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"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible" (Hebrews 11:3). "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being" (Revelation 4:11).
We've had some beautiful Indian Summer-like weather in our area this week although it was dreary and overcast yesterday. Brooksyne enjoys her flowers and gardens during planting season and all through the growing season. We sure enjoy sharing these scenes with our readers and over the years have quite a collection, which opens whenever my computer goes to screensaver.
But in the fall season I enjoy clean-up. I
like to pull up annuals and trim everything that should be trimmed
including some things that shouldn't be (according to Brooksyne). I
sort of like our yard to have a crew cut look. Then I rake up, load up
the
wagon or wheelbarrow and dispose of the vegetative debris from a long
summer of growth. These piles of biodegradable waste will enrich the
soil and gives me satisfaction as a good steward of the earth's
resources.
You never know what you might see living quietly among the vegetation when you pull it up. I could easily have missed it, but at least one pepper plant had a praying mantis clinging to the vine. (Main photo above.) As I removed the peppers it was easy to overlook due to the way it blended into the background. Of all the shades of green it's amazing to me and a testimony to the Creator/Designer of how well the colors on the praying mantis matched the colors of the pepper plant.
Years ago we grew broccoli and a pesty worm that had an identical color to the broccoli was feasting on our plants. It was so easy to miss when picking and preparing the broccoli that we likely ate a little "meat" along with our vegetable!
Ester is terrified when I bring in critters like the praying mantis,
but Brooksyne, being the country girl she is, has no problems picking
it up and demonstrating its colors against her skin for my camera!
There's so much debate today about origins. An evolutionary worldview would draw an entirely different conclusion based on the observation of the praying mantis. It would assert that over millions of years this creature slowly evolved in this manner so that its colors matched the plants it would adhere to.
But I adhere to the teaching of Scripture so succinctly expressed in question 9 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism answering the question: "What is the work of creation? The work of creation is, God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of His power, in the space of six days, and all very good."
We all start with some assumptions and beliefs and I wholeheartedly hold to the great faith statement that begins the first text of our Bible: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Hebrews 11:3 states, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."
I believe in the altogether intelligent (omniscient) Creator/Designer. Our third daily verse so powerfully states, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being." Amen!
Be encouraged today!
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father of creation,
when I consider the infinite variety of Your handiwork I stand in awe at
Your unlimited power, Your incredible creativity, and Your attention to
detail. How amazing that You care for the birds, animals,
insects, water and plant life and You have a purpose for each of these
creations. How much more amazing that You created human life for
Your good pleasure and for fulfilling Your purpose to redeem mankind.
By the testimony of my life may I bring You glory and honor as I, with
exuberant and victorious joy, proclaim with the twenty four elders in heaven, "You
are worthy to receive glory and honor and power!" In the glorious
name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Here's another Praying Mantis that Mike Book, a friend of ours is holding.
Looks like the mantis had his sight fixed on a potential grasshopper meal.
(Click on photo for even larger photo and note the praying mantis has an amputated limb!)
Here's a view of our home from across the farm field on a beautiful autumn day. As you can see our trees are changing
We
went over to our Amish neighbors for some mums and saw this wagon with
butternut squash "seconds" that we thought were for sale, but they were
actually placed at the end of their lane for pick up by another family.
Annie took us up to their barn and showed us yet another category:
"thirds" that will not make it to market and many of them will
eventually be tossed (mostly just defects on the peel, but the "squash"
inside is fine). We paid even less money and now have more butternuts
than we need. But Brooksyne will get busy processing them when our
lives slow down a little and we will enjoy them during the winter
months.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Creation Calls" Video Brian Doerksen Just outstanding!!!
"Thou Art Worthy" Video America's 25 Favorite Praise & Worship Choruses Many of our older readers will recall singing this.
"Thou Art Worthy, Great Jehovah" Video
"All Creatures Of Our God And King" Video Sovereign Grace Worship
"Tonight the Stars Speak" Video The Glorious Unseen
"God's Glory In His Creation" Video John Piper This is such a powerful video and I so often appreciate John Piper's teaching, along with outstanding photographs. I just wonder why whoever made the video has such loud background music!
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can
continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is
accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and podcast listeners. See here for more information on supporting this
ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.
Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
© Copyright 2013 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
<Previous Message Next Message>
Friday, November 1, 2013
Praying Mantis on Pepper Plant
Praying Mantis on Pepper Plant
"God's Glory In Creation"
Listen to this message on
your audio player"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible" (Hebrews 11:3). "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being" (Revelation 4:11).
We've had some beautiful Indian Summer-like weather in our area this week although it was dreary and overcast yesterday. Brooksyne enjoys her flowers and gardens during planting season and all through the growing season. We sure enjoy sharing these scenes with our readers and over the years have quite a collection, which opens whenever my computer goes to screensaver.
But in the fall season I enjoy clean-up. I
like to pull up annuals and trim everything that should be trimmed
including some things that shouldn't be (according to Brooksyne). I
sort of like our yard to have a crew cut look. Then I rake up, load up
the
wagon or wheelbarrow and dispose of the vegetative debris from a long
summer of growth. These piles of biodegradable waste will enrich the
soil and gives me satisfaction as a good steward of the earth's
resources.You never know what you might see living quietly among the vegetation when you pull it up. I could easily have missed it, but at least one pepper plant had a praying mantis clinging to the vine. (Main photo above.) As I removed the peppers it was easy to overlook due to the way it blended into the background. Of all the shades of green it's amazing to me and a testimony to the Creator/Designer of how well the colors on the praying mantis matched the colors of the pepper plant.
Years ago we grew broccoli and a pesty worm that had an identical color to the broccoli was feasting on our plants. It was so easy to miss when picking and preparing the broccoli that we likely ate a little "meat" along with our vegetable!
Ester is terrified when I bring in critters like the praying mantis,
but Brooksyne, being the country girl she is, has no problems picking
it up and demonstrating its colors against her skin for my camera!There's so much debate today about origins. An evolutionary worldview would draw an entirely different conclusion based on the observation of the praying mantis. It would assert that over millions of years this creature slowly evolved in this manner so that its colors matched the plants it would adhere to.
But I adhere to the teaching of Scripture so succinctly expressed in question 9 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism answering the question: "What is the work of creation? The work of creation is, God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of His power, in the space of six days, and all very good."
We all start with some assumptions and beliefs and I wholeheartedly hold to the great faith statement that begins the first text of our Bible: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Hebrews 11:3 states, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."
I believe in the altogether intelligent (omniscient) Creator/Designer. Our third daily verse so powerfully states, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being." Amen!
Be encouraged today!
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father of creation,
when I consider the infinite variety of Your handiwork I stand in awe at
Your unlimited power, Your incredible creativity, and Your attention to
detail. How amazing that You care for the birds, animals,
insects, water and plant life and You have a purpose for each of these
creations. How much more amazing that You created human life for
Your good pleasure and for fulfilling Your purpose to redeem mankind.
By the testimony of my life may I bring You glory and honor as I, with
exuberant and victorious joy, proclaim with the twenty four elders in heaven, "You
are worthy to receive glory and honor and power!" In the glorious
name of Jesus I pray, Amen.Here's another Praying Mantis that Mike Book, a friend of ours is holding.
Looks like the mantis had his sight fixed on a potential grasshopper meal.
(Click on photo for even larger photo and note the praying mantis has an amputated limb!)
Here's a view of our home from across the farm field on a beautiful autumn day. As you can see our trees are changing
We
went over to our Amish neighbors for some mums and saw this wagon with
butternut squash "seconds" that we thought were for sale, but they were
actually placed at the end of their lane for pick up by another family.
Annie took us up to their barn and showed us yet another category:
"thirds" that will not make it to market and many of them will
eventually be tossed (mostly just defects on the peel, but the "squash"
inside is fine). We paid even less money and now have more butternuts
than we need. But Brooksyne will get busy processing them when our
lives slow down a little and we will enjoy them during the winter
months.Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"Creation Calls" Video Brian Doerksen Just outstanding!!!
"Thou Art Worthy" Video America's 25 Favorite Praise & Worship Choruses Many of our older readers will recall singing this.
"Thou Art Worthy, Great Jehovah" Video
"All Creatures Of Our God And King" Video Sovereign Grace Worship
"Tonight the Stars Speak" Video The Glorious Unseen
"God's Glory In His Creation" Video John Piper This is such a powerful video and I so often appreciate John Piper's teaching, along with outstanding photographs. I just wonder why whoever made the video has such loud background music!
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can
continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is
accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and podcast listeners. See here for more information on supporting this
ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
© Copyright 2013 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA