Daily Devotional – May 11

Biblical Accuracy

Did you know that pterosaurs are mentioned in the Bible? Not by the modern scientific name but as “fiery flying serpents” (Isaiah 14:29, 30:6). Also in Numbers 21, as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, they encountered “fiery serpents” (21:6, 8). Some modern commentators suggest these were venomous snakes. The Hebrew words used to describe them, however, include the verb, uph, which means to fly or flutter, that is “flying serpent”. These creatures most likely were pterosaurs with venomous bites and brilliant scales that appeared “fiery”.

Notice in Numbers 21:9 and John 3:14, this creature was put on a pole. At this time, because of their disobedience, the people of Israel were plagued with poisonous flying serpents. God told Moses to have the people raise a symbol of this serpent up on a pole in the midst of the camp in order to protect them. But neither the Old nor New Testaments, in their original language, use the word “snake” to describe what is being put on the pole. The poisonous reptiles that attacked and killed the Israelites flew. Today’s translations assume these creatures were venomous snakes, but why could the people not have escaped from slithering snakes? Also, a snake, from Genesis to Revelation, has been used as a symbol of Satan. Why would people look to a symbol of Satan to be saved? A much better explanation would be the now extinct pterosaur being hoisted up a pole with its wings spread out. This would have formed the shape of a cross! This was a foreshadowing of the final salvation coming to mankind – Jesus Christ dying on a cross.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.

~ John 3:14

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

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Daily Devotional – May 10

Biology

Sponges are peculiar animals. They have no heart, lungs, stomach, or nerves. They are like a hollow sac with a large opening opposite its base. They are filter feeders. Most sponges eat tiny, floating particles and plankton, which they filter through their pores. Cleaner water is released out of the top of the sponge. Sponges act as super-filters cleaning the ocean of its bacteria, algae, filth, and debris. A full grown sponge can filter the equivalent of a bathtub full of water in only one hour!

Evolutionary biologists like to refer to the 4,000 species of sponges as “simple animals.” But is this really a simple animal? An experiment was done in which the sponge tissue was pressed through a fine mesh; this broke the sponge into individual cells. Amazingly, the sponge cells rejoined, forming a whole sponge! Don’t try this with the cells of your body – you won’t come back together like this “simple” creature!

You can even make a “mixed sponge smoothie”, blending together the cells of different species of sponges. Each cell, from each species, will find similar cells and reconnect! Simple? Hardly! Creative ingenuity by the Creator, yes!

Remember his marvelous works that he hath done;…

~ Psalm 105:5

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

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Daily Devotional – May 9

Design

Imagine a box. How did it come about? Evolution? Let’s examine this possibility.

Billions of years ago, there was a tree that fell down into water. The tree became very mushy. Many animals walked through this water stirring up the shredded tree and water. Later, the water dried up leaving a mat of shredded “paper.” The wind soon picked up this paper and folded it into corrugated cardboard - each dip and ridge was nicely lined up. Then the wind folded the corrugated paper into a four-sided box with a top and bottom. Of course, glue was needed, so it came flying through the air at the right moment and hit the right parts of the box to glue it together. As time passed, black paint fell from the sky and formed the word “Amazon” on the side of the box. Is this true? Of course not! We know when we see a box, there must be a box maker.

In the same way, the ear has many parts. Sound enters through the eardrum - a tough, tightly-stretched membrane. The airwaves move the surface of the eardrum like a beating drum. The sound is transferred to three tiny bones; the anvil, hammer, and stirrup. These tiny bones amplify the sound 22 times, and they pass the amplified sound into the inner ear via an oval window. In the inner ear is the cochlea, whose twisting exterior looks like a snail shell. In this twisting, fluid-filled cavern are thousands of microscopic hair-like nerve cells, each tuned to a particular vibration. If a middle C has been sounded, then the cochlear middle C hair cells vibrate. These vibrations then make a wisp of electricity that feeds into an auditory nerve that leads to the brain where the electric signal is interpreted as a sound. The ear is FAR more complex than a box!

Each part of the ear had to be in its proper place and fully functioning - right from the beginning in order for us to hear. A hearing ear could not happen by chance, just like a box could not happen by accident. When we see an ear, we know there must be an ear-Maker, and that ear-Maker is God.

The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.

~ Proverbs 20:12

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – May 8

Microbiology

We would not have chocolate if macroevolution was true.

