Daily Devotional – July 31

Christian Truth

America is exactly paralleling the downward moral slide explained in Romans 1:18-32.

This passage expresses God’s displeasure at any who “suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18 NKJV) about His existence and character. It states that it is creation that testifies to these things in an absolutely obvious way. In other words, creation can never be explained without our Creator. Yet, mankind accelerated down the path of trying to explain the origin of the universe and life without God about 200 years ago. In order to maintain this fantasy, only Darwin’s evolutionary view of origins is shown to students while the evidence for creation is suppressed.

The second stage of downward deterioration began after the Scopes “Monkey Trial” in 1925 as evolution moved toward becoming the only explanation for life being taught in our schools. Over several generations, this idea became the only framework through which teachers filtered their thinking about all of reality. The foolishness of believing that everything could make itself (without God) became accepted by the majority, “their foolish hearts were darkened…and professing to be wise they became fools” (Romans 1:21, 22 NKJV). God has defined foolishness in Psalm 14:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God....” Our education system is literally filled with people professing to be wise, yet they seem incapable of seeing the obvious - that life has a designer.

The third stage of deterioration occurred in the 1960s. Humans were created to worship, and once they reject the worship of their Creator, the creation itself becomes the center of their adoration. The radical environmental movement, starting in the 1960s, has at its core a spirit of “creation worship.” Symptoms abound inside and outside the Christian community: valuing eagle eggs and African lions far above aborted human babies and unfounded hysteria over global climate change. “[People] exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.” (Romans 1:25 NIV)

The fourth stage is actually a judgment of God upon our willful rebellion as he withdraws restraint upon our sinful nature. Whether a human is male or female is locked into every single one of the billions of cells that make up our bodies, and no amount of cross-dressing, hormone treatment, or surgery can change that reality. The ultimate fist-waving in the face of God is to believe that He will determine nothing about our lives, even our sexuality. Yet, “abandoned natural relations…  [men and women] were inflamed with lust for one another....” (Romans 1:26, 27 NIV). Over the last several decades, many countries in the western world have placed homosexual “marriage” on equal footing with Biblical marriage.

During the final stage of rebellion, God gives the culture over to a “depraved mind” and “every kind of wickedness” as people “not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:28-29, 32 NIV). As we look at the list in Romans1:29-31 - envy, murder, deceit, malice, gossip, arrogance, and so on – all are on the rise in America today. Just as in Sodom and Gomorrah, anyone standing against such evil will be persecuted, and ultimately, such a society will be destroyed – either from within or from without.

Notice that the downward slide started with the denial of a Creator. What is the solution? Perhaps part of the answer is sharing with others the evidence for a Creator to whom we are accountable.

that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them…being understood by the things that are made...

~ Romans 1:19, 20

If you love me, keep my commandments.

~ John 14:15

“If no set of moral ideas were truer or better than any other, there would be no sense in preferring civilized morality to savage morality or Christian morality to Nazi morality.”

~ C.S. Lewis, chair of Medieval and Renaissance

Literature at Cambridge University

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – July 30

Paleontology

Snakes alive! A snake that was longer than a school bus (48 feet long) and weighing more than a ton was found in Columbia! It’s twice as long as the largest living Anaconda, but don’t worry, it’s long dead. This fossilized snake was dug out of a coal pit mine along with other giant fossils – turtles with shells twice the size of manhole covers, crocodiles more than 12 feet long, seven-foot long lungfish (2-3 times longer than today), exotic leaves and plants. The fossilized snake, named Titanoboa cerrejonensis is the largest snake ever found. They even dug up the snake’s fragile skull!

Snakes are cold-blooded - meaning their body temperature changes with the outside temperature. Scientists believe such a large snake had to have lived in a rainforest climate to grow so large. The fossil record reveals that before the Flood of Noah’s day creatures could grow quite large and the environment was very different. Grew much larger. Paleontologists have great fun digging up this lost world.

There were giants in the earth in those days....

~ Genesis 6:4

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – July 29

Geology

The Heart Mountain slide is a famous rock layer known to every geology student. Yet, how this happened is a total mystery to secular geologists!

Near the end of Noah’s Flood, an enormous area of sediment broke away from the east side of a volcano near Yellowstone National Park. This one-third mile thick layer of sediment, over 1300 square miles in area, slid across an almost flat surface at an estimated speed of 100 miles per hour! It broke into dozens of huge chunks and settled on top of overlying rock layers (which are assumed to be much “younger”). Thus an extremely “old” layer of rock ended up on top of “younger” rocks. In reality, these layers are all essentially the same age - just laid down and pushed around in  different ways and at different times during the flood of Noah’s day.

