Jewel # 250 (May 31, 2016)

“And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord 

of hosts, in that day when I 

make up MY JEWELS.”

(Malachi 3:17)

To my dear Grandchildren

Slave-Maker Ants

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,

walks about seeking whom he may devour.”

(1 Peter 5:8)

In the deserts of Arizona, there are ants known as the western slave-maker ants.   Unlike other ants, these are not capable of hunting food for themselves or for their young, and they could not live without other ants doing this for them. 

Because of this inability, slave-maker ants make raids on another species of ants known as the formicas, and here’s what takes place.  Several times a year the leaders in the nest send out scouts to find formica nests.  When the scouts find these nests, they come back and somehow tell the others the “good news.”  Then a huge army of several thousand takes off behind their scouts, following them to the unsuspecting victims.

With no warning, the slave-makers march right into the formicas’ nest, but they don’t attempt to fight them.  Instead, they spray the entire area with a chemical from their bodies.  This chemical does not bother the raiders, but it is so unpleasant to the formicas that the queen and all her workers get out as fast as possible.  However, they cannot take with them the thousands of their babies, known as pupae, which have not yet hatched.

That is exactly what the raiders want to happen.  Each raider grabs one pupa and carries it back to its own nest.  Thousands are carried back where some are eaten by the hungry raiders.  Most are carefully looked after and in a short time develop into full-sized formica ants.  These captives are taught how to go after food to bring back for themselves and for their captors.  Of course, these newly hatched ants can’t remember anything about their former home and fit right into this pattern, apparently accepting the fact that finding food for the others is their job.

The cruel and selfish ways of the slave-makers bring to mind our opening Bible verse, telling us to beware of Satan who is always wanting to devour us.  Another verse in 2 Timothy 2:26 talks of people who are caught in “the snare of the devil . . . taken captive by him at his will.”  Just like the slave-making ants, the devil wants to make us his slaves and make us serve him.  Every person in the world is often tempted by him, although many do not realize Satan is their cruel master.

But for those who know the Lord Jesus as their Saviour, there are many other Bible verses to help us resist the evil one.  “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).  James 4:7-8 tells where to turn for help:  “Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you."  

We are invited to turn to God in every trouble, and we can be sure of His loving help. 

Love you all,

Grandpa    

Jewel # 249 (May 20, 2016)

“And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord

of hosts, in that day when I

make up MY JEWELS.”

(Malachi 3:17)

To my dear grandchildren,

“Spiky Pig” the Porcupine

“Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, and 

makes us wiser than the fowls of heaven?”

(Job 35:11)

A three-foot-long porcupine suddenly appears in a quiet wooded area, moving noisily through dry leaves and underbrush.  It apparently is unconcerned about the noise it is making, for it has little to worry about.  The 12 to 35 - pound porcupine is safer from attack than almost any other animal, even though it is slow.  It is even safe from attack by a bear.  Only pumas seem able to attack porcupines successfully.

The porcupine is in the rodent family and is the third-largest, behind the capybara and the beaver.  This rodent is covered on its back, sides and tail with hundreds of strong, stiff quills.  These sharp quills are two to three inches long and come out easily, sticking into an attacker’s flesh.  Sometimes the quills rattle as it walks, but it cannot shoot them at its attacker.

If a porcupine senses danger, it turns its back, flares its quills, and greets the attacker with a hard slap of its tail, leaving many barbed quills in the attacker’s face and body.  These quills can only be pulled out from dogs and cats by people.  When an animal tries to remove them with its paws, the quills go in deeper.  If the quills are in the face or mouth, they usually cause the animal’s death in the end, either from infection or starvation.

Porcupines live in hollow logs, stumps, trees and rock slides.  Their main food is green vegetation and tree bark, but they also eat roots, fruits and berries.  Always hungry for salt, they sometimes break into cabins and eat any salty food they can find.  They become troublesome by gnawing paddle and axe handles, leather or anything stained with salty perspiration.

The female porcupine gives birth to a single offspring in the spring.  The baby arrives with a full supply of quills, which are soft and flexible at birth but soon harden.  The mother raises her baby alone.  Interestingly, she can push or help the little one climb a tree without getting herself stuck by its quills.

