“The Master Plan”

“You are worthy, our LORD and GOD! You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power. You are worthy because You created all things. They were created and they exist. That is the way You planned it.” Revelation 4:11 New International Reader’s Version.

Picture a starfish. What does it have in common with a snowflake and a daisy? Picture a snail shell. How is it similar to the curled horn of a mountain sheep and an ordinary spider web? Now picture a tree. What does it have in common with an antler and a dragonfly wing?

Perhaps you noticed that the objects in each of these groups share a similar design. The shapes of starfish, snowflakes, and daisies are based on a star. Each has arms–or rays–that grow out of a center.

Snail shells, mountain sheep horns, and the sticky threads of ordinary spider webs are based on a spiral design. This design starts at the heart and coils around and around and around and around.

Trees antlers, and the veins on dragonfly wings are branch shaped. In each of these, arms fan out from a main shaft.

Once you start looking around, you’ll notice patterns everywhere in nature. Circles are found on leopard fur, peacock feathers, and in the eyes of owls. You’ll notice six-sided hexagons that make up bee honey-combs the bumps on turtle shells, and the eyes of flies.

Some designs are hidden. Inside whale flippers human arms frog legs, and bat and bird wings are bones that are put together with the same pattern.

Some patterns take a sharp eye. That’s the case with Fibonacci numbers. These numbers are formed by adding the two numbers before it. For example, if you add one plus one you get two. Then if you add one plus two, you get three. Two plus three equals five. Three plus five is eight. If you write all these numbers down, you get a string of numbers that looks like this: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233…

What’s so special about Fibonacci numbers? They’re found all over nature. If you look at the seed head of a sunflower, you eye recognizes spirals. Counting them, you find that thirty-four spin counterclockwise. Fifty-five spirals spin clockwise. On giant sunflowers fifty-five spirals go one direction, eighty-nine the other. Check the line of Fibonacci numbers above. These numbers are next to each other on the Fibonacci scale!

Pinecones and pineapples also share the fun of Fibonacci. Counting spirals from the stem end of some pinecones reveals five gradual spirals rising from the left to the right. Eight steep spirals rise from the right to the left. Other cones show different Fibonacci combinations: three and five, eight and thirteen.

The outside of a pineapple is covered with hexagon-shaped bumps, or scales. Each pineapple has spirals that rotate in three directions: one spiral that twists to the right, one that twists to the left, and one that rises nearly straight up. The number of scales in each of these spirals? Eight, thirteen, and twenty-one. Are these numbers next to each other on the Fibonacci scale? Yes!

Some scientists would like us to believe that the patterns appearing in nature happen by chance.

What do you think? Can patterns that repeat themselves such as these happen by chance or accident?

It’s not likely. Patterns show there’s a master plan for nature. It’s the Master’s plan. God is the Designer.

Perhaps some people have a hard time believing that God created  the earth because He’s invisible to our eyes. Yet what He created is not invisible. There’s no escaping it–God’s fingerprints are on everything He made. We’re surrounded by stars, spirals, branches, circles, and hexagons. We’re surrounded by Fibonacci numbers. Through the awesome designs in our world, we see God. We understand His greatness.

Because God is so detailed in His designs, it’s not a stretch to believe that He can easily care about the details of our lives, too. Does He care that you’re feeling lonely? Does He care that your mom got made at you this morning? Does He care that you’re having a hard time at school? Yes, He does!

The same God who so carefully designed nature also designed you. He designed the details of your life. Through them He shows His care for you.

Thought to remember: God cares about the details of nature. He cares about the details of my life.

Additional verses: Romans 1:20; Psalm 19:1-4; Genesis 1:1; Psalm 139:1-4, 13-16

Fibonacci: (Fee-buH-NAH-chee) an Italian Mathematician who discovered number patterns in nature. He lived from 1170-1250 A.D. His real name was Leonardo Da Pisa.

From: “Glow-In-The-Dark Fish and 59 More Ways To See God Through His Creation”, by B. J. Reinhard

 

 

 

“Thorny Devil”

“This is my story!” (North American Thorny Devil)

“It’s my story too, mate!” (Australian Thorny Devil)

Deception works two ways. Sometimes things look harmless when they’re not, and other times things appear harmful when they’re not.

North America has several species of horned lizards (often mistakenly called “horned toads”). The horns of these short-tailed, fat-bodied reptiles vary in size and number, but no matter how many or how prominent the horns on their heads and on their bodies, horned lizards are extremely unappealing to their enemies. Their ugliness protects them. For further protection, the horned lizard stands completely still and flattens out its body to become nearly invisible as it blends in with its surroundings. The lizards can also quickly bury itself in sand. If something does pick up a horned lizard, the reptile can inflate its body by gulping air, jab with its horns, and even spurt blood from a small opening at the base of its third eyelid.

The thorny devil of Australia is even uglier than its American relatives. For one thing, it has a long tail–and thus more surface area to cover with projections. It has even brighter colors, with war-paint-like black, reddish-brown, and yellow markings. But most frightening of all is the fact that huge thorns cover the lizard from its nose to the tip of its tail. When approached by a potential predator, all the thorny devil has to do is tuck its head between its front legs and arch its back to form a tiny mound of unappetizing spikes.

Horned lizards–including thorny devils–are not the monsters that they appear to be. Their looks are deceptive. They appear fierce and aggressive, but actually they are shy, and would rather escape than defend themselves.