This massive rock slide is not a mystery when we put on our biblical glasses. During the Flood of Noah, rapidly deposited sedimentary layers were filled with water, and the weight of these sediments squeezed water out between the layers. Water resistant minerals, such as gypsum, prevented this liquid from rapidly escaping, thus forming a lubricated surface between layers of rock – similar to water trapped between two sheets of Plexiglas. Eventually, the pressure became so great that a slight jiggle from an earthquake caused the entire side of the mountain to slide across the landscape, relocating itself over 30 miles away without disturbing the sequence of layers laid down by the Flood. In addition, the friction caused by the slide generated a super-critical layer of carbon dioxide, a condition where gas gets so hot it acts like a fluid to literally “float” massive blocks of stone, resulting in the rock  layers sliding even further.

Events such as this are a logical consequence of water-filled sediment that was laid down rapidly during the Flood of Noah’s time. The Heart Mountain landslide is a mystery to secular geologists who believe in evolution, but not to those who believe the truth of the Bible. The Heart Mountain slide is clearly a result of the Flood.

[God] removeth the mountains, and they know not:  which overturneth them in his anger.

~ Job 9:5

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – July 28

Design

What are scientists up to now? They are making a “robosnail,” a snail-like robot. Why would a scientist be copying a slimy snail? If you want to build something that moves over all terrains, what better creature to copy? A snail creeps forward on a layer of gooey slime; thicker goo allows it to move faster, while thinner slime offers more resistance. The ten-inch “robosnail” is a mass of gears, wiring and pieces of plastic that creates a series of slow, undulating waves along its rubbery membrane “foot”, which allows it to creep forward slowly. “Robosnail” is only able to move on flat surfaces.

Today, surprisingly, scientists are finding that liquids on a smaller scale behave in a different way. The smaller the scale, the more “sticky” a liquid seems to be. For example, when maple syrup is on a plate and you move your finger back-and-forth, the area covered by the thinnest layer of syrup is the hardest to move through. Scientists still have much to learn. You could say we trail the snail in technology. God knew what He was doing when he designed such a “slick” way of moving.

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name;

~ Psalm 29:2a

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – July 27

Cosmology

A recent paper published in The Astronomical Journal looked at the characteristics of 2,000 “exoplanets” orbiting other stars in our galaxy. Then they extended these results mathematically to other stars in other galaxies throughout the universe. They looked at the habitability characteristics of exoplanet/star systems and ranked the planets in terms of their potential habitability. Then they extended their findings to the estimated 700 quintillion or so exoplanets that may exist in our enormous universe to estimate the odds of finding another life suitable, potentially inhabitable planet (such as Earth). So what was the conclusion of their statistical analysis? The Earth is totally unique and statistically the only planet in the entire universe capable of supporting life!

This conclusion was unexpected and totally destroyed evolutionary assumptions. The authors hedged their finding with all sorts of “apologies” for their conclusions. The paper noted that they may be in error because, “With these kinds of massive and highly hypothetical calculations, what might refine the predictions could be further discoveries about the composition and position of more exoplanets.” The researchers admit that their findings, “may need to be taken with a grain of salt.”

But here are the facts.

1. Based on what we now know and observe, in the entire universe, the Earth is the only planet uniquely designed for, and capable of, supporting life.
2. After SETI (the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelliegence) spent almost 50 years of searching through every wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum coming to Earth from every direction in the universe, there is absolutely no evidence for the existence of any intelligent life outside of Earth.

With every scientific observation, God is making the truth about His existence increasingly apparent.

I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.

~ Isaiah 45:12

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – July 26

History

It is widely and routinely taught in Bible colleges that the Exodus from Egypt never happened. This is one of the most longstanding criticisms of the accuracy of the Old Testament – based on the fact that no Egyptian documents mention the Hebrew slaves and their exodus from Egypt. In addition, the books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) make no mention of specific pharaohs of Egypt. Thus, Bible skeptics assume there was no exodus from Egypt and that the Bible cannot be trusted to mean what it says.

To understand this omission from Egyptian documents, we need to understand the Egyptian culture.

1. The Egyptians were infatuated with the afterlife, and their religious dogma convinced them that if they were forgotten by the living, they lost their immortality in the afterlife. This is why they spent enormous effort to record their names and images on monuments throughout Egypt.
2. Egyptians despised their enemies. To not even mention the names of their enemies was the ultimate in contempt and disrespect.
3. Egyptian hieroglyphics alter and ignore historical events to favor Egyptians. Revisionist history (to fit the viewpoint of the historian) is indeed a very old practice.
4. For Moses to not name the pharaohs would be his way of rejecting their authority over him – a practice he may have adopted having been raised in Egypt.

