions, one must consult an absolute source of truth outside of human opinion.
Let’s answer the last question. There is already a model for whether exact biological duplicates of human beings will have separate souls. Identical twins come from the DNA code of one egg that divides in such a way that two biologically identical human beings result. Yet, no-one would deny that, even though their DNA is identical, they are two separate people, having two different personalities, lives, and souls. In a similar way, a human clone, should we ever be foolish enough to monkey with God’s created biological machinery in order to produce one, would also have a soul and be accountable to God for his existence. Also, the process of cloning involves the killing of dozens, and sometimes thousands, of fertilized embryos in the effort to successfully produce one viable clone. This is why human cloning is and should be illegal. The entire process is a flagrant disregard for life and is the ultimate in dishonoring and ignoring our Creator - to whom all life owes its existence.
And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him ; male and female created he them.
~ Genesis 1:26, 27 emphasis added
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional June 16 - Biology
Daily Devotional – June 16
Biology
The Texas horned toad is found all over the western United States. It has a stubby nose, horns on its head, spikes all over its body and tail. It may look dangerous to us, but it is friendly. If you are a predator, the horned toad displays a full arsenal of defensive weapons. When frightened, the horned toad first flattens itself to the ground and freezes, not moving a muscle. If a predator continues to approach, it runs with short bursts and then stops quickly - repeating as necessary. If the predator is still pursuing, it will blow itself up to be twice its size. And then there is the final trick; the toad can shoot a stream of blood out of its eyeball up to five feet away! He can even aim this blood stream! He can do this 2-3 times. The blood tastes nasty, so any coyote, snake, or roadrunner that wants to mess with a Texas horned toad has to be ready!
Imagine if we were to burst an artery in our eye, it would take a long time for it to heal, and it would likely leave scar tissue. Not so with the horned toad. It can shoot blood again and again without permanent harm. What if it took millions of years to develop this ability? The horned toad would have probably been eaten. No other animal can squirt blood out of its eyes. We have an imaginative Creator who is concerned for even a small, cold-blooded lizard’s protection. We have a Creator that makes amazing creatures!
For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised:….
~ Psalm 96:4
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional June 15 - History
Daily Devotional – June 15
History
Have you considered that there are ancient depictions of dinosaurs in artwork from around the world? Ancient civilizations called these creatures “dragons” because the word dinosaur was not invented until 1841. In his book Dire Dragons, Vance Nelson documents many examples of this artwork throughout the world. These are but a few:
- On Bishop Bell’s tomb (1496) in Carlisle England, there is a brass plate on the floor of the Carlisle Cathedral showing two sauropods with their necks intertwined.
- On the back of a clergy chair at St. David’s Cathedral in Wales, there is a dragon which looks startlingly like a sauruopod found in Argentina known as Brachytrachelopan mesai.
- The Chateau Royal de Blois in France has 16th century carvings of a Plateosaurus dinosaur.
- Above the fireplace of the Azay-le-Rideau castle in France is a 16th century carving of a dragon that looks remarkably like modern depictions of dinosaurs. Also, a beautiful table has one of its drawers carved with a dragon/dinosaur.
- St. George’s Chapel in Barcelona, Spain, “Palau de La Generalitat,” has an altar cloth from the 1600s showing St. George slaying a dragon/dinosaur.
Artwork from Medieval Europe supports the fact that man and dinosaurs did live together.
Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
~ Psalm 148:7
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
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