Month: January 2023

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 31 ~ ~ Psalm 40:5~ ~”Many, Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is no one to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.”

In years past, there have been cartoons or comics showing ants invading a peaceful family picnic, carrying off whole sandwiches, and pretty much the whole menu. They’d march single file and just tend to their thieving business.

Even when we see them in “real life”, they seem to be following each other by sight, they are so close together. Yet, when they invade our homes, they aren’t seeing each other, yet, when you see one, you WILL see more.

It’s obvious they have another way of communicating the location of the “mother lode” of food the original ant found.

It is pheromones that are used for chemical communication by ants to mark their trails. When an ant finds a good source of food, it returns to the nest, leaving an invisible scent trail. Its fellow ants also use this trail to find the food. As long as they still find food they will continue to reinforce the scent. Once the supply is exhausted and ants no longer follow the trail, it disappears within a few minutes. This chemical scent is so specific that another species of ant will not recognize the trail if he stumbles upon it. This helps protect the ants’ food source from being discovered by other ants.

Other insects use individualized phermones for this, and for various other reasons.

Take, for example, the female silkworm moth. When she is ready to mate, she releases a very small amount of a chemical. This chemical, called a pheromone, can attract a male silkworm moth from up to two miles away. Even though the female has released only 100-millionth of a gram, the male can sense the chemical. It spreads great distances too. A male silk moth has been found to travel over 30 miles to mate! Many other insects use similar pheromones to attract mates.

Insects use many chemicals every day. One study shows that some have up to 100 different chemicals in their communication and defense arsenals.

One famous discovery was the weaponry of the bombardier beetle. This insect was found to have two separate internal reservoirs: one for hydrogen peroxide and the other for hydroquinone. When threatened, this beetle sprays both together where they combine with an enzyme in an exothermic reaction to produce a burning spray of 210 degrees.

Using a similar line of defense, the wood ant produces formic acid from its rear end when its mound is threatened. The acid is so acrid that one can actually smell it!

The Monarch butterfly caterpillar feeds exclusively on the milkweeds. The leaves of these plants impart a foul taste to the butterflies, making them unpalatable to predators. Its toxin is strong enough to make a blue jay vomit, and serves to teach avoidance.

The Great Elohim, the Creator God, has so many amazing ways for animals to communicate and deal with those around them. He has given us amazing ways to do the same thing.

He has given us the greatest gift—His Word! He hasn’t given that to any other creature.

He has also made us in His image and given us a spirit. This is again something that He hasn’t given to any other creature, no matter how amazing in other ways they might be.

He has given us dominion over all of the rest of creation—to control it in His name and with His wisdom.

Best of all, He has given us Salvation! That of course is needed because of sin, which was the responsibility of man turning against the Word of God. That is what made the entire creation fall with man. Even the universe has been deteriorating since that first sin.

Romans 8:22

“For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”

But Jesus paid the price for that sin so that we who believe the full scope of that can be saved, and in the end, all of creation will be re-made.

Meanwhile, before the death from illness and age, killing, etc. that came because of sin, which He knew was coming, He equipped creatures with the ability to survive in the fallen world. So had He done with us.

After we’re saved, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, comfort us, and teach us, and we have Jesus to be with us always. WHAT A WONDERFUL GOD WE HAVE!!!

Matthew 28:20 ~ ~ “…and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 30 ~ ~ Numbers 14:24~ ~ “But as for My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring him into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.”

Flowers normally have a pistil or female flower-part made up of a stigma, style and ovary, where the seeds develop. This arrangement is surrounded by male pollen producing stamens.

But in 1990, a flower that dared to be different was found in southern Mexico that has only one stamen, which is surrounded by about 50 pistils. It is so different from any other plant that it took botanists a year to classify it.

They didn’t know how to, because of this confusing “difference”. It particularly was difficult for evolutionary-believing scientists. It simply doesn’t fit their narrative.

Believers are like this flower. Our thinking just doesn’t “fit the narrative” of the world system. I suspect that He placed so many of these very different creatures in the creation to show the world that He can do as He wishes. He makes the rules.

I believe He also is giving a message to His people, true believers. He’s showing us that, as He says so many times in His Word, we need to be different too! We need to come apart from the narratives and customs of this world system so we don’t get drawn in when the pull and push from it becomes greater.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18

“Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness? Or what harmony does Christ have with Belial,(a name for the anti-christ) or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? Or what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,

“I will dwell among them and walk among them;
And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.
“And do not touch what is unclean;
And I will welcome you.
And I will be a father to you,
And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”
Says the Lord Almighty.”