These unusual animals are another example of how the Creator gives certain creatures a quiet and peaceful life, but with good means of protection against any who would harm them.  In many ways, this is an example of His love and care over us as well.  The Bible encourages us to “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Timothy 2:2).  It is good to follow this instruction.  

But instead of wanting to “get even” with those who oppose us, as the porcupine does, we we should tell them of God’s love and let them know that God wants them to be saved from their sins by coming to Him through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 If you try this, you may be happily rewarded.

Love you all,

Grandpa

     

Jewel # 248 (May 11, 2016)

Four of our boys (your uncles) diving with the sharks - December 2010 - Bahamas

�And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord

of hosts, in that day when I

make up MY JEWELS.�

(Malachi 3:17)

To my dear grandchildren,

Beware the Shark!

�Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, 

walks about, seeking whom he may devour.�

(1 Peter 5:8)

In this Bible verse, Satan is described as a lion prowling through the earth.  A similar example could be a vicious shark in the ocean.  About 350 varieties of sharks are found throughout the world.  The smallest is the 10-inch dwarf; the largest is the 40-foot whale shark, weighing 30,000 pounds or more.  In spite of their frightening looks, most sharks are harmless, living on fish, squid and shellfish.  Two huge species, the basking shark and the whale shark, have such small teeth that they can only eat tiny drifting sea life and small fish.

The hammerhead is the most unusual-looking shark with its head extending out two feet or more on each side of the body.  A large eye is on each end, and its mouth is underneath on the body.  The ugliest shark is the horn or pig shark, with its jaws and teeth at the front of its pig-like snout.

The blue shark is actually a beautiful creature, with its dark bluish tint on top and light blue underneath.  Its huge eyes and a small mouth give it a smiling appearance, and it shows only curiosity toward swimmers.  Thresher sharks, which often work in pairs, beat the water with their tails.  This causes small fish to group together, and then the threshers move in for the kill.

The most dangerous of all sharks is the great white shark with its huge jaws and dagger-like teeth.  It can be 21 to 26 feet long and weigh more that 7,000 pounds.  This one will sometimes attack swimmers.  The injuries from their bites are severe, often resulting in death.  The tiger shark is also vicious and sometimes will attack people.  It is 10 to 14 feet long and can weigh up to 1,400 pounds.  It has rows of long, sharp teeth.

In spite of the shark�s bad reputation, God has a place for them in His creation.  As scavengers, they help keep the ocean clean.  They are useful to man directly in that valuable medicines and vitamins are extracted from various parts of their bodies, and shark meat is an excellent food.

Although most sharks are harmless, few of us would trust these unpredictable creatures.  People can also be just as unpredictable.  How careful we should be in any relationship with people who are not God-fearing, for many of them are used by Satan to lead others to do evil deeds.  The Bible gives good advice:  

�Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established� 

(Proverbs 4:26).  

�It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man� 

(Psalm 118:8).  

�Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  

In all thy ways acknowledge  Him, and He shall direct thy paths� 

(Proverbs 3:5-6).  

This is excellent advice to follow.  

Love you all,

Grandpa

     

 

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Jewel # 247 (May 2, 2016)

“And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord

of hosts, in that day when I 

make up MY JEWELS.”

(Malachi 3:17)

To my dear grandchildren,

The Osprey and Its Prey

“Does the hawk fly by thy wisdom? . . . Does the eagle mount up

at Thy command, and make her nest on high?”

(Job 39:26-27)

The osprey, also called fish hawk, with a five - to six-foot wingspread, is a bird of prey in the hawk family.  It is shiny brown above, but parts of its head and neck have enough white to resembles the bald eagle.  The underparts of its body are plain white, including its heavily feathered legs.  It is very impressive with it erect head and sharply hooked beak.

These birds are found on all continents except Antarctica.  In North America they spend summers from Labrador to Florida and Alaska to California.  Most of them winter from the southern United States to northern Argentina and Paraguay.

Ospreys do not have songs; they have high-pitched whistles.  They feed only on fish, which is why they live near both fresh and salt water.