Deception had it beginning in the Garden of Eden. Satan is the arch-deceiver. But he does not present himself as a thorny devil–ugly, with horns, a long tail, and a pitchfork. That would immediately put us on our guard. Inspiration warns us that in the last days Satan will appear as an angel of light accompanied by false prophets as he attempts to “deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). Only by really knowing Jesus can we avoid being tricked by Satan’s appearances and recognize him as the real “thorny devil.”

For such are false apostles… transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 1:13, 14

From “Nature Quest”, by James and Priscilla Tucker

 

Pictures are from Google Images.

“How Big Is A Wolf?”

“This is my story!”

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. Isaiah 11:6

Can you imagine having a group of pets consisting of a wolf, a lamb, a leopard, a goat, a calf, and a lion? That is the picture that Isaiah presents for us of the new earth. But on this earth wolves are rarely kept as pets.

Wolves vary in size, depending on the race. They range in size from the small Arabian wolf, which weighs about 45 pounds up to the North American timber wolf, which averages about 100 pounds. The largest wolf ever known weighed 175 pounds. The races of wolves that inhabited Bible lands were relatively small: they were hardly larger than medium-sized dogs. But their behavior was certainly different from that of dogs!

One thing that is enormous on a wolf is its feet. An Alaskan timber wolf may have a foot pad more than five inches across. You might think that such big feet would cause the wolf to lose a lot of heat on the ice and snow. But the wolf has a special heat-regulating system that allows its feet to maintain a temperature just above freezing, while the rest of its body is toasty warm.

Wolves have special fur, too. They can curl up and lie right out in the open with their backs to the wind and sleep warmly in temperatures down to 40 degrees below zero. And the wolf is one of only two animals designed so that the moisture condensing from their warm breath will not collect and freeze on their fur. The other animal is the wolverine.

Wolves have incredible endurance. Two wolves in British Columbia were followed for 22 miles as they broke trail, without stopping, through 5 feet of snow! Wolves travel an average of about 30 miles a day in winter, and 50 miles a day is not unusual. Those who study wolves tell us that the wolf is also one of the most gentle of all animals when handled properly–but I think I will wait until the earth is made new to have such a pet. Won’t it be grand!

From “Glimpses Of God’s LOVE”, by James A. Tucker and Priscilla Tucker

Picture is from Google Images.

“The Owl Butterfly”

“This is my story!”

In Central America and South America lives a large butterfly with an eight-inch wingspan. For birds that eat butterflies, this very large specimen would make a delightful dinner-except for one thing. On the underside of the hind wings of the butterfly are two large, round “eyes”–that is, marks that look like eyes. In fact, combined with the other markings on the butterfly’s wings, the “eyes” make the insect look almost exactly like the tropical screech-owl, a small owl inhabiting the same jungle growth where the butterfly lives.

Birds that would normally make a meal of the large juicy butterfly see only those “owl eyes,” and they stay away. Each “owl eye” even has a small patch of white highlighting on the upper side of what appears to be the dark, dilated pupil.

With such protective coloration, the butterfly doesn’t have to worry about anything disturbing it even when it’s sleeping, because the “owl eyes” never close. Consequently, the butterfly has the equivalent of a permanent guard on duty at all times, day and night. Some people would tell us that patterns such as the perfectly designed “owl eyes” on butterfly wings happened by chance. Well, the chance that the butterfly’s protection is accidental is so small that we surely wouldn’t want to bet on it.

The Creator, who made everything in the first place, gave all His creatures ways of coping with the danger that began when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. Undoubtedly He established simple laws of protective coloration that came into play as soon as the effect of sin began to appear around the world.

That same Creator has given each of us that same assurance of protection against sin and its ultimate result, eternal death.

“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness.” Psalm 91:5, 6.

From “Nature Quest”, by James and Priscilla Tucker.

Picture is from Google Images.

“The Other Otter”

“This is my story!”

Animal shows often feature the playful antics of the river otter. But still another otter, the sea otter, lives along the Pacific coast of North America from California to Alaska and down the Pacific coast of Asia to the Commander Islands of Russia. The largest of all otter species, the sea otter grows to a length of five feet and to a weight of 80 pounds.

The sea otter’s pelt was at one time among the most highly prized of all furs. During the height of the fur trade era in the early 1900s a single pelt was worth as much as $ 2,500. Unfortunately for their survival, these adorable sea mammals are naturally friendly to people, so they didn’t stand a chance against greedy fur traders. Within a few short years the number of sea otters became so low that the animal was perilously close to extinction. Hunters slaughtered them by the thousands until 1911. In that year Russia, Japan, Great Britain, and the United States entered into an international treaty that made it illegal to kill any more of them.

An expert swimmer, the sea otter often dives 100 feet below the ocean’s surface to find a sea urchin, a clam, an abalone, or some other kind of shellfish to eat. When it has grabbed a tasty seafood dinner, the creature swims to the surface, rolls over onto its back, and spreads out its food on its chest and belly. If the meal is a clam, the otter places the shell on its chest, picks up a handy rock, and hammers away until the shell cracks open.

Sea otters mate for life. Home is a bed of kelp, a type of giant seaweed that grows thick enough to provide a mattress for the pup and to protect the otters from killer whales. The whales can’t swim through the kelp.

But the pup’s favorite place is on its mother’s tummy, where it is safe from just about everything but a marauding bald eagle. The mother’s abdomen is the pup’s sleeping crib, feeding place, and playpen for eight or more months. Often the mother throws the pup into the air and catches it again on her chest in a game that certainly looks like fun. To protect her pup, the mother sea otter stays in the thick kelp beds and watches for the bald eagle. Aren’t you glad God made mothers?

“As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.” Isaiah 66:13

From “Nature Quest”, by James and Priscilla Tucker.

Picture is from Google Images.