Thus, when the entire nation of Egypt was decimated by a series of plagues; followed by the lowest members of society walking away with much of the wealth of the nation; followed by Egypt’s powerful military being drowned in the Red Sea – it is little wonder that all records of the people responsible for these events (the Israelites) would be purged from Egyptian records and monuments.

The justification used by theologians and skeptics to ignore God’s Word are excuses, not facts. God’s word speaks the truth; there was an Exodus.

And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

~ Exodus 14:28

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – July 25

Biology

Is there life atop a frozen, cinder-covered volcanic peak? Yes, a small insect named Puʻu Wekiu, which means “topmost hill” in the Hawaiian language. It is a tiny, flightless bug whose habitat is the 13,796 foot summit of the tallest volcano in Hawaii, Mauna Kea. The summit of Mauna Kea represents one of the most extreme environments in the Hawaiian Islands with almost no plant life. Daily temperature fluctuations can be between 25ºF and 116ºF with a winter snow pack covering the peak, creating below-freezing temperatures for much of the year.1 So, how does the insect survive?

Unlike most other lygaeids that eat seeds, the Wekiu feeds on insects that are blown to the top of the mountain and die. This is actually a large resource; snow packs at the summit are often covered with thousands of dead insects. When the snow melts, wekiu bugs can be found at the edge feeding on insects that drop out of the melting snow. Wekiu also have “antifreeze” in their blood that allows them to survive at below freezing temperatures.

Any other insect would not be able to survive such conditions! From the beginning, God knew what the wekiu needed in order to survive and programmed into the insect the characteristics that were needed. Here we have a small insect, in a harsh environment, testifying to the Creator’s care and foreknowledge.

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 – July 24

Design

Ships traversing the ocean have to be regularly cleaned of barnacles, or they lose significant streamlining and efficiency. Even many whales can be seen with barnacles clinging to their skin for a free ride. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of whale species have barnacles clinging to their skin, and each of these whales are home to their own specific species of barnacle. Yet, the pilot whale is barnacle-free. Why don’t barnacles cling to pilot whales?

It’s all in the skin; tiny nanostructures on a Pilot whale’s skin inhibit barnacle larvae from attaching. These “nano-ridges” are microscopic pores that ooze a parasite-resistant gel to keep the barnacles from attaching. Marine researchers are trying to copy the whale’s skin so that it can be painted onto ship hulls. Here is yet another invention derived by “thinking God’s thoughts” and copying the Master Designer’s handiwork!

Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done.…

~ Psalm 40:5

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – July 23

Geology

Imagine the world-covering flood event with fast-moving churning waters….

1. As the fountains of the great deep were broken up, many plate tectonic movements generated numerous earthquakes, resulting in an immense number of tsunamis.
2. As the ocean floor plates pushed apart, molten rock emerged, creating a new ocean floor. The new ocean floor was less dense and rose, pushing up the sea level and caused a surge of ocean water onto the continents.
3. Super-storms were generated in the atmosphere as a result of the supersonic steam jets at the crustal fracture zones, catapulting ocean waters aloft before they fell back to Earth as torrential rainfall (Genesis 7:11). It has been estimated that such super-storms and their winds drove water currents at speeds of 100 mph or more.
4. Twice-daily tides. The earth being covered with water, these tidal surges would have experienced no shorelines; thus the tidal surges would have moved across the submerged continents, causing much churning of water and redistribution of pulverized sediments.

Powerful, fast-moving currents and surges ripped up rocks and laid them down, producing the sedimentary layers that we see today on all the continents of the world. The Flood of Noah’s day was truly catastrophic!

that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:

~ Amos 9:6b

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

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – July 22

Biology

Coral polyps have built in poisonous “harpoons.” The coral polyp’s tentacles are covered with stinging cells (nematocysts) that shoot and kill the plankton. When zooplankton swim by and accidentally touch one of the stinging cells, the “harpoon” is triggered. In thousandths of a second, the lid on the stinging cell flies open, and the harpoon is released. The barbs on the “harpoon” tear a hole in the prey, and the filament trailing the harpoon enters the hole to inject the poison. The zooplankton dies, and the polyp can then pull the meal into its mouth and digest it in its stomach. Each harpoon can only be used one time. A new harpoon (nematocyst) soon grows in its place. This method of hunting zooplankton requires perfect synchronization of sensory cells, nerve cells and muscle cells of the coral animal. Synchronization takes planning and design. That great planner and designer is God! Coral is not just another pretty ornament – it is a colony of deadly hunters!

God thundereth marvelously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.

~ Job 37:5

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

References for this devotional.