Daily Devotional – December 29

Biology

Did you know that sea turtles have a built-in compass? Magnetic compasses are important for navigation; they enable people to tell directions by using Earth’s magnetic field. Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) must stay within the North Atlantic Gyre, the circular ocean current system that surrounds the Sargasso Sea. Biologists tested these turtles by putting them in water tanks surrounded by electric coils that generated an artificial magnetic field. As they changed the variables, they found that the turtles again and again would swim to where they thought the gyre was.

The conclusion is that these sea turtles use magnetic measurements to stay in the North Atlantic Gyre. Did a compass happen by accident and chance? When you see a compass, you know there must be a compass-maker. God cares for His sea turtles by giving them built-in compasses.

The sea is his, and he made it:….

~ Psalm 95:5

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – December 20

Biology

Today, anthropologists like to classify people into different groups (races) based on their skin color and hair: Caucasoid (Europeans), Mongoloid (Chinese), Negroid, Australoid and Malayan. Yet, skin color is based simply on how much melanin is produced in each skin cell. If a person has a lot of melanin, he will be dark-skinned. If the person does not have much melanin, he will be light-skinned. When a person with lots of melanin (dark-skinned) lives in a northern country that receives little sunshine, he will not be able to absorb much vitamin D and may develop rickets. If a person with little melanin, lightskinned, lives near the equator with lots of sunshine, he may develop skin cancer. As a result, there would be natural thinning of the genetic pool in response to the environment.

During the Ice Age, people groups left the tower of Babel and spread out. People of higher latitudes began to ‘acquire’ light skin while those near the equator ‘acquired’ dark skin. But what about the Eskimo (Inuit) people living in the far north and the people of Central and South America? Why do they have middle-brown skin? Shouldn’t the Eskimos be light-skinned and the South Americans living on the equator be dark-skinned? These people groups moved out from the Tower of Babel and simply lacked the gene for lots of melanin (dark skin) that resulted in these American people groups having middlebrown skinned people. The gene pool is more important than the environment; new information cannot be added.

Adam, from whom we are all descended, had the best possible gene pool. Noah and his family were probably middle brown, possessing genes for both dark and light skin. Today, most people are middle brown. In fact, we are all one big extended family!

And [God] hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth .…

~ Acts 17:26

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

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

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

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

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

Daily Devotional – November 29

Biology

You probably know that God created many birds and mammals with incredible parenting skills. But you may be amazed at the effort a tiny amphibian living in the remote forests of Central America takes to ensure its offspring’s survival. Many frog species simply lay their eggs in water and leave the scene. Not so with the strawberry poison dart frog. She lays her eggs on the damp rainforest floor instead of in a pond like most frogs. The father stays vigilant over the fertilized eggs keeping them moist. When a tadpole hatches, it wriggles onto the mother’s back. She hops away, usually looking for the rain-filled part of the bromeliad plant, which holds pools of water. Here she leaves her tadpole in the plant’s pool of water and goes back to fetch her other tadpoles, giving each a piggyback ride to a different pool of water. Daily, she will visit 3-9 tadpoles and feeds each one an unfertilized egg. She cares for her tadpoles, in this manner, for six to eight weeks until they become frogs and can hop out.

How does the tadpole know to hop onto the mom’s back? How does the mom know to give him a piggyback ride to a pool of water? How does the mom remember each place to visit? How does she know to feed them an unfertilized egg? Most frogs just lay their eggs and hop away. If the strawberry poison dart frog had hopped away like other frogs, there would be no more strawberry poison dart frogs; this behavior and all its parts had to happen the first time! God designed this just to show us how creative He could be.

Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

~ Psalm 150:6

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – November 28

Biology

When winter comes, some animals hibernate while others migrate, but have you heard of the Arctic Springtail’s method of surviving the winter? Arctic Springtails are tiny little insects less than 2/10th of an inch long. They spend their spring and summer living in the mossy areas of the Arctic. Once it starts becoming chilly, they start to darken in color and lose massive amounts of water until they shrivel up - looking like a dried, crumpled leaf. They spend the winter dehydrated and dormant. This is called cryoprotective dehydration and is also used by the Antarctic nematode and the Antarctic midge larvae. When the spring warmth returns, the Arctic Springtail rehydrates itself and crawls away as if nothing happened.

Evolutionists believe that the Springtails’ ability to dry out and later rehydrate themselves happened over millions of years. Yet, this simply cannot be true because the Springtails, nematodes, and midge larvae all had to get it right the first time in order to survive the first brutal Arctic winter. God provided this unique hibernation ability from the very beginning.

O Lord, how great are thy works!

~ Psalm 92:5a

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – November 24

Biology

It is often asked how freshwater fish could survive the Flood of Noah’s day when the whole Earth was covered with salt water. We do not know for certain what the salt content was of the Genesis floodwaters; they probably were salty but not as salty as today. One way freshwater fish could have survived in salty water was through the formation of a halocline (or density gradient) within the water layers. Very salty water poured into fresh water can form layers that remain separated indefinitely. The floodwaters could have formed a density gradient with fresh water on top and salt water in a layer below. For example, in 1993, the Great Mississippi Flood flowed into the Gulf of Mexico producing a layer of freshwater that was traceable all the way from the Mississippi River delta to the Florida Keys and a thousand miles up the East Coast.

Another possibility for survival was revealed in an experiment that was done in the 1970s by biologist Arthur Jones for his doctoral research. He hypothesized that “all, or at least most, fish kinds that survived the Flood must be able to survive both sea water and fresh, and much mixing of the two.” In this particular experiment he used a kind of fish called cichlids. His research found that freshwater cichlids not only survived for over two years in pure sea water, but they also “lived and reproduced normally.” Another fish that can survive in both fresh and salty waters is salmon. God created life with the ability to adapt to different environmental situations.

Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein.

~ Psalm 69:34

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

References for this devotional.