I’m sure many of you have seen beautiful pictures of coral reefs like the one above and some of you have probably had the privilege to go snorkeling or SCUBA diving on a coral reef. They are magnificent structures, having a variety of forms and colors.

Zooxanthellae inside a coral polyp

There are different types of corals but the one most often seen on reefs are ‘reef-building corals.’ These corals secrete a hard substance called calcium carbonate which forms a protective skeleton. Without this hard skeleton they would be destroyed by waves, eaten by a variety of animals and would not survive. This process of producing calcium carbonate is very complex process and cannot be done without the help of microscopic organisms known as zooxanthellae (zo-zan-thel-ee). These tiny little guys are photosynthesizers (taking in CO2 and light and producing O2 and fixed carbon [glycerol]) and live within the tissues of corals. The products of the photosynthesis process are necessary for the survival of the coral.

Here are three ways the zooxanthellae assist the coral in survival:

1) They remove waste and other materials that would inhibit the coral from forming their calcium skeleton

2) They use the UV light from the sun to produce energy rich materials necessary to build the calcium skeleton

3) They remove carbon dioxide and produce oxygen which enhances the production of the calcium skeleton

None of this would be possible if there was not light. That is why corals are found in shallow, tropical waters, where incoming UV light is highest. One study found that in the light, the oxygen content inside the coral tissues was >250% the surrounding environment but in the dark oxygen reduced to <2% the surrounding environment.

Overall, the zooxanthellae need to bring in as much light as possible to help the coral produce a strong protective calcium skeleton and survive!!

Wanna know something cool friends?? Jesus lives inside of us and does the exact same thing for our spiritual survival 🙂

Take a look at this verse:

Ephesians 3:16-17–“According to the riches of his glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”

It is God’s glory that strengthens us by providing power from our inner being. In Hebrews 1 Jesus is referred to as “the radiance of the glory of God.’ It is Christ that dwells inside of our hearts, building us strong and protecting us.

The way He does that is represented beautifully in the way the zooxanthellae provide strength for the coral.

In order for us to have a strong foundation and build a strong protection we have to remove the waste and the stuff that disrupts that process. Just as the coral can’t do that without the help of the zoxanthellae, we cannot do that without the help of Christ. Jesus takes away our impurities. He heals those who are “ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed” (Matthew 4:24). As we learned through the shark and the cleaner fish, he brings us to his cleaning station, the cross, to wash away everything keeping us from growing strong in Him. He not only removes those things from us, He actually takes them upon Himself. He bares our burdens so we can grow!

Ezekiel 36:26-“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Also, Jesus reflects the fullness of God’s glory and He is the light of God. When He lives inside of us that light produces an environment in our inner being that brings life. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

Exodus 15:2-“The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.”

When we enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ and He comes into our lives he does the same thing that the zooxanthellae do for the coral. He removes the waste, and provides the necessary components (i.e. grace, love and truth) for us to be built up and live a life full of hope and fulfillment. He helps build a strong protection around us so that we can resist Satan and the temptations of this world. “It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure” (2 Samual 22:33) and “gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29).

Friends, if you don’t already have Christ living inside of you I would like to invite you to ask Him. He wants to have a relationship with you and take away your burdens and junk in your life that prevent you from growing strong and having hope in this life. If you do have a relationship with Christ I want to encourage you to use the ‘nutrients’ he provides for you to grow strong in your faith. Rely on His truth, His grace and His love!!

Psalm 68:35-“You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!”

Polar bears are one of the largest bears in the world and also the largest carnivore. A native of the Arctic Circle, polar bears will eat almost anything but primarily eat ringed and bearded seals. They are stealthy, opportunistic hunters, typically attacking without their prey even knowing they are there until the attack is underway.

They use a variety of techniques to catch their prey: (1) still hunting: silently waiting by seal breathing holes in the ice and attacking when they come up to breath; (2) stalking on land: attacking seals resting on the ice by crouching low (blending in with the surroundings) and creeping closer and closer until close enough to charge; (3) Aquatic stalking: coming from the water to attack seals resting on the ice; (3) using it’s keen sense of smell to find baby seals in underground dens. Each of these methods is used at a different time of year, depending on the behavior of the seal.