Their huge nests are a mass of sticks, usually lined with grass or seaweed.  They use the same nest year after year, always adding to it until it may reach three feet high and three feet wide.  Before so many forests were cut down, tops of trees were a favourite nesting place.  From high branches they could look down into the water and choose their fish targets.  But now many build their nests on telephone poles, posts in water, roofs of barns and ledges.  Helping to solve this problem, naturalists build platforms 30 feet or more above the water, and the ospreys find these good substitutes.

Other ospreys build nests on rocks as high as 300 feet.  It is quite a spectacle to watch one take off from this height, hovering over the water, then diving feet first, hitting the water with a great splash and often going completely under, to snatch a fish in its strong talons.  It carries the fish back home in its talons, perhaps eating a few mouthfuls on the way.

The male migrates north again in early spring, soon followed by his lifetime mate.  Returning to the same nest, they clean it and add to it.  Soon they have three or four young chicks to care for.  The mother stays with the young at all times, and the father provides all the food.  The little ones eat so much they become heavier than the parents but return to a smaller size before learning to fly.

The Bible tells us that on the fifth day of creation, “God created . . . every winged fowl after his kind” (Genesis 1:21).  And in Psalm 145:15 we are told, “The eyes of all wait upon Thee; and Thou givest them their food in due season.”  Another Bible verse says, “His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He sees all his goings” (Job34:21).

Is that comforting to you?         Or does it trouble you?

Love you all,

Grandpa

Jewel # 246 (April 17, 2016)

“And they shall be mine, saith the LORD,

Of hosts, in that day when I 

make up MY JEWELS.”

(Malachi 3:17)

To my dear grandchildren,

The Vicious Wolverine

(Part 2)

“Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His face continually.

Remember his marvellous works that He hath done.”

(1 Chronicles 16:11-12)

When hunting, a wolverine is not fast but determined.  If it cannot overtake its prey quickly, it may follow it day after day, until the pursed animal is exhausted and finally caught.  Besides animals and birds, a wolverine eats birds’ eggs, wild fruit and honey.  Ripping beehives open, it is not concerned with the bees because its long, shaggy hair protects it from stings.

While not challenging people openly, the wolverine seems to delight in stealing bait from traps and devouring animals caught in them.  After cleaning out one trap, it usually proceeds along the trap line and tears to shreds other captured animals, making their fur worthless.

The wolverine is usually a night hunter, but if out in daylight, it hides quickly when a human is near.  In the absence of humans, it will break into a cabin, tearing bars off doors, ripping shingles or sheet metal from roofs, pulling screens off and smashing windows—anything to get inside.  Once inside, the damage continues as it eats available food and destroys what it cannot eat.  A mischievous raccoon will occasionally do this too, but the wolverine is worse—smashing lamps, pulling shelves down, tearing clothes apart and ruining other things by spraying its bad-smelling musk.  Hasn’t sin made it an awful creature?

Each year in May or June, two or three young cubs are born in a well-hidden, underground den.  They are blind at birth and weigh less than a pound.  They are carefully protected by the mother who nurses them for several weeks and then teaches them hunting skills.  While growing up, their  playfulness quickly shows their true nature, for they are rough with each other during mock battles.  After a year or more with the mother, they are able to capture game and soon are on their own.

The wolverine is a ruthless destroyer and remind us of the world’s greatest enemy, Satan.  He also is a destroyer, and his object is to capture the hearts of people tempted by him, leading them into a godless and hopeless life.  But strength to resist Satan is given in these Bible verses:  “What shall we then say to these things?  If God be for us, who can be against us?  He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32).

How good it is, as our beginning verse states, to turn to the Lord Jesus as the One to save us from Satan’s power, cleanse away our sins, and who alone can give strength to resist the attacks of that evil one.  

If you have not yet done this, turn to Him as your Saviour today.  

Love you all,

Grandpa

Jewel # 245 (April 16, 2016)

“And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord

of hosts, in that day when I

make up MY JEWELS.”

(Malachi 3:17)

To my dear grandchildren,

The Vicious Wolverine

(Part 1)

“Every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the 

fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.”