Chocolate comes from the seeds of the cacao plant, but in order to make these seeds, the cacao flower must be pollinated by the tiny chocolate midge. This pinhead-sized “fly” is the only known insect that can work its way into the intricate cacao flower. According to evolutionary theory, flowers developed long before pollinator insects existed. Yet, without insects to carry pollen from plant to plant, there would be no fruits, seeds, or chocolate. Of course, insects do not know they are pollinating; the pollen just happens to stick to them as they move from flower to flower. Often it is the flower’s beauty or the flower’s smell that attracts the insects.

Evolutionists theorize that flowers started out drab and had no fragrances. Apparently, these early, boring plants studied the surrounding insects and then engineered their flowers to attract the insect in order for pollination to take place. Does this make sense? How did they get pollinated before the insects appeared? This “theory” simply cannot be true!

Flowers would need to be pollinated from the very beginning - if not, they would most likely go extinct. Flowers were designed with beauty and fragrance from the beginning to attract pollinators. Just as God’s Word says, He made flowers, which are plants, on day 3 of creation week and pollinators (flying creatures such as insects) on day 4. Chocolate testifies to a Creator - not to evolution.

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

~ Genesis 1:29

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – May 7

Biology

Did you know that one species of ants herds aphids? These dairy ants protect aphids in order to “milk” them for food. A common type of dairy ant is the cornfield ant. Before winter arrives, these ants collect corn-root aphid eggs and store them in their tunnels. In the spring, these aphid eggs hatch, and the ants herd the young aphids to the roots of young wild plants while they wait for the fields’ corn seeds to germinate. Once the corn germinates, the ants herd the aphids to the corn roots, so the aphids can feed on them. If the weather is bad, the ants carry the aphids underground for protection. When an ant wants a drink, she will stroke the aphid with her antennae causing a sweet liquid called honeydew to be secreted from the aphid. The ant is “milking” the aphid. The aphids benefit by being protected by the ants, and the ants benefit by receiving honeydew from the aphids. Both ant and aphid benefit from this relationship; this is called symbiosis. How did this relationship come about? They needed each other to survive. God’s fingerprints are even over the tiniest creatures of His creation.

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised….

~ Psalm 48:1

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – May 6

Cosmology

We do not have an ordinary sun. It is brighter than 85% of all stars and has more mass than 90% of all stars. Of all stars, 75% are red dwarfs, having less than 5% of the light output of the sun. If our sun were a red dwarf, earth would have to be closer to receive its warmth. If it were that close, it would become locked in position - causing one side of the planet to always be dark - resulting in no life. Red dwarfs also frequently have violent flares, so much so that red dwarfs are nicknamed “flare stars.” The remaining stars that aren’t red dwarfs are unstable and would expel too much radiation to support life on any planet orbiting close enough to support life. Our sun is a class G star. More than half of these are binary or multiple systems which would again not provide a stable climate for earth. Essentially, all of the stars we know the most about in the universe are smaller, cooler, dimmer, unstable, or part of a binary system.

Our sun is amazingly stable. For example, EV Larcertae is a red dwarf that has 1% of the sun’s light output, but it had a mega-flare 1,000 times brighter than the sun. If earth were near this red dwarf, our atmosphere would have been stripped off and everything fried because of these flares. Scientists are beginning to observe that super-flares on typical stars happen once every century. These scientists question why our sun hasn’t experienced super-flares in all of recorded history. Our sun is quiet, calm, and stable. One 30 year study found the sun’s energy varied only .06%. Our sun is no ordinary star but; it is perfectly designed to sustain life on earth. This is no accident.

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.

~ Psalm 113:3

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – May 5

Biology

The wombat is one of Australia’s many unique creatures that is found nowhere else on earth. This animal is a marsupial - meaning it has a pouch in which prematurely born young finish their development. Having a pouch is great if you are a kangaroo - but a wombat is a burrowing animal. If the pouch opened toward the mom’s head, the pouch would quickly fill with dirt. So the wombat’s pouch faces backwards; it opens towards the mother’s hind legs. Now, where did this unique animal come from? There are only two possibilities – creation or evolution. Either the wombat was created, fully formed and fully functional, or it evolved. Our schools teach, as a fact that something that wasn’t a wombat turned into the wombat. But how could this happen?

