Creation Devotional April 25 - Design
Daily Devotional – April 25
Design
It is often stated that belief in God is a “leap of faith.” Yet, the Bible, from the Old Testament (Psalm 19:1-4) to the New Testament (Romans 1:18-23), clearly states that the reality of God’s existence is absolutely apparent to everyone, everywhere -- simply by observing creation. In other words, creation could only exist if a Creator made it.
The September 2013 journal Science describes a set of perfectly formed gears at the base of a lowly 2 mm-long leafhopper nymph. This creature has the ability to jump several inches using a mighty thrust from its hind legs that propels the creature with an acceleration of nearly 400 G (fighter pilots risk blackout if accelerating much past 10 G). This feat would be equivalent to a man accelerating from 0 to 200 mph in less than a second and jumping 400 feet in a single bound!
What makes the leafhopper’s feat even more amazing is that the nerve impulses cannot travel fast enough to allow both legs to push off in a coordinated fashion – meaning that with every hop, the insect should spin out of control. So how did the Creator solve this problem? He added a set of interlocking gears to the base of the leafhopper’s legs so that they are forced to move in exact coordination.2 This design is currently being studied as a prototype for new kinds of high-speed, directional gears. The marvels of the microscopic world and the wonders of God’s creativity never cease. The belief that such a gear could “make itself” via random changes over time is equivalent to believing that a gear could be produced in a machine shop via random hammering of a piece of metal. When we see microscopic gears solving a leafhopper’s leap, we stand in awe of our Creator!
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
~ Psalm 19:1-3
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional April 24 - Design
Daily Devotional – April 24
Design
Have you considered that the winds have weight? Winds move the air, and air has mass. If the air had no mass, then the winds would have no force. This is just what is stated in Job 28:25, “To make the weight for the wind.”
It was once believed that air had no weight. Evangelista Torricelli designed an experiment to test this belief in 1641. He filled a 3 foot glass tube with mercury. He quickly turned it upside down and placed it in a bowl of mercury. The mercury in the tube dropped to 30 inches. Torricelli noticed that when the mercury rose in the tube, there were clear skies. The mercury level decreased as stormy weather approached. Torricelli had invented the barometer, which measured the weight of the air. God told Job of this idea, the “weight for the winds,” some 3500 years earlier. Too many people are trained to think of the Bible as unscientific. The very opposite is true. Whenever God’s Word speaks of science, it is true. In reality, we are just catching up with God.
To make the weight for the winds;
~ Job 28:25
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional April 23 - Biology
Daily Devotional – April 23
Biology
All warm-blooded animals generate heat when running. When we run fast, we get rid of heat by sweating over our entire body. But a dog does not sweat the way humans do. Instead, a dog “pants.” Panting is a process where a dog hangs his tongue out of his open mouth and breaths over his wet tongue. This causes the wet saliva to evaporate – removing heat from the tongue in the process. This cools the tongue’s blood vessels, which carry the cooled blood throughout the body.
A dog’s primary method for regulating its body temperature is by evaporation through panting and sweat glands on its paws. This is a marvelous design. Imagine a dog sweating all over its body on a cold winter day; its coat would be covered with icicles. God had to solve many engineering problems when he created the wide variety of creatures to survive the diverse environments throughout the earth.
[The Lord] will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths:….
~ Micah 4:2
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional April 22 - Biology
Daily Devotional – April 22
Biology
It has been widely repeated, “Dogs are man’s best friend.” This has proven to be true for thousands of years as dogs have benefited mankind with hunting, herding, transportation, protection, and companionship. There are over 300 dog breeds in the world - from Chihuahuas to Great Danes. Most have been bred over the last century! Why is there so much variety within the dog kind?
Part of the key is that most dogs have 78 chromosomes – there are only 48 chromosomes in chimpanzees. Having so many more chromosomes allows dogs to produce many variations within a short amount of time. No new information has been added; existing information has just rearranged in countless ways to produce the breeds we see today. Dog variation can be compared to a kaleidoscope – each turn produces a new pattern, yet the same number of beads remains within the kaleidoscope. Evolution requires new information to be added, but that has never been observed - just variation within the dog kind. And that is exactly what God’s Word says.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, … and it was so.