This is the day of salvation (2Cor 6:2) The spirit of anti-christ is in the world, as we’re told in 1John 4:3.

And it is obvious that soon the visible anti-christ will appear. Believers will be the first targets.

This is why now, daily, we need to “come out and be separate”. Don’t melt into the world system.

Teach your children to be strong and stand up for Jesus in every situation, or they won’t have the strength when the real trouble comes. Don’t put it off. It takes time to grow. We must stand for small things before we can stand for big things.

Joshua 1:9

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified nor dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Be like Caleb! Stand for Truth!

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 29 ~ ~ Job 8:16~ ~ “He is green before the sun, and his branch shoot forth in his garden.”

We all learned about photosynthesis at school. For this chemical reaction you need chlorophyll and sunlight. For thousands of years, man has known that for green plants to prosper, they need the sunlight.

A few years ago, a team of researchers from the University of British Columbia discovered pFChotosynthesis taking place nearly one-and-a-half miles below the surface of the sea off the coast of Central America. Of course, no sunlight penetrates to that depth, so a study began.

They found a type of bacteria.that was responsible, which live around hydrothermal vents on the floor of the ocean. The vents spew out superheated water at about 570 degrees Fahrenheit. As this water hits the cold ocean water, gas bubbles form and almost immediately collapse, producing a dim flash of light. Chemical reactions can also create a small amount of light, as does the formation of crystals under these conditions. Apparently, these bacteria are able to make enough energy to power their metabolism from these unlikely sources of light.

Talk about micro-gardening!!!!!

Our spiritual life, —our relationship with our Savior and Lord, would not do well like this. We can’t flourish spiritually with little spurts of Light from Him. We need to have our thoughts on Him, and be reading His Word—-His letter to us, as well as speaking to Him in prayer.

In exchange for our submission to Him, repentance for our sins, and dependence upon Him, He gives us immeasurable blessings that we see brighter and brighter each minute by the Light of His Love.

That’s just the start—In eternity it will be even better!!!!

Give Him the time now………you’ll never regret it.

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 28 ~ ~ Job 5:11~ ~ “To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.”

The Paw Paw plant isn’t impressive, and is quite common. It’s not greatly valued, and grows along the east coast, a custard-like fruit, which is mildly poisonous to insects until ripe. The twigs are toxic all year round. This is to prevent them from being eaten before they are ripe, and the seeds are ready to grow.

Tests suggest that the chemical that causes this may provide powerful, new anti-cancer drugs and a powerful, safe insecticide. Scientists at Purdue University believe this is possible because the extract is active, which means it could be used as medicine.

As a result of these successful tests, scientists found at least seven chemicals that may prove useful against cancer. The most powerful is a million times more effective against cancer than the leading anti-cancer drug in use today. In addition, they discovered a powerful, natural insecticide that is effective against a wide range of plant pests.

The Creator God sometimes uses the lowliest of His creation to accomplish what He wants.

He does the same with His people. We are quite lowly indeed. We are of the “common sort”.

Still, He, being the Express Image of God, and having all the Glory of Heaven, took off His robe of Glory, put on the grimy robe of humanity, and came down to the lowly—no, the ultra lowly—estate of manhood. Sinful manhood….

In a poor family….. To be disgraced and hated….. That alone would be an unspeakable condescension, were He, as Creator of everything in the massive Universe, all the laws of nature, every living and non living cell and atom in existence, to live and grovel for food in this sin and disease-ridden world, in a vulnerable human body. That alone would be the most amazing, loving, merciful thing the Eternal, All-Powerful God could do.

But, He did so much more—-Let’s let our hearts dig deeper. He was pushed around, stomped and spit upon, whipped until the bones on the “cat-o-nine-tails” dug and ripped into His muscles until they were just shreds hanging onto bare bones, aggravated to further torture by the crusty blood drying in the mid-day sun.—– Insane thirst that racked his mind—–. Pain we could not imagine—-in the One True God, Elohim—the Almighty One—————- His body reduced to what He tells us through Isaiah, did not even look like a man anymore!!! The sculptures and paintings in churches have “whitewashed” the true view of how He looked, and therefore, of what He went through. We cannot imagine it!!!! We cannot imagine what the God of Heaven and Earth went through at the hands of His own creation whom He loved with an eternal love!

Previously, there was the humiliating trial, those whom He came to save—to whom He gave His Light—-yelling, “Crucify Him”….because they rejected the Light in favor of keeping their sins.

Carrying the cross—the professional mourning women along the way, to whom He said, “Weep for yourselves and for your children.” His heart was still with the lowly of the people—In His pain, He thought of YOU AND ME, and His chosen people who condemned Him!!!

On the cross He told us “it is finished”,~ ~ “Tetelestai” ~ ~ which anyone there would understand as “the debt has been paid”. It is what the judge says and writes, when a prisoner has served his time.

YOU AND I served our time —– we were executed—on that cross in the torn and tortured body of the Savior. His Light still shone, through the blood, sweat, spittle, and boot marks of Roman Soldiers. His Light will always shine! It will shine despite the rejection and false worship of the people He loves.

It will shine for the lowliest of the low by the values of this world. It will shine for the highest of the high, by those same values, and everyone in between, because that is the nature of Light, and that is the nature of the Most High God…..Elohim, (Mighty Creator God) El Shaddai (Mighty God) and Jehovah Ori—THE LORD MY LIGHT!!!! in all, the Bible uses over 85 names for God. He is all things to all people, and to make the choice to not only become one of His creatures, but to be the most hated, is unthinkable.

AND ALL FOR THE LOVE OF YOU AND ME!!!!

BUT, just as we died in Him that day, we will rise again with Him in His RESURRECTION!!!

NEVER FORGET!!! ALWAYS TELL THE STORY—–ALWAYS LIVE THE STORY—– BE IN THE STORY FOREVER!

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GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 27 ~ ~ Matthew 16:26~ ~ “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

There is a plant grown in Africa called the warburgia. The bark is sold to relieve toothaches, fevers, constipation, and the taste of meat gone slightly sour.

Even though God gave us a wonderful immune system, if it is dragged down by an illness, it cannot do a good job fighting off other illnesses, including fungus.

Researchers discovered that two extracts from the warburgia bush can boost the effects of antibiotics. One of the extracts, coupled with an antibiotic used against yeast cells, resulted in a treatment that was 16 times more powerful than the antibiotic alone. Warburgia extracts also boosted antibiotics’ effects against various fungal infections, including the fungus that causes athlete’s foot.

How many medicines has our Creator hidden in the plants of the earth for us to discover? We can thank Him that, in His mercy, He has provided so many earthly remedies for the disease that has resulted because of sin. What is more important, however, is that we can thank Him for the forgiveness of sins that was won by Christ for us in His suffering and death.

The Book of Revelation tells us that the leaves from the tree of life will be for healing, so it is logical to assume that that same tree of life which was in the Garden of Eden was for healing for the animals and man. I believe there still are many plants for healing, if we only knew what they were and how to use them. After all, He equipped the animals for the world after sin degraded it from a paradise to a dark sinful, murderous dump. Why would He not have provided for man in the same way?

Revelation 22:2

In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

We need to thank Him daily for all He has provided for us, for now, and the future, especially eternal life with Him through Jesus our Lord and Savior.

JANUARY 26 ~ ~ Psalm 139:14~ ~ “I will praise you; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are your works; and that my soul knows right well.”

Hyaluronic acid is a complex sugar that is found in the bodies of all animals and man. It is the most effective lubricant known. Man has not been able to match it. Besides that, it can absorb shock and return to its original shape like nothing else known.

Hyaluronic acid was created by God for most living things. It lubricates your joints, and protects delicate tissues in your eyes.

Of course, the cosmetic industry was quick to latch on it for a money-maker, and they have added it to some cosmetics, skin moisturizers and shaving creams, which raises the price for the medical uses. Medically, it is used in eye surgery to help the eye keep its shape and to protect eye tissues. The problem is, the hyaluronic acid used in eye surgery costs millions of dollars per pound. Medical researchers believe that lubricating arthritic joints with hyaluronic acid would restore lubrication and ease the causes of joint pain. Research continues on less expensive methods for making hyaluronic acid, but the quality may not be there.

When people forget how fearfully and wonderfully God has created us, it’s easy to reduce the wonders of the value of the human body to a few dollars worth of chemicals. Surely this is not the thankless attitude we should express to others.

The human body cannot and should not be reduced in thinking to economic levels. We are made in the image of God, and fearfully and wonderfully made. We should all be in awe of how God has created not only human bodies, but every living, and non living thing in creation.

But the world will always put their spin on what God has done, like Simon in chapter 8 of Acts, who wanted to pay for the Holy Spirit and miracles. God’s creation is not for sale!!! His materials are not for sale!!! But, what many people, even in the church, don’t understand, is that His salvation is not for sale. Church attendance, singing, good works, prayers, and sacraments are abominations to Him when people want to “trade” them for salvation. This is not any better than Simon attempted in Acts 8. Of course we want to, and should, do all that after we’re saved to bring glory to God. But we can pay nothing for salvation.

Jesus said “It is finished”, and it is! You have only to reach out on your knees and take it, then show others the way.

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 25~ ~ Psalm 147:16-18 ~ ~ “He gives snow like wool: he scatters the frost like ashes. He casts forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sends out his word, and melts them: he causes his wind to blow, [and] the waters flow.”

Many of us in the north have seen the occasional insect in our homes even in the coldest part of winter, and even some, in very cold out buildings. I for one, wonder how these insects, when they only live a matter of hours or at the most, days, in the summer, can survive so long in the winter?

How can insects be active this time of year without freezing? After all, when living tissue freezes, expanding ice crystals destroy tissue membranes.

The answer, as with millions of other mysteries in nature, is our wonderful Creator God. Evidence shows that the ice age came shortly after the flood in Noah’s time, because of the drastic changes in the climate at that time. Apparently God had a plan in place back at creation week, to allow insects to survive very cold temperatures. Their bodies are able to make a form of alcohol or glycerol, which is chemically similar to the antifreeze in your car! Any other time or situation this chemical would kill the animal, but in God’s wisdom, in this case it saves them!

Eastern tent caterpillars are very much alive within their cocoons, and by midwinter their body weight is over one third antifreeze. One parasitic wasp larvae is able to continue living at temperatures as low as -52 degrees F. Some 25 of the 700 known species of pygmy locust actually live in or near Arctic regions. And the snowfly gets its name from the fact that its life is carried on in the snows of winter, and found on glaciers in the far north.

He not only cares about the sparrows, He goes much smaller than that—–He’s caring for the tiny bugs——yes, even the ones that irritate us every summer! After all, the sparrows have to eat!

So, why is it that many people think He doesn’t want to know about our small issues? Why wouldn’t He? He yearns for us to come to Him, just as an earthly father enjoys his children looking up to him for help and answers.

Matthew 11:28

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

Hebrews 13:5 (Amp) ~ ~ “…for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!”

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 24 ~ ~ Luke 8:14~ ~ “And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of [this] life, and bring no fruit to perfection.”

In 1805, when Lewis and Clark crossed the Continental Divide, they were friendly with the native people. One of the foods they ate was cooked bitterroot. Eager to learn all he could, Lewis asked to taste the bitterroot. We can imagine the Indians smiling at each other, as they watched his face when he bit into this terrible tasting root. He no doubt quickly learned to cook it first.

The bitterroot grows in rocky, depleted soil Under these conditions the plant cannot even support a few leaves at the same time that it has flowers. So the leaves appear early in the spring to make food for storage in the large root. Once enough energy is stored, the leaves wither and flower buds appear. The Latin name means resurrection, because the environment that it comes up from, seems dead.

This again shows a loving Creator who pays attention to details, and shows us that, in His strength, we can make it under any circumstances. Like the bitterroot, we need to “bloom where we’re planted”, and look to our Lord and Creator, instead of coveting the riches of this world.

It is also a picture of how He works with us in our lives. The root is bitter and inedible until it’s cooked.

In the Christian walk, we are guaranteed to have problems if we’re walking with Him. It’s how we deal with these trials that will determine whether we please Him, and grow in Him or not. If we immediately look to Him for guidance, strength, protection, as well as the most important, giving the situation to Him, and thanking Him for being with us through it, He will give us wisdom about it, and His will will be done. When we approach it that way, we will that much more quickly see the outcome of ever greater blessings in our walk with Him. We will even come to the point of being thankful for the trial, because it is His will for us, and an instrument to bring us closer to Him.

It will soften our hearts, as the cooking softens the bitterroot, giving it a totally different and delightful flavor!!!! Our God knows how to flavor our lives with His presence!!!!

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 23~ ~ Numbers 21:9~ ~ “And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”

The amazing thing in this episode in the history of the chosen nation, is that, even though they were dying because of the snake bites, when Elohim gave them a way to be healed, they would NOT obey! They had only to look!!! Yet, they blinded their eyes and looked away, as they dropped dead from the poison. The snake was a type of Jesus on the cross. He is saying, look upon Him, and Him alone to save you from the poison of sin. Will you do that? He finished the job, you have only to take the gift He offers. You only have one chance. This life is short.

