Daily Devotional – December 26

Design

What causes the wind? Wind is air in motion. It moves from regions of higher pressure to those of lower pressure. The pressure variations are a result of the uneven heating of the Earth by the Sun. Along the equator, more solar radiation is absorbed. The warmed air moves north or south. Wind is constantly stirring up the atmosphere. The wind direction depends on many factors - such as the spin of the Earth, cloud cover, barometric pressure, land topography (mountains and valleys), etc… Without wind, our world would be a hot, stagnant place!

Farmers often put up a weather vane in order to know the wind direction and be prepared. When reading a wind vane, farmers know the arrow points into the wind. A metal image of a rooster is often placed atop a weather vane to allow the wind orientation to be easily seen. Why do many of our wind vanes have a rooster on display? The rooster represents Jesus’ prophecy of Peter’s betrayal - that Peter would deny him three times before the rooster crowed.

In Scripture, the Holy Spirit is compared to wind. How is wind like the Holy Spirit? The wind has no shape or form. It is invisible and mysterious, yet its presence is known by its effects - the same as the Holy Spirit. The wind is a powerful force; it cannot be stopped or controlled by anyone, the same as the Holy Spirit. The wind shows great variety, from a gentle soft breeze to hurricane force. In the same way, the Holy Spirit may gently bring a person to know Christ or use a dramatic method (such as an earthquake with the jailer in Acts 16). “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” -John 3:8.

I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

~ Luke 22:34

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – December 13

Design

Scientists have been studying the shark’s skin. When viewed under an electron microscope, the shark’s skin has tiny scales called denticles. The size and position of denticles allow water to flow by quickly, enabling the shark to swim fast. Scientists replicated these denticles on swimsuits. During the 2000 Sydney Olympics, athletes that wore Speedo’s Fastskin (shark suit) swimsuits were able to swim faster, breaking 13 of the 15 world records. Continued research created the LZR Racer (which was named the 2008 “best invention” by TIME Magazine). Michael Phelps wore this suit at the Beijing Olympics - winning eight record-breaking gold medals. Copying the design of shark’s skin for swimsuits at swim meets gives users such an advantage that these types of sharkskin swimsuits are now banned in competition!

Naval designers have also applied this sharkskin design to the bottoms of boats. They are finding that cargo ships use less fuel when they add these denticles to the hulls. Also, scientists noticed that on a shark’s skin, there is not much parasitic growth. Now researchers are testing the concept of applying this design to hospital surfaces in order to resist bacterial growth. All this technology is from studying the Great Designer’s design and copying it!

O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

~ Psalm 104:24

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

Daily Devotional – November 23

Design

How did the seahorse get its square tail? That’s right; a seahorse has a unique tail - it is square, not round. Almost all animal tails have circular or oval cross-sections, but not the seahorse! This square cross-section tail allows the seahorse to grip better than if it had curved sections. When examining the tail, notice how it is made up of about 36 square segments that become smaller in size along the tail length.

A 3D printer duplicated the tail, and when the tail was submitted to crushing tests, it was found to provide better crush resistance than a cylindrical tail. Today’s scientists are doing more research on the seahorse tail in order to develop new robotic systems. Scientists are just copying the Master Designer, God!

Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised….

~ Psalm 96:3-4

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

References for this devotional.

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 – October 18

Design

When we look at any object, how do we know whether it is designed by intelligence or the product of natural forces? How can we KNOW whether or not a living organism is the result of natural forces or intelligent design?

For that matter, how can we scientifically prove whether any complex object, such as an airplane, is the product of intelligent design or chance occurrences? Very few people have ever seen an airplane constructed, so how can we know it did not make itself? This may seem like a silly question, but there is actually a very simple way to know the truth. A passenger jet is capable of flight yet is made from thousands of complex parts that –

• Do not occur naturally • Have individual components incapable of flight
• All have to be present and arranged in specific positions to allow flight to take place

Thus, an airplane could not have made itself. It is absolutely obvious that an airplane was designed, constructed, and assembled by an intelligent source for the purpose of flight. In the same way, a living cell is made up of millions of non-living parts that –

• Do not occur naturally outside of a cell
• Are not themselves alive
• All have to be present in specific locations in order for the cell to be alive

The simplest living cell far exceeds the complexity of a jet airplane because a cell can reproduce an exact copy of itself – no manmade machine is capable of this feat. Both the airplane and cell were designed by intelligence. The airplane by man’s intelligence, the cell by God’s intelligence!

The glory of the Lord shall endure forever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works.

~ Psalm 104:31

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – October 6

Design

Imagine a vase for flowers. Where did it come from? Of course, you would say that someone made it, but how do you know? Did you see someone making it? How do you know the vase had a maker? Even though you did not see someone making the vase, you can see skill and design. Even though a vase is a simple structure, it still reveals design that could not have come about by accidental change or chance over time. Someone must have made the vase. Why did she make it? Perhaps it was so she could enjoy the flowers she just received.

Now, let’s consider the flowers in the vase. A plant that grows flowers is unbelievably complex! A plant cell is far greater in complexity than any machine mankind has ever made. Photosynthesis alone is astonishingly complex; we are still not capable of unlocking the secrets of how it really works. How is it logical to say that a vase was made by someone but not the flowers? Flowers show so much design that they must have come from the mind of a super intelligent creator. That Creator is God!

Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

~ Luke 12:27

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – September 22

Design

Moles are made for life underground. They are one of the most efficient excavating mammals on the planet - spending their entire lives digging underground tunnels. Tunnels near the surface are used for searching for earthworms, grubs and insects while deeper tunnels (10 feet deep) are used for living areas. Moles have voracious appetites and eat an equivalent of their body weight each day.

These animals are perfectly designed for digging with the following characteristics:

• Compact bodies
• Large front paws with broad, sharp, hard claws that face backwards, so they can dig with breast-stroke style motion • Short, stubby tail that can be used as a lever
• Cone-shaped muzzle for probing insects in the dirt
• An ultra-sensitive nose to help find insects
• Velvety, thick fur that stands straight up, allowing the fur to move in any direction without rubbing the wrong way and trapping dirt within the velvety coat
• Small eyes that can be covered with thin skin while digging
• External ears are ridges in the skin covered with fur, preventing dirt from entering the ears
• Nostrils that open sideways, not forward, so dirt doesn’t plug them God created the mole with all these features so that it could be a successful tunnel digger.

And the earth was full of His praise.

~ Habakkuk 3:3b

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – September 10

Design

A common illustration used in biology textbooks shows the forelimb of a bat, bird, dolphin, and human. These forearm bones have a similar design even though the specific parts are completely different in size, shape, and function. This comparison is known as “homologous structures.” It is taught that similar features of different organisms prove that they had a common ancestor. Advanced biology books state that the source of similar structures is the “common gene coding areas” in each embryo’s DNA coding. Yet, this was disproven over 30 years ago. We know that similar structures in different creatures come from completely different genes1 – meaning there is no scientific reason to believe that homologous structures are the result of common origin.

Even more dishonest is the selective use of “similar structures” to support the belief in evolution. The eye of a cephalopod (octopus) is FAR more similar to the human eyeball than the arm of a human is similar to the arm of a bat, bird, or dolphin. Yet nobody thinks there is any close ancestral relationship between an octopus and a human. Thus, quite dissimilar features (like the flipper of a dolphin and the arm of a human) ARE considered proof of evolution while almost exact similarities (like the eye of an octopus and that of a human) ARE NOT considered ancestral relationships. This smacks of a double standard.

The picking and choosing of which features to accept and which features to ignore is evidence that evolution is actually story-telling and not science. Similarity in features, which appear throughout the animal kingdom, is evidence of a common designer. God designed the best from the beginning and just continued using the same design when needed.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

- Isaiah 55:8

Daily Devotional – September 4

Design

If you listen closely, you will realize that birds are extremely skillful musicians. When birds sing, you can hear melody, harmony, and rhythm. Many birds sing in “absolute pitch”, that is, if they sing a song in G major today, the same song will be sung in EXACTLY the G major pitch all other days. There is also evidence that birds can transpose songs from one key to another. Male blackbirds have been observed to sing in matched counter-singing, i.e. each blackbird takes turns singing a tune back to other birds. Some birds even sing a variation on a theme. When human musicians attempt a matching counter-singing, it requires planning, talent, practice, and design.

Some birds sing duets; the African robin performs its duet antiphonally (where 2 birds sing alternate notes in a song). To execute this type of duet requires split second timing! When you hear a bird singing, notice that the songs contain consonsant intervals, which produce a pleasant sound, rather than dissonant intervals. Hermit thrushes have been found to sing the pentatonic scales. Other birds can sing two notes at the same time because of the position of their voice boxes.

Both Mozart and Beethoven recognized birds’ musical abilities and borrowed bird songs as inspiration for their music. Bird songs show evidence of structure and beauty. If evolution was true and songs evolved by accident or chance, then at least half the songs should be grating, irritating, and nonsensical. We do not hear that! The worldwide morning song of birds is known as the “Dawn Chorus” - welcoming in a new day. When we hear beautiful music, we know it has been composed and that there must be a composer. Bird songs are beautiful – take time to listen to what Jesus, the Greatest Composer of all, has composed for our pleasure.

Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD.

~ Psalm 150:6

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – August 25

Design

Scientists have recently unlocked the secret of beautifully color, tropical Indonesian Peacock or Swallowtail (Papilio blumei) butterflies. On their wings are brilliant iridescent bands of bright green. These colors are not produced by pigments but by light bouncing off what looks like the inside of an egg carton (only on the microscopic level). The intensity of colors is produced because there are multiple “eggcarton- shaped” layers alternate with layers of air on a nanostructure level. Scientists have copied the butterfly’s nanostructure design - resulting in the same intense colors being produced.

Now scientists want to bring this butterfly scale technology to market. These artificial structures could be used in paper money or passports to prevent forgery. Scientists have copied what was already present; they recognized a good design when they saw it. The next time you look at your passport, take a look and see if there is a butterfly scale shimmering back at you and think of the ONE who is the real Creator of this technology.

He hath made everything beautiful in his time:

~ Ecclesiastes 3:11a

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

References for this devotional.