Evolutionists believe that the pouches of marsupials all started like the kangaroos, and through millions of years the wombat’s pouch “evolved” to face backward. Let’s try to imagine this process. First, you have a forward facing pouch in a creature that decides to burrow into the earth. Its pouch kept filling with dirt. Its babies kept dying. Then, one is born with a sideways facing pouch. Now, the baby can’t reach the milk glands. Its babies kept dying. Then finally, the pouch faces backwards! But millions of years would have passed, so how could this poor creature survive the slow process of evolving; many baby wombats would have died in the process. It is clear, God created the wombat’s pouch to be “backwards” from the very beginning.

Sing to the Lord, for He hath done excellent things; this is known in all the earth.

~ Isaiah 12: 5

Daily Devotional – May 4

History

Have you considered that the primary motivation leading to the development of the scientific method was the sinfulness of man! Sixteenth century Reformers acknowledged man’s depravity and therefore understood that even his ability to reason could not be trusted to determine truth. Because of man’s sinfulness, he has an inclination toward twisting things for his own purposes. So, science needed repeatable experimentation if its conclusions were to be accurate.

The Reformers also took seriously the command that man was to have dominion over creation, which meant he needed to study and understand it. These two ideas, man’s sinfulness and dominion, birthed the scientific revolution, which produced the founders of the various branches of science. These Bible-believing scientists included:

• Sir Isaac Newton - physics, optics, invention of calculus

• Joseph Lister - antiseptic surgery

• Johannes Kepler - celestial mechanics

• Louis Pasteur - bacteriology

• Michael Faraday - electromagnetism

• James Maxwell - electromagnetic equations

• Lord Kelvin - thermodynamics

• and MANY others

These men were “Thinking God’s thoughts after Him” to produce much of the technology we have today.

Sadly, much of “modern science” has returned to biased opinion over observation. As D.J. Kennedy has said in his book, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born, “It is interesting to note that science could not originate in the philosophical view prevalent in the world today. The prevailing philosophy of the Western world today is existentialism, which is irrational.”

We move away from true science, founded on the understanding that creation exists because we have a Creator, to our detriment!

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion… over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

~ Genesis 1:28

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – May 3

Geology

One of the most famous places to view petrified wood is at Specimen Ridge’s “Petrified Forest” in Yellowstone National Park. There, 63 rock layers contain vertical, petrified trees. It has been historically taught that a forest grew at each layer and were petrified in growth position—with each forest growing up and being buried by a volcanic eruption; then a new forest grew and was buried, and so on. For almost 100 years these layers were interpreted as having been laid down over hundreds of thousands of years. Yet, the facts point to a different explanation:

1. Petrified tree rings from different layers were examined and found to match each other, indicating the petrified trees lived at the same time.
2. Petrified trees did not have any root balls; they looked as if they were broken off abruptly.
3. There were no true soils between any of the 63 layers, only debris that was undecayed. True soils would show gradations of decay.
4. Mixed throughout the layers were tropical vegetation (brought in by the Flood waters.)
5. Mineral content from the volcanic eruptions were the same. If each layer was buried under a different volcanic episode, the mineral content would be different. Yet throughout the layers, the mineral content was the same, indicating one super volcanic episode within a short period of time.

A better explanation would be a world-wide Flood. Trees were ripped by their roots and transported to this area. During the Flood they became waterlogged and sank vertically to the bottom of the water; eventually becoming covered with sediment. Yellowstone’s Petrified Forest testifies to the Flood during Noah’s time, not to huge periods of time upon the earth.

the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

~ Genesis 7:11-12

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – May 2

Biology

What is faster than a speeding bullet, can break aquarium glass with a single punch, and draw blood from a human finger? A five-inch peacock mantis shrimp.

In the wild, peacock mantis shrimp eat foods such as clams, snails, and crabs - all of which have tough shells. With one swift knock-out punch, reaching the speed of a 22-caliber bullet, the shrimp shatters these shells and has a tasty lunch. How did the peacock mantis shrimp’s “club” become so powerful that it can even shatter aquarium glass? It’s all in the design.

The “club” has three layers. The outer layer is rich with minerals; the middle layer is composed of chitin with minerals dispersed within it; the inner layer has chitin fibers oriented in the opposite direction. The “club” is lightweight, stiff, tough, shock-resistant, and impact-tolerant. Today, researchers are studying the peacock mantis shrimp’s “club” in an effort to develop better body armor for soldiers. These scientists recognize a good “knock-out punch” when they see it! Let’s hope they also recognize the designer, Jesus Christ.

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,...

~ Habakkuk 2:14

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

References for this devotional.