Creation Devotional December 11 - Biology
Daily Devotional – December 11
Biology
Corals are actually animals, not plants. Each animal builds a castle around itself and lives in the castle. The animal is actually called a “polyp,” and the castle it makes is the hard structure we call coral. At night, the coral polyp comes out to feed by waving its tentacles to catch microscopic animals. During the day, the coral polyp processes its food with the help of tiny algae called zooxanthellae. (The algae are caught by the coral and live within the coral polyp’s tissue.) This algae uses sunlight in the process of photosynthesis to make sugar. (That is one of the reason’s corals are only found in brightly lit water.) This sugar is then transferred to the coral polyp. The plant (algae) feeds the animal (coral). The coral, in turn, provides the algae with a protective home and carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is what the algae need in order to make food. If the algae is not present within the coral, the corals become fragile and ultimately die. Corals need algae, and the algae need corals. In fact, there is about three times more algal tissue than polyp tissue in a coral colony.
The algae also provide coral with their color. The algae’s chlorophyll mixes with the coral polyp creating the color. When corals lose their algae, zooxanthellae, they become white or bleached. Coral and algae help each other out! How did the coral know that it needed this type of algae, Zooxanthellae, to help it survive? How did it survive originally without it? How could they have evolved independently? Scientists call this symbiotic evolution, but throwing a word at something does not explain how it developed. God created these two to work together for each other’s benefit and to show His glory.
With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King. Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
~ Psalm 98:6-7
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
Creation Devotional December 10 - Botany
Daily Devotional – December 10
Botany
It’s a lazy summer day in the cornfields of Iowa; yet, an all-out war is taking place.
Into the cornfield comes a caterpillar with a voracious appetite for corn leaves. As the caterpillar munches on corn leaf after corn leaf, what’s a corn plant to do? The damaged corn plant releases volatile chemical compounds, that send a message warning the other corn plants to activate their own defense genes. A different volatile chemical attracts parasitoid wasps to the corn plant, where the caterpillar is eating. The parasitoid wasp lays its eggs under the caterpillar’s skin. The eggs hatch and the larvae eat the caterpillar from the inside out. If the corn leaf is damaged by wind or hail, does the plant still release these signals? No. The corn plant only cries for help when the caterpillar’s saliva is recognized; false alarms do not happen!
It is the caterpillar’s saliva plus the wounding of the plant that starts what scientists call a signal transduction pathway in the corn. This complex process results in the making and releasing of volatile chemicals crying for help. Was this battle in the cornfield taking place before man sinned? Is this what God calls “very good” at the end of Creation week? No. It was not always like this. Like so many predator/prey relationships, it reveals the tragic consequences of man’s sin. God the Creator equipped each organism with the necessary ability to adapt to sin’s consequences - which affected everything in the universe.
According to Scripture, plants are not “alive” in the same way as people and animals. In the beginning, plants were created as food. Creation scientists speculate that originally wasps may have laid their eggs in protein-rich plants and not in the caterpillars. After the Fall, everything deteriorated. Wasps needed more protein-rich sources (like caterpillars) and alternative defense mechanisms arose. Sin’s consequences affects EVERYTHING!
Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.
~ Genesis 3:17-18
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
Creation Devotional December 9 - Anatomy
Daily Devotional – December 9
Anatomy
Have you ever heard of the term “brainwaves”? Before the 1900s, nobody had ever considered the possibility that such a thing existed, let alone that these waves could be detected or measured. But in 1933, a scientist named Alfred Loomis attached electrodes to his own and other family members’ heads and invented a machine to magnify and record the electrical signals that he detected coming from the brain. This discovery was the basis for the invention of the electroencephalograph (EEG), an instrument still used today to detect abnormalities related to electrical activity of the brain.
Loomis discovered that there were different patterns of electrical activity when we are sleeping, dreaming, awake, or emotionally excited. He also discovered that the mind responds to words and sounds even when deeply asleep. Our brain’s pattern of electrical signals repeats in a very periodic, wavelike pattern. This observation solved a mystery that had been noted for centuries. Why could some people look at a clock before going to sleep, decide to wake up at a given time, and then wake up within seconds of that time without an alarm clock?
Since our sleeping brain produces waves in a perfectly repeatable, periodic pattern, it literally can act as a clock to wake us at the exact moment desired by keeping track of the number of waves that pass from the moment it drops into subconscious sleep! The human brain is truly a marvelous organ, which we have barely begun to understand - even 80 years after the invention of the EEG.
yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night.