One strategy the seals have developed against the attacks of baby seals is making escape holes at one end of the  lair leading into the water. The mother creates a cave under snow drifts (stable sea ice attached to land) next to a hole in the ice. While the mother is out collecting food a polar bear may come along and smell/hear the baby seal inside the cave. As the bear begins to pounce on the ice, trying to get in, the seal escapes through the hole into the water.

 

As a preface, I don’t intend to give too much focus/power to Satan but it is important for us to understand how it is that the enemy attacks us and how to battle those attacks.

 

We are like the seals and the polar bear is just like our enemy, Satan, in the way he attacks us. He is stealthy, stalking his next victim to consume. He is also smart, not always using the same tactics to attack us.

Have you ever felt like in different seasons of life the enemy is attacking you in different ways? I know I have. Sometimes the attacks are emotional, spiritual, mental and even physical. Depending on the time in my life and what God is doing, the enemy will attack in different ways. Although he uses a variety of strategies, if we properly train ourselves in the Spirit, we will ‘be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ’ (Philippians 1:10).

By looking at the hunting strategies of the polar bear we can gain some insight into how Satan ‘hunts’ us. First, the polar bear uses silent hunting by waiting by the seals breathing hole. When the seals come up to breath the bear swipes it with its large paw and drags it out onto the ice. How many of you have had times in your life where you feel like your trapped under water (figuratively…obviously), maybe by a habitual sin or addiction and you just can’t find the surface? You’re searching for a place to take a breath and when you finally find that hole in the ice you go to it only to be struck on the head. Satan wants more than anything to strike us when we try and come out of our burdens; when we try and breath. He waits silently for us to surface, ready to pounce at the right moment.

The second strategy the polar bear uses is either land or aquatic stalking, where it creeps up on resting, unaware seals, completely undetected. They don’t even know what hit them until they are being devoured. That’s what happens to us when we are not being watchful. The Bible says to ‘be sober-minded and watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion [or polar bear] seeking someone to devour’ (1 Peter 5:8). When we take our eyes off of God and we become slothful in spiritual disciplines (i.e. prayer, reading the Word, fellowship, etc) we will fall victim to the attacks of the enemy and we won’t even know it.

Finally, the polar bear will smell out the protective lairs to try and find seal pups. When they find it they pounce, trying to penetrate the layer of ice protecting the pup. If we have entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ we have received an anointing of His Holy Spirit, which guides and protects us. He has promised to be our strength and our refuge. “He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler” (Psalm 91:4). Satan tries with all his might to penetrate that protection (Job 1:10-12; Luke 22:31) but the great thing is when he does, God provides an escape.

1 Corinthians 10:13–“God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

When the enemy pursues us, trying to devour us we must take the escape route God has provided for us. You know what that escape route is? Jesus Christ! When the polar bear comes and tries to penetrate the protection the seal flees into the water. We too must flee into the Living Water! Jesus said, ‘whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life’ (John 4:14). Jesus and His sacrificed blood is our escape from the enemy. We must flee Satan and cling to Christ, ‘pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11).

Let me leave you with a story that illustrates this perfectly (Exodus 14):

God had just miraculously delivered His people, Israel, from the hands of the Egyptians, who had held them in bondage for over 400 years. They were encamped in the desert by the Red Sea when Pharaoh and his servants decided to pursue them to bring them back to their bondage. Pharaoh says, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” and he gathers his army to pursue them.

As Pharaoh came near to them, ‘the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly….and Moses said, ‘Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Then, God in the form of a pillar of a cloud, moved in between Israel and Egypt and divided the waters of the Red Sea. He protected them on the side of the enemy and provided a route of escape on the other side. There was only one route of escape: the narrow path through the divided waters. Jesus is our only way of escape.We aren’t going to escape by trying to ignore the attack; we can only escape by clinging to the truth of Jesus Christ.

John 14:6–“Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'”

The next time you are under attack remember the words of God and cling to His Truth!!

 

God Bless

 

I’m super excited about this post because it’s about the most amazing animal in the world: sharks 🙂 In most environments sharks are one of the top predators, regulating much of the ecosystem around it. They are a very diverse group of animals ranging from 60ft to 6in and inhabiting almost every kind of marine environment.