~ Genesis 1:24
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional April 21 - Geology
Daily Devotional – April 21
Geology
How long does it take to form large mineral formations? In 1903, in the town of Thermopolis, Wyoming, USA, someone drove an iron pipe into the ground, allowing the underground mineral-rich waters to escape. As the warm mineral waters flowed out the top of the pipe, the water evaporated leaving behind a mineral called travertine. The travertine rock mound is now 24 feet tall.
Why does this rock formation, called Teepee Fountain, surprise visitors? Because it did not take millions of years to form. When tourists view cave stalagmites and stalactites, tour guides tell them these rock formations took hundreds of thousands or even millions of years to form. The Teepee Fountain shows us this is not true - it just took the right chemical environment to make this monstrous mound. Rocks can form very rapidly.
Consider the following: At the beginning of the Genesis Flood, the Bible says all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, suggesting huge hot-water geysers erupting mineral-rich waters just like at Thermopolis. These mineral-rich waters would have been mixed with sand, mud, and other sediments during this violent Flood. As the sediments settled out and the waters dried up, the remaining minerals helped bind the sediments together to form the sedimentary rock layers that we see today. It does not take millions of years to form solid rock, just the right conditions.
Towards the end of the Flood ~“ The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained”
~ Genesis 8:2
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional April 20 - Botany
Daily Devotional – April 20
Botany
Have you considered the sawfly larva’s ingenious defense system? This North American and European pest lives in conifers. Conifers aren’t bothered by too many insect pests. That’s because the oils that give pine trees that nice pine scent are poisonous to insects – including the sawfly. Yet, the sawfly larva eats these poisonous pine needles without dying. How does it survive?
As a sawfly larva munches on the poisonous pine needles, he does not digest them immediately. The sawfly larva separates the poisonous oils in the pine needles from the nutritious pulp. These poisonous oils are then stored in two special sacs in his mouth which are lined with a “poison-proof” material. These poisonous oils can then be used as the larva’s defense mechanism. When a bird or spider attacks, the foul-smelling oils are discharged - frightening the enemy away.
How could this complicated defense/storage system have developed gradually over time? How did the sawfly know to build two sacs and line them with a poison-proof coating so that he would not be killed by the poisons? How did the sawfly know this foul-smelling poisonous oil would repel birds and spiders? The sawfly did not know; God knew. God protects even the smallest of His creatures.
Deliver me from mine enemies….
~ Psalm 59:1
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional April 19 - Anatomy
Daily Devotional – April 19
Anatomy
The world’s first artificial stomach was recently developed in Britain at a cost of $1.8 million dollars. It even vomits! The shiny, high-tech box is made of plastics and metal and is built to withstand the corrosive acids and enzymes found inside a real stomach. The two-part model is just a little larger than a desktop computer. Food, stomach acids, and digestive enzymes are poured into the stomach, which mixes them in the first chamber. The artificial stomach attempts to copy real muscle contractions to mix everything up. Software regulates how long food remains in the chamber. Yet, scientists really don’t know how well this lab bench simulator stomach replicates the real thing. A scientist involved with this project admits, “Our knowledge of what actually happens in the gut is still very rudimentary.”
Nevertheless, food companies are interested; one company wants to test its biscuits to see when a particular nutrient is released, and another is interested in how quickly glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream. Even though this stomach took millions of dollars and hundreds of hours to design and build, it still cannot accomplish what our own stomach can do. If it took intelligence to make this artificial stomach, imagine the immense intelligence it took to make our own stomach! Evolutionists would have us believe that our stomach happened by accident and chance. Did this artificial stomach, which is not even as good as our own stomach, happen by accident and chance? I just can’t stomach that idea! When we see a stomach, we know there must be a stomachmaker and that stomach-maker is God!
And Jesus said, “Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly...”