(Psalm 50:10-11)

The mean-tempered wolverine lives in the northern woods of Asia, Europe and North America.  It makes its den in a cave, under a fallen tree or under an overhanging rock.  The den is lined with leaves, grass and moss.

The wolverine is related to badgers, skunks and otters and looks something like a small bear.  It is about 30 inches long, weighs from 30 to 50 pounds, and has dark, shaggy hair with white markings.

Its broad, round head is armed with a vicious set of tough, razor-sharp teeth.  It also has been provided with a heavy build and short, powerful legs.  Its four-inch paws have spike-like claws, and in winter, its paws are thickly covered with hair, which act like snowshoes to help it travel over snow.

The wolverine is the scourge of the woods and is considered the most destructive animal.  Unusually strong, it is feared by all animals and even avoided by those larger than itself.  A meat eater, it will devour almost anything alive or dead and finds much of its food by digging foxes, rabbits and marmots out of their burrows.  If these are not available in winter, it looks for deer or elk that are weakened and slowed down by deep snow.  Its strong jaws can crush the leg bones of a deer, making it defenceless and easy to kill.  A wolverine can drag a dead animal that weighs more than double its own weight for several miles.  It is one of the most powerful animals for is size in the world and seems to kill for the love of killing, destroying more animals that it can eat.

The fighter will even challenge a cougar, wolf or bear that is feasting on captured food.  If hungry, the wolverine will go right up to these larger and more powerful animals, growl and snarl at them, displaying its sharp teeth and claws.  Most of these larger animals could defeat the wolverine if a fight resulted, but to avoid a bad time, they will usually leave the food to this fiery challenger.  If a fight does result, the wolverine does not retreat and, as a result, will most likely be killed.

The bad-tempered beast reminds us of the warning given int the Bible: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary [enemy] the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  It is only by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ and keeping close to His care that we can overcome Satan, the evil one. 

(To be continued)

Love you all,

Grandpa   

Jewel # 244 (April 2, 2016)

Joshua diving for shells in the Bahamas ————————————————————

"And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord 

of hosts, in that day when I

make up MY JEWELS.”

(Malachi 3:17) 

To my dear grandchildren,

A Lovely Snail — the Conch

“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight.”

(Hebrews 4:13)

Perhaps the most beautiful of all sea snail shells is one that is not usually thought of as belonging to a snail; it is the queen conch.  You may have one of these prized, heavy shells in your home.  It is spiral shaped and beautifully coloured in creamy pink with rose and tan.  The large end of the shell is worth examining.  It has large, star-shaped spikes spiralling with gradually smaller ones until it ends in a point.   The fan-like lip of the shell is lovely with its pretty colours.  No one but the Lord God, the Creator of all, could design such a beautiful home for such a lowly creature.

Conches live in the world’s shallow seas where they eat plants and grasses that grow in shallow water and algae that grow on rocks.  They lie flat on the ocean floor, withdrawn into their shells except when travelling or eating.  A conch’s meaty body can move in and out of the shell but remains attached to it.  Two, long, antenna-like stalks emerge first, and each of these has an eye on its tip.  Its mouth is underneath these two stalks.  It uses a claw on its body to move about on the sea bottom.  Its shell is made from calcium carbonate which is secreted from a part of the conch’s body.

The queen conch lays many eggs in long strings.  About a week later, the young veligers hatch and are already equipped with miniature shells.  They swim in the ocean for about three weeks before settling to the bottom to develop mature bodies.  Most will grow to be about a foot long and weigh about five pounds.

An interesting feature of the conch’s life is its friendship with the little conch fish that swims right into the conch’s shell in the daylight and then leaves at night.  Another visitor is a small crab that clings to the conch’s lip and remains there, gathering food that floats by.

The Bible tells us, “Thou the Lord hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11).  We can understand His pleasure in these creatures and the beautiful homes He has given them.  But did you know that He has taken pleasure in creating you?  He tells us this in Proverbs 8:31: “My delights were with the sons [and daughters] of men.” 

His pleasure in creating us does not end there.  It is also His desire that we find our delight in Him, the One who is so loving to us that He died to save us from our sins.  

Have you answered this wonderful invitation of God?  

“Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him” (Psalm 37:4-5).    

Love you all,

Grandpa