I want to tell you about a really cool thing that many sharks do at different times during their life. They get cleaned. There are places throughout the ocean which scientists have called ‘cleaning stations.’ Here, many oceanic sharks will gather in shallow coastal waters to be cleaned by a species of fish known as a cleaner wrasse. As a shark arrives they patiently wait as the wrasses diligently removes dead skin, parasites and any other unwanted material. They clean the fins, the body, tail, gills and even the inside of the mouth (if you look closely at the picture you can see a wrasse inside the sharks mouth).

It’s not all up to the wrasse though. If the shark wants to be fully cleaned it has to cooperate by moving in different positions, allowing the wrasse to get into all the nooks and crannies. Also, these cleaning events aren’t quick. The longer the shark waits patiently the cleaner they are at the end.

Guess what? Our relationship with Jesus is just like the sharks relationship with the cleaner wrasse. Jesus cleanses us!

We once were covered by sin and all kinds of unrighteousness but “the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanses our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14). Through Christ we have been cleansed, once and for all, from the guilt of our past sins (2 Peter 1:9; Hebrews 10:2,22).

Here is a beautiful story of how Jesus cleanses us:

Luke 5:12-13–“While he (Jesus) was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.’ And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will; be clean.’ And immediately the leprosy left him.”

This leprous man knew that Jesus could cleanse him so what did he do? He fell on his face and made himself available to be cleaned. He entered into the ‘cleaning station’ of Jesus. When we come to Christ and make ourselves available to Him, He touches us and removes all the filth and makes us pure. Just as the shark has to cooperate with the fish by allowing it to reach all the places that need cleansing, we too need to allow Christ into certain areas of our lives so that he can cleanse it. We allow Christ into those places when we come to Him and say, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts” (Psalm 139:23). We need to let Him cleanse us.

The cleaner wrasses specifically eats the dead skin and parasites off of the shark. Both reduce the ability of the shark to effectively swim, hunt and basically, just live the way it’s supposed to. When we are infected with sin and the hurts of our past it influences the way we live our lives. We cannot live a fulfilled life. When Jesus cleanses us “by the blood of the eternal covenant, God equips us with everything good that we may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

I want to share with you a dream that I had this past summer during a time that I was struggling with my identity. It speaks about this cleansing and It’s actually very interesting how this dream even ties into the topic of sharks and their parasites:

I was snorkeling in the ocean and these three sharks were coming my way. They were kind of far away so I surfaced and looked around. When I put my head back in the water they were right in front of me. They threw some sort of small creature on me and it attached to my back. As I was swimming back to shore and trying to walk, the thing on my back started jabbing me in the sides and pushing me back down. Eventually I couldn’t even get off the ground because it was jabbing so hard. I remember feeling extreme pain with each jab. Then all of a sudden the thing got ripped off my back and thrown onto the ground. A giant, extremely bright cross came from the sky and crushed the thing and a loud voice said, “Stand up! You are redeemed.” I woke up immediately and was in tears.

Lamentations 3:58-“You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.”

That is what Christ did for us on the cross: he cleansed us. The cross is our ‘cleaning station’ and we must come to it ready to let Jesus take our old, dead self and all the parasites that destroy us down to the grave, so that “we can walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Where are you at today? Maybe you are still holding on to the past and you have never come before the cross and let Jesus take away your shame and guilt. Or maybe you have but you haven’t been back to that place in a long time. Jesus is inviting you! He is dying (literally) to cleanse you of everything. Let Him!

God Bless!

In many parts of the world you can find one of the most magnificent ecosystems in the world: Kelp Forests. Kelp forests are made up of mainly a macroalgae known as Giant Kelp. These kelp forests can extend for miles and can reach the surface from depths of over 100 ft. Giant kelp is extremely fast growing and provides shelter, food and safety for many different marine organisms. These huge kelp forests can only be present due to the physical structure of the giant kelp and the environmental conditions it exists in.

At the base of each kelp individual is something called a holdfast–a root like mass that anchors that anchors the individual to the sea floor, usually attaching firmly to solid substrates such as large boulders. Without this hold fast the kelp would be destroyed by waves and wind, especially during large storms.

With the base of the kelp firmly attached to the sea floor, it uses another structure to rise to the surface. Pneumatocysts are little air-filled bladders attached all along the kelp to provide buoyancy, allowing the kelp to remain upright in the water column and reach the surface where the sunlight is.

When these crucial structures are fully developed and an individual kelp receives the necessary nutrients from it’s environment it joins with other individual kelp to create a beautiful kelp forest that is strong, being able to withstand intense storms, and can assist in the survival of hundreds of other species.

So what do kelp and kelp forests have anything to do with God and the way he works in our lives?

Well first off, Paul refers to Christ as our ‘spiritual rock’ (1 Corinthians 10:4) and King David calls God the ‘rock in whom I take refuge’ (Psalm 18:2). During the His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells the story of a man who builds his house on a rock versus a man who built it on the sand. “When the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on the house, it did not fall, because it has been founded on the rock’ (Matthew 7:24-27).

Just as the kelp attaches it’s holdfast to a solid surface so it can withstand the storms we must attach ourselves firmly to Christ, our solid rock. Only with that strong foundation can we stand firm when life gets hard and we endure hardship.

In 2 Chronicles 20 all of Judah was under attack by the Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites. The people were afraid but God said to them, “You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf” (verse 17). We must ‘holdfast’ to our rock!

Once we have our foundation firmly established in Christ He can begin growing us up closer to Him.

2 Peter 3:18–“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The kelp uses nutrients from it’s environment and it’s air-filled pneumatocysts to grow to the surface where the sunlight is. That sunlight allows it to photosynthesize (the process of bringing in carbon dioxide and uv light and putting out oxygen). Growing to the surface does mean it will be exposed to more waves and wind stress but without the light it would die. The risk of not growing is greater then the risk of growing to reach the light (See where I’m going with this).

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). That is our goal, to reach Jesus, the light in our life. Our whole life is a process of reaching the surface (heaven) and finally seeing Christ in all His glory.

That happens through spiritual growth. “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). We must get nutrients from our environment and develop our ‘spiritual pneumatocysts’ by spending time in God’s Word, having true fellowship with other believers, praying and interceding, fasting and just spending quiet time with our savior. As we establish these disciplines in our life we grow in our sanctification, becoming more like Christ.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-15–“God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. This he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that your were taught.”

Yes, as we grow we will experience struggles and we may be persecuted for our beliefs. The risk of growing closer to God is far less then the risk of staying at the bottom, in the darkness. Also, as we grow, we join others who are also growing in their faith, firmly rooted on “The Rock.” We create a magnificent assembly, with one mind, heart and purpose: “to grow in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16). We can be the body of Christ to those around us, providing comfort and love, so they can spiritually live.

From the bottom to the top and everything in between a kelp forest has Christ written all over it. My encouragement to you: (1) Hold fast to Christ; (2) Draw nutrients from your environment and grow your spiritual pneumatocysts; (3) Keep your focus on reaching the light of Christ, even if it means enduring hardship and strife.

God bless you 🙂

Shrimp Gobies are a unique species of Goby that are found mainly in tropical waters, especially in the Western Indo Pacific Ocean. These gobies are unique in that form what are known as symbiotic relationships with burrowing shrimps (hence their name ‘shrimp gobies’). The shrimp maintains a burrow in the sand in which both the shrimp and goby live. The shrimp is virtually blind compared to the goby, but if it feels the goby suddenly swim into the burrow, it will follow. The goby and shrimp keep in very close contact with each other, with the shrimp keeping its antennae attached to the goby. If there is any sign of danger the goby flicks its tail and they both seek refuge in the burrow. If the shrimp wants to survive it must rely on the goby completely.

Can you see our relationship with Jesus represented through the shrimp’s relationship with the goby? Just like the shrimp our vision is very bad. When it comes to seeing what’s coming next or seeing the attacks that Satan throws our way we are basically blind. It is only through a close relationship with Jesus that we can see. Jesus said to his disciples,

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12)

Later, he said,

“Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going” (John 12:35)

Jesus wants us to follow him. Just like the shrimp never takes its antennae off of the shrimp we should never take our eyes off of Christ. We must “meditate on his precepts and fix our eyes on his ways” (Psalm 119:5). When we do that we no longer have to fear what we cannot see. We can trust Jesus completely because his eternal vision is so much greater than ours. If the shrimp did not stay in close contact with the goby he probably would be consumed by a predator, without even knowing what hit him. Similarly, when we don’t have our eyes fixed on Christ, we fall victim to the attacks of our predator, the Devil, “who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Here is a cool example of two men who were literally blind, trusting in Jesus:

“And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David’….Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ They he touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done to you.’ And their eyes were opened” (Matthew 9:27-30).

These men were blind and new Jesus had the power to give them sight. Notice that while they were blind they followed Jesus. They trusted and had faith! As a result, Jesus restored their vision. We are blind without Christ and we must keep our spiritual antennae locked on Him.

The next time you are afraid/worried about the future or you feel like you have no direction in life or your just feeling really oppressed by the enemy, remember the shrimp and the goby and cling to Christ, who is the light and strength of your life!

I’ll leave you with this:

2 Samuel 22:2-4-“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from death. I call upon the Lord, who is trustworthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”

God Bless!!

Limpets are fascinating creatures found both in marine and freshwater environments! They are related to snails, however, have very unique characteristics. Limpets spend the majority of their lives clamped tightly to rocks or other hard surfaces, moving only to feed or escape a predator. Because they live in areas that experience high wave activity they have the ability to adhere strongly to whatever surface they are on. Once they have fully ‘suctioned’ themselves it is extremely difficult for anything to remove it from its place.

Now that you have a little background on what a limpet is let me tell you a little story! Most of the posts won’t have a personal story attached but this one is pretty cool. A few years ago I went overseas on a missions trip with a few other college students. Out team was going to be split up and staying in two different parts of the country throughout the duration of the trip. Before we even got to the country it had already been decided who was going to to be with whom and at what location they would be at. That gave me plenty of time to research the area and find out that I was going to be close to the ocean and have a chance to see some really cool things. I hadn’t even gotten there and I had already become very attached to it.

Once we arrived, after spending a few days with us, our team leader (who lived in the country) decided that, based on our skills and ages, the teams should be switched. The night he told us I’m not going to lie I wasn’t too pleased, in fact I wasn’t happy at all. I had already planned out so many ways I was going to build relationships with people in the other area and now all those plans were ruined. Our team, myself included, had been praying for months for flexibility and for us to have a willing heart to go with the flow, no matter what. That prayer was now being tested. That night I came to God, asking him to change my heart and help me be excited for the new location I would be in. How did God respond? Well, let’s rewind to earlier that day, just hours before we were told we were going to be switched.

My team and I took a trip down by the sea to take some pictures and just sit in God’s beautiful creation. While we were there I saw some limpets lining the rocks. I had just learned about them in one of my classes so I wanted to get one and show the rest of my team. I tried getting some of them off but as soon as I touched one it would firmly stick to the rock. After a couple of minutes with no success I finally found one that wasn’t too attached. I quickly grabbed it before it had a chance to attach more. I picked it up and brought it over to friends to show them.

So how did God respond to my prayer? As I laid in my bed he spoke softly, “You are like the limpets firmly attached to the rock. I want to pick you up and show you what I can do with you. Loosen your grip and let me use you in this other place.” As quickly as the discouragement came when I was told we would be switched, encouragement and came flooding in. God spoke to me through his creation. He revealed his heart to me through a tiny little limpet.

For those of you who know my experience with this missions trip you know that God did absolutely amazing things in this new location he brought me to. My life was changed forever and I built friendships that will last forever.

This is my encouragement to you: Don’t be like the limpet!!

Isaiah 29:16–“You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding’?

Jeremiah 18:4–“And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.”

Has God been leading you in a certain direction but you’ve been too attached where you are now?

Are there certain things or relationships in your life you know are unhealthy but you’re too attached to move away from them?

Let God pick you up! He’s dying to carry you and show the world what He can do with you! All He needs is you to detach!

God Bless!

“For His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

I recently graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a B.S in Marine Biology and I am currently pursuing a Master’s in Marine Biology at California State University, Northridge. I love everything about the ocean and all the critters that reside. I also have a deep love for my God, my Creator and Savior. I believe His Word, the Bible to be true in its entirety, including the above verse. Therefore, if His invisible attributes have been revealed in the things that have been made than I hope to discover more about God’s character through His creation in the ocean. This is a chance for me to bring my two loves together.

Each week (hopefully) I will describe some aspect of marine biology and relate it to God and how He works and interacts with us. I am really excited about this and I hope you will be encouraged by this. Feel free to comment and give any feedback, criticisms, encouragement etc.

My prayer is that you will grow closer to God as you see and experience His character revealed through creation!

God Bless you!