Daily Devotional – October 26

Biology

Most animals have a heart to body size that follows a generally linear relationship, that is, the larger the animal, the larger is its heart in proportion. An exception is the horse’s heart that is smaller than expected for such a large animal. Thus, the horse’s small heart has difficulty pumping the required amount of blood throughout the horse’s large body. So, God gave the horse four more pumps to help move the blood around its body. These “pumps” are located in the horse’s hooves.

On the underside of the horse’s hoof is a “v” shaped structure called a “frog.” The frog pumps blood throughout the leg. When a horse steps down, it compresses the frog that pushes up against the blood vessels, squeezing the blood up the leg. When a horse lifts its leg, the blood moves down the leg. Horses have five pumps circulating blood, the heart and four frogs. This makes the horse extremely well designed for traveling long distances with speed, strength, and endurance. When running, the horse needs more blood circulating throughout its muscles, so the four frog pumps provide that. Why didn’t God build a larger heart? Then, it would be operating all the time. God didn’t need to put a huge heart into the horse’s design because he had a better idea. A smaller heart assisted by four, turbocharged, auxiliary pumps located in the hooves of the horse provided the answer! God is a great designer.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

~ Psalm 20:7

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – October 25

Biology

Horses are uniquely made to work alongside of us. One of their unique features are the millions of sweat glands all over their bodies. Most mammals are not like the horse. Most have their sweat glands in their foot pads. Few mammals have sweat glands that cool their entire body. Have you ever seen a sweaty dog? The only animal you will probably ever see dripping with sweat is the horse. Horse sweat is not like human sweat which is clear and watery; horse sweat is white and lathery. Horse sweat contains latherin, a detergent, that enables the sweat to spread rapidly over the horse’s skin and hair. Sweating is like having a built-in air conditioner. As the sweat evaporates, it cools the body. The horse’s ability to sweat allows it to work all day in the heat along with us. Our Creator gave us a unique animal to serve us, and, indeed, horses have worked with mankind throughout the centuries.

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground;

~ Genesis 3:19

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – October 21

Biology

Have you considered how reindeer (caribou) survive in extremely cold climates? Sure, they are the only deer with fur on their noses, but they also eat moss! That’s right, moss. Most animals do not eat moss because it contains little nutritional value, and it is hard to digest. But moss contains a special chemical that keeps fluids (such as reindeer blood) from freezing inside the reindeer. You could say that eating moss is like adding antifreeze to the reindeer’s radiator - keeping these animals from freezing on the coldest of days. Do we say manmade antifreeze happened by accident and chance? Then, why would we say reindeer antifreeze happened by accident and chance?

Make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.

~ Psalm 105:1b-2

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – October 17

Biology

What is one of the most ravenous carnivores in the ocean? Children immediately respond – “A Shark!” But they are wrong. It turns out to be a starfish! A single sea star (or starfish) can devour 12 clams a day.

As the starfish creeps over the ocean floor, it finds its primary food source - bivalves such as oysters and clams. It then crawls on top of the clam, wrapping its arms around each half and pulls. At first, the clam’s muscles keep its shell tightly shut. The starfish’s numerous tube feet, which act like suction cups, keep the pressure on. Slowly, the clam tires and it opens up - just a bit. At that exact instant, the starfish thrusts its stomach (which looks like a parachute) out of its mouth and slips it inside the clam.

The starfish stomach begins to digest a tasty clam meal while inside the clam’s own shell! After eating, the stomach returns with its contents to the starfish. Aren’t you glad that we do not eat our food this way! Imagine eating dinner - you thrust your stomach out of your mouth, onto the table, and digest the food right there! When finished, you would pull your stomach back in. I hope you can stomach one of the most remarkable methods of eating in the world. God loves to show us His creativity!

Great things doeth He, which we cannot comprehend.

~ Job 37:5b

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – October 16

Biology

Sharks are coldblooded animals. These type of creatures take on the surrounding temperature. So So how do great whites, common threshers or shortfin mako sharks keep their internal core temperature some 13-48 Fahrenheit ABOVE the waters in which they swim? These sharks have their own build in heat-exchangers!

The heat created by their muscle activity is moved to vessels that flow by the gills; water can be very cold as it flows by the gills, which extract oxygen. These very small blood vessels make a mesh (rete mirabile) of capillaries causing the heated blood to flow next to the cold (oxygenated) blood. As this happens, heat is exchanged to the incoming cold blood, keeping the shark warm. Now with heated and oxygenated blood, the shark is able to swim in cold waters at high speeds. These sharks have their own built-in countercurrent heat exchangers!

We use heat exchangers in much of our technology - such as refrigeration and air conditioning. Would we say this technology happened accidentally over millions of years? Then why would we say it happened by accident in a shark? God knew sharks would have to swim fast even though some would live in cold waters. To solve the problem, He designed them with heat exchangers.

Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.

~ Psalm 105:2

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – October 14

Biology

One of the most bizarre looking creatures in the world today is the star-nosed mole of North America. It got its name from 22 “tentacles” hanging off its nose. This star-shaped structure is more sensitive to touch than an elephant’s trunk. The star structure contains more than 25,000 projections that send messages via more than 100,000 nerve fibers to the brain. Since the mole lives in total darkness, the star tentacles function very much like our eyes - but use touch instead!

The bottom pair of tentacles has the highest density of nerve endings, acting like our central vision. The other tentacles act like our peripheral vision, allowing the mole to pick up the big picture. The mole uses these 22 tentacles to “scan” the environment with a rapid series of touches, too fast for our eyes even to see. In one laboratory test, a star-nosed mole was able to find five pieces of earthworm in a single second!

Evolutionists believe that these tentacles evolved over time by accident and chance. If the star-nosed mole did not have his tentacles from the beginning, how would he have found his food? If he found his food without his tentacles, why would he have needed to evolve these tentacles? He was already eating! God designed the star-nosed mole from the beginning with its unique “seeing system.”

O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known;

~ Habakkuk 3:2

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – October 12

Biology

Did you realize that baby giraffes wear “baby booties” during birth? A mother giraffe is pregnant with the baby for 15 months. When she is ready to give birth, she does not lie down, but remains standing, and the newborn baby drops six feet to the ground! With such an abrupt entrance, the baby giraffe enters the world.

The baby giraffe needs to arrive in the world immediately prepared to run from lions, hyenas and leopards. This means that the baby giraffe’s hard hooves have to be ready for use at the moment of birth. So, how is the mother protected from the baby’s sharp hooves during the birthing process? God in His wisdom has given the baby giraffe protective gelatin socks that cover the hooves. You could say that God has given the baby giraffe “baby booties” to protect the mother from the baby’s hooves in the birth canal as the baby is being born. As the baby giraffe walks around, the gelatin sloughs off the hooves. Evolution would say these gelatin socks happened by accident and chance over millions of years. This makes me wonder how many giraffe mothers had their insides ripped up by the exposed hooves before some random process covered them with gelatin? God knew what giraffe mothers needed protection, and what the baby giraffes needed to be ready to run immediately after birth, so He created “baby booties” to help them both!

[He] doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.

~ Job 9:10

Daily Devotional – October 10

Biology

There are many different kinds of ants. Some of the most amazing ants are the weaver ants; they live in trees and construct their nests by “weaving” together leaves using larval silk. The ant colony can have hundreds of these soccer-ball-sized nests spanning many tropical trees in Africa, Asia, or Australia. Although they are called weaver ants, they do not actually weave the living leaves, instead they glue them together. Where do they get the glue? From the larvae, the young ones. (An ant goes through 4 stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult).

When the worker ants are building their nest, they grab one leaf and hold the edge of another leaf. During this time, another worker ant brings in a larva which is about to enter into the pupa stage of metamorphosis. Instead of the larva spinning a cocoon, the worker ant squeezes the larva just as we might squeeze a tube of toothpaste, causing sticky silk to come out. The larva is then passed from ant to ant, gluing the leaves together, and thus constructing a secure nest. Evolutionary theory says that slowly over millions of years, the weaver ants evolved this method of sticking leaves together. Question - didn’t ant nests need to be secure right from the beginning? If it did not work the first time, or millionth time, why build a nest in a tree? Weaver ants, just like all ants, work by instinct; they just know how to build a nest. When we see an instinct, we know there must be an instinct maker, and that is God.

There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;

~ Proverbs 30:24-25

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – October 8

Biology

Chameleons are famous for their color-changing ability. Chameleons have highly structured skin. The outer layer of skin is transparent. Beneath the top layer are two layers of skin with red and yellow pigments. Below these are two more layers, one reflecting blue light and the other reflecting white light. Deeper still is a layer of dark brown pigment. The color change happens when the pigment cells at any particular layer expand or contract. For example, when a chameleon is calm, and the skin is not excited, the yellow pigments are partly contracted - letting the reflected blue light through (blue and yellow make the chameleon appear green). When a chameleon is angry, he may turn yellow because the yellow pigments expand (blocking the blue light from reflecting through).

Chameleons can show a dazzling display of reds, pinks, yellow, blues, greens, and browns. Their basic color pattern is camouflage green; however, they will change color due to heat, light, and mood. The brain sends a signal to the pigments to contract or expand causing the chameleon to change color in about 20 seconds. This system of changing colors is extraordinarily complex! The more we study creation, the more we find amazing complexities that point to a Master Designer!

Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.

~ 1 Chronicles 29:11

Daily Devotional – October 5

Biology

Whales have enormous bones. If the oceans were billions of years old and these bones did not disappear, the ocean floor would be littered with whale bones. Fortunately, the oceans are not billions of years old, and God planned ahead with an amazing trash recycling system. Deep within the ocean, there exists an amazing creature commonly known as the “Zombie Worm.” It is apparently called this because its job is to eat dead bones. Its scientific name is Osedax mucofloris, whose literal translation is “bone-eating snot flower.” This “bone-eating snot flower” attaches itself to the bones of dead whales and burrows into them, creating a root system. The remainder of its body is exposed outside the bone, covered with mucus, and looks like a flower. The Zombie worm oozes out an acid which transforms the bone material into edible proteins and collagen molecules. Then, parasites living within the Zombie worm’s body eat this food. The parasites provide a by-product, that feeds the worm. The Zombie worm needs the parasites, and the parasites need the Zombie worm!

Aside from the astonishing fact that an acid-producing, bone dissolving, snot-covered worm exists to dispose of whale bones, one has to ask, how did it survive before it found the parasite (or the parasite found it)? Why did it start producing acid to dissolve bones? Unless everything was in place from the beginning, neither the parasite nor the Zombie worm could have survived. Everything needed for survival of these two separate and distinct creatures had to be in place from the very moment of their creation. God, in his wisdom and creativity, produced such wonders for our amazement and appreciation!

The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.

~ Psalm 145:15

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

References for this devotional.