~ Matthew 15:16-17
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional April 18 - Christian Truth
Daily Devotional – April 18
Christian Truth
Mankind has often pondered the question, “What comes after this life?” Do we just simply cease to exist and return to the dust of the earth? Or is there more to our existence than our physical bodies? The Bible is clear that we will be held accountable for our lives after death, “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). It also states, “ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23 emp. added) and “There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10) We will face a holy and just God after death, and this is indeed a scary reality for those who have not accepted the forgiveness offered through the sacrificial death of Jesus. Yet, how do we know there will be a life after death? One answer comes in the most unlikely of places – the book of Job. Before his trials, Job was blessed with wealth, health, and happiness. He had 7 sons, 3 daughters, 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 pairs of oxen, and 500 donkeys (Job 1:2-3). Stricken by disaster, which few men have endured before or since, Job lost everything. He was urged by his wife and closest friends to blame either God or his own sins for his problems - yet Job steadfastly refused to do either. Blaming God would defame the character of God, and Job knew he had not sinned in a way that should have brought such misery upon his life. Yet, it never entered Job’s mind to deny the very existence of God. Job begged to know why such agony had fallen upon him and in the end, God rebuked his antagonists while rewarding Job’s steadfast faithfulness by doubling his losses with 14,000 sheep, 6000 camels, 1000 pairs of oxen, 1000 donkeys, 7 more sons and 3 more daughters (Job 42:12-13). Compare the original list with the final list. Notice that the Lord doubled all of Job’s possessions …except for his children. Why? Because death does not end our existence. Job’s original 7 children did not cease to exist; they had simply stepped through the door we call death and would see Job again (if they were judged righteous). So in reality, by giving Job another 10 children, the Lord also doubled his children. Had he been given 20 more children, it would have been as if the original 10 had ceased to exist, and this is not the case!
He had also seven sons and three daughters.
~ Job 42:13
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional April 17 - Biology
Daily Devotional – April 17
Biology
Did you know that there is a direct connection between bats and the Ebola virus? News reports of the Ebola virus never seem to address the source of the virus. People in the tropical regions where fruit bats live often sell these bats at market for consumption. These bats have been found to serve as natural reservoirs of the Ebola virus. In the Western culture, the eating of bats has never been considered appropriate, but why? Perhaps because both the USA and Western European cultures were established on Judeo-Christian principles.
Bats are listed among food to be avoided and considered as detestable as rats in our culture. Thus, we are spared from many diseases rampant elsewhere. When reading the Scriptures, we find many of our practices (like washing our hands under running water and not touching a dead body), originated from the Bible long before germs were understood. Our forefathers believed God and incorporated many practices from the Bible into their everyday lives, and these practices have been passed down to us. Did our forefathers know the consequences of eating bats? No. But our heavenly Father knew and wanted to protect us.
And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, …and the bat.
~ Leviticus 11:13-19
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
Creation Devotional April 16 - History
Daily Devotional – April 16
History
By studying the effects of recent volcanic eruptions, we can better understand what happened during the Flood of Noah. On April 5, and again on April 10 of 1815, Mount Tambora, the highest peak on a South Pacific Island, literally blew its top - sending a stream of ash upward over 25 miles into the earth’s atmosphere. An ash cloud the size of Australia blackened the sky, dropping ash over 6 feet deep on surrounding islands and creating floating fields of pumice that traveled over 2000 miles. Iceberg-sized chunks of pumice created hazards for ships for years afterwards. Explosive percussions of the mountain’s collapse could be heard on other South Pacific islands located over 1000 miles away as the top two thousand feet of the mountain disappeared in a fiery detonation. This powerful eruption killed over twelve thousand natives who died instantly from the explosion and subsequent tsunamis.
Ultimately though, far more people around the world died, as this one volcano affected the history of our entire planet. Fine volcanic ash from Tambora was ejected far into the earth’s upper atmosphere where it affected weather patterns around the earth for the next year or more. Fiery red and purple sunsets were visible around the globe for several years. In Europe and North America, there were severe storms, excessive rain, and snow that fell far into the summer months of 1816, causing crop failures, food shortages, famine, riots, and political unrest. Mass migrations in search for food occurred as people traveled from Europe to America, and out of New England to the Midwest.
Religious revivals broke out across America as stable communities were transformed into groups of wandering beggars and the worst typhus epidemic in history broke out. 1816 became known as “the year without summer,” and this one volcano changed the history of both individual families and our entire planet in profound ways that are still being studied.
Now imagine the impact of thousands of volcanic eruptions during the Flood of Noah’s time, which were hundreds of times more powerful than this one volcano, accompanied by a world-covering flood that lasted for over a year. Volcanic reverberations would have continued for decades during and after the Flood of Noah. Weather patterns would have been affected for centuries as the world was plunged into an extended Ice Age. The Flood of Noah’s day had a profound effect on our planet. That is why every human culture has a remembrance of this Flood in their ancient traditions.
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
~ Psalm 104:32
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
References for this devotional.
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