Speaking of snakes………………….

The last creature a rattlesnake wants to see is the California ground squirrel.

When an adult ground squirrel finds a rattlesnake, it begins to taunt the snake. The squirrel dashes into striking range, whips its tail about, bites the snake’s tail and kicks sand on it. While a rattlesnake can strike with lightning speed, the little ground squirrel is even faster and well able to dart out of the way. Even if it was bitten, the venom wouldn’t kill it since these squirrels have proteins in their blood that detoxify the poison. Frustrated snakes have been known to simply retreat when faced with this treatment.

Researchers have learned that the squirrels’ bag of tricks is even deeper. Rattlesnakes can see heat as infrared light. When the ground squirrel is taunting the rattlesnake, it sends additional blood to its tail, causing it to heat up, producing a very obvious infrared image for the snake, further confusing it. Interestingly enough, when the ground squirrel taunts a gopher snake, which cannot detect the infrared, it does not heat its tail.

How does the squirrel know that the rattlesnake can be confused with an infrared show while the gopher snake cannot? The only explanation is that the Creator, Who made them both and calls us to saving faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, designed the ground squirrels’ unique display.

This is an amazing proof of Biblical Creation. God told us that if we don’t know Christ personally, we are without excuse, and we will die in our sins….Not just knowing that He died, but relying upon Him alone for our salvation—not our works or church.

Romans 1:20 (Amp) ~ ~ “For ever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made], so that they [who fail to believe and trust in Him] are without excuse and without defense.”

Everyone has seen sunrise, sunsets, and nature of various kinds. Everyone knows that nothing does not create something. But, knowing that, many don’t seek to know Him apart from their own supposed righteousness, and/or their church doctrines. These are abominations to Him, and He called them “filthy rags” Is that any different from the Jewish people refusing to look upon the serpent and be healed?

It’s as simple yet as beautiful as His creation itself—-to choose the Creator of your soul as the Lord and Savior from your sins. Live with Him eternally on the new and perfect earth He will create for His loved one. …..BE ONE OF HIS!

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 22 ~ ~ Matthew 8:20 ~ ~ “And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”

If you feed birds in your yard, or even if you don’t, you’re probably familiar with the tiny Black-Capped chickadee: This delightful bird is friendly, and appreciates our feed in the winter. His perky “Chicka-dee-dee-dee” greeting blesses our hearts on a cold winter day . However, actually, the little chickadee communicates danger with its  “chickadee-dee-dee” call. Bird-watchers also know that some other birds use different warnings for dangers from the air or from the ground.

Scientists decided to see if chickadees used specialized calls for different dangers. In their first experiments they used a stuffed hawk to see what the chickadees in an outdoor aviary would do. However, they were only fooled once, and after that researchers had to use live hawks. After studying over 5,000 responses, a pattern emerged. Small, agile raptors like hawks are more dangerous to chickadees than, say, a large, horned owl, which the chickadees can easily evade. When confronted by a smaller raptor, the birds’ “chicka” call added up to four “dee”s in rapid succession, instead of two more leisurely “dee”s. Even more “dee”s might be added if the chickadees evaluated the danger as greater. Most frightening to the little birds was a pygmy owl that rated 23 “dee”s.

God cares for all His creatures and has given them protection in many ways, including warning each other of the dangers of predators, which came through man’s sin, and was not present in the garden before that time.

We are also warned of dangers to our spiritual life. The Word of God warns us of many dangers that are always present in our lives, powered by the enemy, the world system, or our own evil nature, which, even after being saved, will remain with us all our lives on this earth.

But the Word warns us to walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:16

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”

That means, like the chickadee is warning his brothers…… “heads up, bros” “don’t fly into danger” “don’t land in a vulnerable place” “You are weakened now, and in grave danger, go for shelter” That, for us, would be “under the shadow of His wings”

Psalm 17:8~ ~ “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of Your wings,”

But, even worse danger is warned in God’s Word for the unsaved, who have never been under the shadow of His wings yet. Jesus Himself warns the unsaved, who have never fully relied on Him for forgiveness of their sins, without any church or priest in between, that they are in the most grave danger a human being could possibly be in.

John 8:21-24~ ~ “ Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”

So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”

And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

We are all vulnerable like the tiny chickadee in the evil world. Please, heed the warnings, walk in the Spirit if you’re saved, and lead others to follow, and run to the Savior if you’re not yet saved. He’s waiting with open arms and a loving heart.