- Ecclesiastes 2:23
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
Creation Devotional December 8 - Biology
Daily Devotional – December 8
Biology
Giraffes have many unique features. They can tower up to 18 feet above the ground. Have you ever wondered how it keeps its 500 pound neck upright? The giraffe has a very long ligament called the nuchal ligament that runs from the back of the skull all the way down to the base of its tail. This ligament acts like a giant rubber band pulling the head and neck into its upright position.
Another unique feature is the design of the patches. Giraffes can become overheated in the African savannas. How do they regulate their temperature? Those irregular, brown patches help to regulate their temperature. Each patch has a large blood vessel around its border that branches off into smaller blood vessels into the patch. To release heat, a giraffe sends blood to the smaller branches in the middle of the patch - thereby radiating the heat away from its body. If the giraffe is too cold, the blood is not sent into these blood vessels.
Giraffes are uniquely designed animals that possess a myriad of specialized design features. It is easy to see the power and creativity of God when looking at a giraffe.
Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
~ Job 21:22
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
Creation Devotional December 7 - Biology
Daily Devotional – December 7
Biology
Have you considered the giraffe’s tongue? This 18-inch-long tongue is so agile that it is able to flick individual ants from an acacia tree leaf. Acacia leaves are the giraffe’s main food, but stinging, biting ants that live on the acacia tree try to stop the giraffe from eating the leaves. Giraffes are large animals that can reach 18 feet in height, and it takes lots of food to keep this animal alive. A giraffe can eat up to 75 pounds of acacia leaves in a single day. But biting ants aren’t the only hazard with which the giraffe has to deal. Acacia trees have thorns or spikes - many longer than one of your fingers! What if one of these spikes happens to get in with the leaves and is swallowed? You can imagine a fish bone stuck in your throat; now imagine a 4-inch-long thorn stuck in the ten-foot-long throat of a giraffe!
The giraffe’s Creator has taken care of that by designing thick saliva to cover the spike - allowing it to slide down the throat without getting stuck. The thorns are coated so thickly that they exit the giraffe in the same condition they entered without any harm to the digestive system. This thick saliva had to be present from the beginning, or the first giraffes would have gotten thorns stuck in their throats – driving them to extinction. Evolution would have us believe that this thick saliva happened by accident and chance over millions of years. If this is true, would we have any giraffes left? God knew what giraffes would experience and provided the solution. If God cares about a giraffe’s saliva, think how much more He cares for you.
With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
~ Job 12:13
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
Creation Devotional December 6 - History
Daily Devotional – December 6
History
Scientists agree that James Clerk Maxwell’s (1831-1879) greatest contribution to science was his brilliant 913 page treatise on the mathematical unification of electricity with magnetism. This forever changed the world of physics and is the foundation of radio transmissions, television, computers, space travel, and all modern electronics. Maxwell stands at the forefront of the most brilliant scientists who ever lived, and his legacy is the modern world we all enjoy. Some physicists have shown that even atoms can be explained as the result of the movement of charges and that matter itself is really an electrical simulation – all based on Maxwell’s equations.
Although Maxwell lived a short 48 years, he was also responsible for mathematically explaining Saturn’s rings as a massive cloud of particles. He made major contributions to the fields of statistics, astronomy, gas theory, color theory (producing the first color photograph), and thermodynamics. As a contemporary to Charles Darwin, Maxwell soundly rejected naturalistic explanations for life stating, “No theory of evolution can be formed to account for the singularity of molecules, for evolution necessarily implies continuous change…” A prayer written by Maxwell stated, “Almighty God, who has created man in Thine own image, and made him a living soul that he might seek after Thee and have dominion over Thy creatures, teach us to study the works of Thy hands…”
A deeply sincere follower of Jesus Christ, Maxwell used his faith as the foundation from which he made his great discoveries. Do not be deceived that belief in creation is a detriment to scientific advancement … the very opposite is true. Maxwell had this verse inscribed upon the entrance to his science laboratory at Cambridge University:
The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
~ Psalm 111:2
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
Creation Devotional December 5 - Biology
Daily Devotional – December 5
Biology
Did you know that shrimp have some of the most amazing eyes in the animal kingdom? Mantis shrimp have photoreceptors capable of receiving 16 different wavelengths of light. Humans only have 3 photoreceptors (red, green, and blue), which we combine to see all the visible colors. One can only imagine the fantastic visual experience possible with 16 photoreceptors! Besides this, mantis shrimp see UV, heat (infra-red), and polarized light. In fact, they can also detect circular polarized light.
Furthermore, each of its two compound eyes can perceive depth and move independently. These eyes are being studied in hopes of producing better DVD players. Some scientists now specialize in a new field of study called biomimicry. In essence, human designers are simply copying ideas from the Master Designer. God is the one who made the heavens, the Earth, the seas and all that is in them. There is an infinite amount to learn from Him.
Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast.
~ Psalm 36:5,6
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
Creation Devotional December 4 - Biblical Accuracy
Daily Devotional – December 4
Biblical Accuracy
Tracing the DNA lineage of all humans back to an original source has revealed that all humans originally came from a single woman and single man.1 This is no surprise to Christians, who were told this thousands of years ago in the first chapters of the Bible. It has just taken modern science 6000 years to catch up with what God has told us in the Bible. But we have also traced the lineage of other creatures. For instance, DNA testing has now revealed that all living goats, are descended from five original female goats and all living sheep are descended from three or four original females. Why multiple pairs and not one original goat or sheep pair? Once again, the Bible provides the answer.
Noah was told to take seven pairs of each type of “clean” animal on board the ark. Some of these animals were subsequently used for sacrifice. All the sheep and goats in the world today have descended from the remaining animals. The DNA test results exactly match what would be expected if the Bible and the worldwide Flood are accurate. God’s word is always true!
Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female…And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
~ Genesis 7:2a & 8:20
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
Creation Devotional December 3 - Biology
Daily Devotional – December 3
Biology
The North African desert scorpion is continually exposed to sandstorms. These same sandstorms can sandblast paint right off steel. So, how is the scorpion’s exoskeleton able to withstand such abuse?
Curious scientists discovered that the scorpion’s exoskeleton is not smooth but covered with tiny domes only 10 micron high. Computer simulations reveal that these domes deflect the airflow, reducing the sandblasting force by 50 % when compared to a smooth surface. Scientists are now applying this bumpy technology to turbine blades and helicopter rotors to increase their life. These design engineers are just copying what God has already designed.
As one great scientist, Johannes Kepler, once stated, “We are just thinking God’s thoughts after Him.”
I am the Lord that maketh all things…
~ Isaiah 44:24
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
Creation Devotional December 2 - Geology
Daily Devotional – December 2
Geology
Diamonds are valuable because they are rare. Diamonds are rare because they formed almost 90 miles below the surface of the Earth and were only thrust up to the surface in a few localized areas. But when did this release of these beautiful gemstones occur? One of the clues is the relatively unstable nature of the carbon structure that created the diamonds.
Diamonds are made from pure carbon, but they are dazzlingly clear - unlike black carbon that makes up coal, or the grey form of carbon, called graphite (used in pencils). Although diamonds are the hardest known naturally occurring mineral, they are both brittle (easily fractured along their crystalline lines) and unstable. Temperatures and pressures slightly below and above where they form cause diamonds to rapidly degenerate to a softer and more stable form of carbon known as graphite. Thus, it is believed that diamonds could only have formed about 90 miles below the Earth’s surface where the temperature is between 900 degrees Celsius – 1200 degrees Celsius (~1,650 degrees Fahrenheit - 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit) and the pressure is just right for the diamond crystal structure to form. IF it took years (or even days) for these diamonds to travel to the surface of the Earth, they would have passed through a zone where the temperature and pressure would have forced the diamond structure to revert into a more stable graphite structure. But they did not revert and made it to the Earth’s surface as diamonds. Thus, most experts accept that diamonds must have been explosively spewed from 90 miles below to the Earth’s surface within a matter of 7-20 hours. What event in history would cause this to happen?
During Noah’s Flood, the Bible states that “all the fountains of the deep broke up” (Genesis 7:11). This was a unique one-time event, and nothing like it has happened before or since. For diamonds to be carried rapidly to the surface, molten blobs of lava rock from the mantle of the Earth needed to burst through the rock layers of the Earth. This molten mantle material called kimberlite would have had to burst from sources starting 125 miles below the surface of the Earth and travel all the way to the Earth’s surface through chimney-like pipes. The process carried diamonds with it as the molten rock passed the 90 mile “diamond-making” depth. We do not see this happening today; today’s volcanoes spew lava slowly from depths much closer to the surface. It is in these kimberlite crater areas (primarily at specific locations in southern/central Africa, Canada, Siberia, Australia, and Brazil) where modern diamond hunters seek their fortunes. It was the fracturing of the Earth during Noah’s Flood that made it possible for us to enjoy the beauty of the diamond. In fact, every woman wearing a diamond can use it as a witnessing tool. Diamonds were formed at the diamond-making depth and then thrust upward with the magma in the kimberlite pipes in a matter of hours during the violent upheaval of the Flood of Noah’s time. How diamonds are made proclaim that the biblical Flood is truth!
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up,.…
~ Genesis 7:11
Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett
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