PEST OR MASTERPIECE?
God’s Amazing Design in the Mosquito
Hi Men:
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
—Matthew 24:35
I pray your week has been marked by complete trust in Jesus — not in the circumstances swirling around you.
So many believers are “wrapped around the axle” over current events. But unless we think Jesus is lying, He has already told us how this world ends: everything around us will pass away…… Yet God’s Word will stand forever, and people will live forever somewhere.
That’s it. Make sure you have profound “assurance” that you know where that somewhere is!
So why raise your blood pressure over lying politicians, unfathomable fraud and corruption or events half a world away? Perhaps we should spend less time grinding our teeth and more time on our knees.
Our “Prime Directive” is the Great Commission — Jesus’ final command in Matthew 28. Also, a person must confess Jesus as Lord, believe that God raised Him from the dead, and follow Him in obedience. There are no back doors into heaven.
Jesus declared:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
—John 14:6
Men, do you believe these verses and does your life reflect them?
“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”
—Revelation 22:12
PHOTO ABOVE
Growing up in Wyoming, we had plenty of hungry mosquitoes. Then we moved to Las Vegas and traded them for cicadas.
Right now, thousands of cicada shells — more accurately, exoskeletons, are clinging to seemingly everything around our house (see right photo below). Visitors remark about how loud the cicadas are, but because my tinnitus rings at nearly the same frequency, I hardly hear them. Super weird.
Anyway, I will take cicadas over mosquitoes any day.
I have written about cicadas in past Friday Letters, so perhaps it is time to show a little respect to the mosquito. After all, the creature we slap without a second thought carries a precision instrument so advanced that engineers are still studying it, copying it, and now borrowing it.
THE MOSQUITO—A FLYING MEDICAL LABORATORY
There are so many astounding facts for the mosquito, I don’t even know where to begin, so I picked the ones that grabbed me……..
- What looks like one simple needle is actually a coordinated bundle of six microscopic piercing parts inside a flexible outer sheath. This YouTube Video will blow your mind. (3:12 Min) Show your kids or grandkids.
- Its serrated cutting parts make only limited contact with the skin. The proboscis also vibrates and enters at an angle, reducing the force needed to penetrate. Engineers have studied these features in hopes of developing less painful medical needles.
- The mosquito does not simply stab downward. Its mouthparts can bend and probe beneath the skin until they locate a blood vessel. Here is another YouTube Video (32 Sec)
- Its wings beat hundreds of times every second — in some males, more than 800 times per second. Now that’s hard to comprehend.
- A raindrop may outweigh a mosquito by more than 50 to 1, yet the mosquito can survive a direct hit, experience forces near 300 g, recover, and keep flying.
- Researchers at McGill and Drexel removed the proboscis from female mosquitoes and used it as an actual microscopic 3-D-printing nozzle.
- The mosquito nozzle printed lines only 20 microns wide, finer than commercially available dispensing tips.
- It printed microscopic honeycombs, maple leaves, and biological scaffolds containing cells.
- Though extremely thin, the proboscis withstood nearly nine pounds per square inch of pressure and could be cleaned and reused.
- Researchers evaluated insect stingers, snake fangs and plant vessels. The mosquito’s proboscis proved best suited for the job.
We admire the workmanship.
We study the workmanship.
We copy the workmanship.
Yet man still refuses to acknowledge the Workman.
“O LORD, how many are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all.”
—Psalm 104:24
And……. on the lighter side, check this out!! 🤠
I think this may be my favorite Super Bowl Commercial
Super Bowl XXXII – 1998 Tabasco vs. Mosquito Watch on YouTube (30 Seconds)
Have a Blessed Weekend ……. and remember, like Jonathan Edwards said:
“Lord stamp eternity on my eyeballs!”
Dan
(Gal 2:20)
“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
(Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
Question: How many of you seek the counsel of godly, mature men when faced with important decisions? In my experience, the number is alarmingly few! Prov 11:14; 15:22
“The decisions you make today may determine the outcome of a particular battle you face. However, those decisions will also determine the decision God will make when you meet Him in judgment.”
The Valley of Decision – Day 214 Red Book
The purpose of these devotionals is to help you think Biblically
Solomon said, “As a man thinks, so is he”
1 – Hebrews 11:26
Such a great devotional to send to those making significant decisions PDF
COURTSHIP & MARRIAGE
[“Courtship” by Felix Friedrich Von Ende, 1856]
Men:
If you haven’t heard the message that Walt Henrichsen gave some years ago to a room full of college students at the Navigators, Glen Eyrie Retreat Center in Colorado Springs, take time over this weekend to listen to it. Those that take courtship and marriage serious will not only be forwarding this amazing message, but sitting down sharing it with your own kids or grandchildren.
Listen to Walt (42 Minutes)
Jorge Hernandez – FCA LAS VEGAS AREA REP
Click on image or link below to see all the God-led activities that our brother,
Jorge Hernandez (and his wife Astrid) have been involved in…….
The 10 Pillars of Discipleship
These (4) talks were given by Walt Henrichsen about 50 years ago to a group of Navigators in New Zealand. These are foundational truths and I would encourage you to find time to listen to them. I might suggest before jumping in, you pray about it first. We have discussed on a number of occasions if we are indeed teachable. A good subject to humbly converse with the Lord……
Pillars of Discipleship – Part 1
Intro and Pillar 1:
Pillars of Discipleship – Part 2
Pillar 2-4:
Pillars of Discipleship – Part 3
Pillar 5-7
Pillars of Discipleship – Part 4
Pillar 8-10
Men: How often do we see this happen in marriages?
False Hope on People
by Paul Tripp
“If you hook the hope of your heart to the people around you,
you will always be disappointed. No one is able to be your personal messiah”
- No person can be the source of your identity.
- No one can be the basis of your happiness.
- No individual can give you a reason to get up in the morning and continue.
- No loved one can be the carrier of your hope.
- No one is able to change you from the inside out.
- No human being can alter your past.
- No person is able to atone for your wrongs.
- No one can give your heart peace and rest.
[See attached PDF for full article]
Ten Reasons Why Christians Should Share the Gospel
Copy this link and send it to your buddies:
LivingWaters.com/Ten-Reasons-To-Share-The-Gospel
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him,
he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5
