Daily Devotional – November 10

Design

One summer, I was hiking in a forest out West and came into a clearing. I was surprised to find a log cabin with a stone fireplace there. The forest ranger had told me this area was uninhabited. “What is this?” I thought. I went inside to investigate. The walls were made of large logs without bark. “Oh,” I see, “a huge bolt of lightning hit the trees and stripped them of their bark.” I’d seen pictures of trees hit by lightning and bark strewn everywhere. Once the trees were debarked, a strong wind must have come down the mountain pass and blown the trees over causing them to come to rest on top of each other - forming the log cabin.

Next, I examined the stone fireplace. No mortar was needed as each stone fit nicely together. Thinking about this, I walked outside and noticed that the nearby river bed had the same rocks. “Oh,” I reasoned, “a big flood must have swept down the river and picked up the rocks.” And because moving water can sort stones, I figured that was how they fit together so nicely to form the stone fireplace. Satisfied with how the log cabin got there, I continued my hike.

What do you think of my story? Is it true that the log cabin made itself? We know that complex structures do not just come about by themselves. It takes an intelligent source. When we see a building, we know there must be a builder; a painting requires a painter; a design requires a designer. Life is too complex to come about by accident and chance. The more we study science, the more we see design - which means there must be a designer, and that Designer is God!

O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing?

~ Psalm 4:2

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – November 9

Microbiology

Scientists have been able to transcribe the human DNA code and lay it out like the letters in a book. With every passing year, they are decoding more of the language in order to gain a better understanding of how our bodies work. Yet, the DNA code is so complex that we may never completely understand the intricacies of its meanings and functions. We have even discovered that the sequence of information can be read forwards and backwards, overlapped to have different functions and meanings, and letters can be turned “on & off” depending on conditions within a cell. This is analogous to a book that can be simultaneously read in English, French, German, and Spanish - and be understandable when read forwards or backwards! Yet, in each different language, the same sequence of letters will have a different understandable meaning. The author of such a book would be celebrated as an incomprehensible, brilliant genius. This is exactly what our limited understanding of the DNA code reveals.

Could this code come about by accident and chance? To believe this code wrote itself by random, one-small-change-at-a-time mutations is to believe in the impossible. We really have no excuse for not believing in and worshipping the Author of Life – Jesus Christ. The very DNA language that God invented is written within every one of our estimated 10 to 35 trillion cells. This DNA language testifies to His existence, genius, and majesty.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

~ Hebrews 12:2

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – November 8

Biology

Every year on hot summer days, the treetops ring with the high pitched sound of an insect called the annual cicada. Its call can be heard more than 400 yards away. The sound you hear is the male calling to the female. They mate and live for only a few weeks. After the eggs hatch, the nymphs drop to the ground, burrow into the soil, and feed on the sap of plant roots until the following year. Then, on hot summer days, they emerge, molt, climb high into a tree, find a mate, and the cycle repeats.

Another type of cicada is called the periodic cicada. The periodic cicadas’ lifecycle is a bit more unusual; they stay underground as nymphs for 17 years (13 years for another species). The 17- year cicadas live in Northeast USA, while the 13-year cicadas live in the Midwest and Southeastern parts of the USA. All of these cicadas emerge from the ground on the same day, either 17 or 13 years after the eggs were laid. Imagine millions of cicadas emerging all at the same time and singing incredibly loudly from the tree tops. Imagine all these insects emerging within a few hours of one another, all timed 17 or 13 years after the eggs were first laid! What a strange and wonderful “alarm clock” built within them that tells millions of nymphs it is time to come out of the ground and mate. How did they get this built-in alarm clock? Clocks do not happen by accident and chance. There had to be a clockmaker, and the cicadas’ clockmaker is God!

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

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Daily Devotional – November 7

Cosmology

Water on the Moon? Scientists were amazed when they analyzed the Apollo Moon rocks from 1969 -1972 and found water within the rocks. They found a significant amount of water chemically bound up inside these Moon rocks. This puzzles evolutionists because all of their models for the origin of the Moon begin 4.5 billion years ago with molten or unconsolidated material. This material would have boiled off any water, which would have evaporated into space, leaving the Moon “bone dry.”

Yet, we have now documented that deep within the Moon there are significant concentrations of water held within tiny volcanic glass beads. The discovery that the Moon is not waterless, but full of water bound up in the volcanic rock, is a mystery to scientists because it does not fit with their idea of the Moon’s origin. The Bible describes the Moon being created on Day 4, about 6000 years ago. So, finding water within Moon rocks is no surprise to those who believe Scripture.

Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night...the fourth day.

~ Genesis 1:16, 19

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – November 6

Biology

Humpback whales, the gentle giants of the deep, are warm-blooded animals. These mammals must maintain a certain body temperature to survive, yet they live continuously in water that can often be ice-cold. These warm-blooded whales must also move between warm, shallow waters and cool, deep waters, which cause them to experience huge temperature differences rapidly. To prevent these mammals from experiencing hypothermia in the cool waters, God gave whales a layer of blubber, which acts like the best winter coat ever designed.

This blubber can be 1½ to 2 feet thick, giving the humpback whale a total of nearly 40,000 pounds of insulating blubber. Think about wearing a huge winter coat outside on a 100oF summer day! You would immediately overheat. So why doesn’t a whale overheat when swimming in warm water? God has solved this problem by building the whale’s fins to act like huge air conditioners. Just like the African elephant with its large ears filled with blood vessels, the whale’s fins contain millions of tiny capillaries that can rapidly either warm or cool the blood. Do we say air conditioners happened by accident and chance, or do we say they were designed? God designed the humpback to survive in both cool and warm ocean waters.

O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions— This great and wide sea, In which are innumerable teeming things, Living things both small and great.

~ Psalm 104:24-25

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – November 5

History

Have you considered that ancient man was intelligent? Archaeologists recently examined some stone tools that were made by Neanderthal man. They found that the Neanderthals had made superglue! The wooden handles were glued to flint knives by birch pitch superglue. This adhesive was made by a dry distillation method that is difficult to reproduce even using modern manufacturing methods.

Smoldering birch bark must be heated to between 644 - 752oF and oxygen must be excluded to keep the resin from bursting into flames. If the temperature were lower than 644oF, the birch resin would not form the glue. If the temperature were above 752oF, it would blacken, form carbon, or burn. Making superglue from birch bark took some know-how! Were the Neanderthals bumbling, primitive cavemen as evolutionists have taught for years? Hardly! God made man intelligent from the beginning.

Tubalcain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: …

~ Genesis 4:22

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

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Daily Devotional – November 4

Geology

Have you considered the origin of caves? Most caves are found in nearly pure limestone layers hundreds of feet thick. To explain the origin of caves, one must first explain where the limestone layers came from, then how the caves came into existence with its magnificent cave wonders.

Here are the three stages:

• First, the deposition of limestone in thick layers
• Second, the carving out of the cavity within the limestone layer
• Third, the “decorating” of the caves (stalactites, stalagmites, etc…)

First, the Flood of Noah’s day laid down these nearly pure layers of precipitated limestone as the “fountains of the deep” (Genesis 7:11) spewed forth enormous quantities of hot, mineral-laden water. Second, at the end of the Flood, enormous tectonic activity took place as, “the mountains rose; the valleys sank down” (Psalm 104:8 NAS). These tectonic activities caused many cracks in the limestone which allowed waters to drain through. In unique, localized areas, these waters were rich in acids from volcanic activity, decaying dead animals, and vegetation from the Flood, and this quickly ate away limestone – rapidly forming the enormous cave tunnels.

Cave decorating occurred during stage three. Cave mineral formations, such as stalagmites, developed from calcium-loaded water draining through the cavities. Just after the Flood, the ground was much wetter, due to the Flood waters and the post- Flood Ice Age. Mineral-rich waters dripped from the cave ceilings and evaporated, leaving behind a variety of cave decorations. Since that time, the water supplies have decreased, and the growth of cave decorations has slowed. When we put on our Biblical glasses, we can see where cave formation and decorations fit; limestone cave formations began with the Flood of Noah’s day some 4400 years ago.

The waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.

~ Psalm 104:6-8

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – November 3

Geology

How do Bible-affirming geologists and evolutionary geologists differ as they interpret the rock layers of the Earth?

Flood geology and evolution have two VERY different ways of looking at the geological column and the fossils. Originally, the geological column explained the Flood of Noah’s time; later, evolutionists changed the meaning.

Scientists routinely find fossilized pollen, spores, and wood from land plants in the Cambrian rock layer (which is at the base of the geological column). Evolutionary geologists are surprised because land plants were not supposed to have evolved until much later in time. Flood geologists are not surprised at finding pollen and spores in the Cambrian layer because the geological column represents the order in which creatures and plants were buried by Noah’s Flood. Spores and pollen can blow from one place to another, but not from one time to another! The Bible’s description of a worldwide flood fits the fossil evidence much better than the evolutionary explanation.

Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

~ Psalm 124:4-5

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – November 2

Biology

A bee has a brain so small you’d need a magnifying glass to see it. This brain, made up of one million neurons (a tiny fraction the size of a human brain) allows this insect to fly, navigate, and pass complex information to other bees.1 Princeton University researchers found bees to be stunningly intelligent.

These researchers wanted to see if bees could find their food source if the food was moved increasingly farther away from the hive. First, the researchers moved their prime food source 150 feet away from the hive. The bees found the food in less than one minute. Next, they moved the food source another 150 feet away in the same direction. Again, the bees took less than a minute to find the food source. They did this two more times, moving it precisely 150 feet each time until it was 600 feet away. Each time, the bees rapidly located the food. But then the astounding happened. While researchers were studying the bees, the bees were studying the researchers!

When the researchers moved the food a fifth time to a location 750 feet away from the hive, they found the bees already at the new location waiting for them! The bees saw the pattern, calculated the next move, anticipated the actions of the researchers, and beat them to the new location!2 Evolutionists believe intelligence evolved by accident and chance over millions of years. The ability of bees to learn quickly, actually shows the hand of the Creator, not accident and chance.

Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.

~ Jeremiah 10:6

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – November 1

Christian Truth

Romans 1:19-26 describes the progressive slide into moral degeneration that any culture experiences once they reject God as creator. Once a creator is denied, people start worshipping (making the object of their adoration) the creation instead of the creator. Romans chapter 1 states that the next step along this path is the distortion of sexuality from its obvious design to a distortion of sexuality in all possible forms. As we look at our degenerating society, the rampant spread of pornography, sexual promiscuity, and homosexuality is everywhere apparent. In the Western world today, this rejection of God has reached such a fantasy level that people have come to believe that they can even change their own sex from male to female (or vice versa) – even though every cell in their body testifies to their actual sex.

Pornography drives this sexual distortion and immorality. Forty million Americans between the ages of 12–60 visit porn sites on a regular basis.2 Not only is pornography widespread (with an estimated $12 billion dollars in 2017 sales), but it is celebrated and promoted as normal by the entertainment media. Yet, there is a deep internal shame experienced by those addicted to pornography. Those caught in the progressively degenerating trap of porn find themselves increasingly obsessed with the habit to the exclusion of healthy relationships and other productive activities. It is no wonder so few have time to ponder the reality of creation and God’s existence.

In one way, porn addiction is like the worst illness of the Old Testament - leprosy. Leprosy was a source of shame and hidden from others as long as possible. Once identified, lepers were cut off from healthy relationships and banished from society. Whether leprosy or porn, the victim struggles with shame. So what is the solution to porn addiction? The starting place is the return to acknowledging that all forms of sexual perversion are sinful - whether premarital sex, adultery, homosexuality, or pornography. Then, return God to the object of your adoration, find a way to hold yourself accountable, and allow God to transform your mind.  An excellent resource to help with this is a small book called Seven Times by Keith Grabill.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

~ Romans 12:2 Biology

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.