4.13.2026 - Jody Duncan

April 13, 2026

This week's devotions are by Jody Duncan.

The Power of God

Romans 1:20

As you enter your time with God today, take a moment to quiet your mind. Breathe this prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus, come. Fill me with your Spirit. Open my heart that you might share your words of life with me today.”

We read today from Romans 1:20. Read the passage now or at the end of this devotion. What does this passage teach us about the power of God as revealed in his creation?

Throughout this chapter, Paul preaches the gospel of Jesus to Roman Gentiles, often referencing the power of God to bring salvation to all who believe. In this verse, specifically, he states that there was no excuse for people to have turned away from righteousness, for God’s power and divine nature were there for all to see in everything he had made. Though God’s nature – his power, his divinity, his wisdom -- are invisible to us directly, they are clearly visible through his creation. All we have to do is look.

I am guilty of going down rabbit holes on YouTube. A video pops up, catches my attention, and next thing I know, I’ve spent an hour watching one video after another about what was really going on behind the scenes on “Seinfeld,” or how this recipe, finally, will produce a no-flour, no-grain bread that tastes like the real thing! (They never do.)

YouTube can be a colossal waste of time – but it can also be educational. Some rabbit holes are better than others, and for me, the best are those involving Intelligent Design and the origin of life, as presented by legitimate, credentialed scientists.

Within my lifetime, the scientific community believed that a cell was a relatively simple structure, essentially a nucleus surrounded by a jelly-like protoplasm. Now, advanced microscopic tools have revealed that even the simplest of cells contains an entire factory of complex machinery, all driven by sophisticated digital code. The structure of a cell suggests it has been designed by a designer.

God’s intricate, exquisite and unfathomably complex creation in a single living cell has stymied generations of scientists, as has the origin of life itself. In 1953, the scientific community believed they were on the road to creating life with the success of the Miller-Urey experiment. At that time, the predominant theory was that life originated when lightning struck a kind of primordial soup, stimulating the production of organic, living molecules. To simulate the conditions of early Earth, Miller and Urey combined certain

chemical compounds and stimulated them with electricity. Within a week, the experiment produced 11 of the amino acids required to build a living organism. “We’re on our way!” the scientific community announced as they handed out cigars. “We, too, can create life!"

But it is now 70 years later, and science is no closer to producing life than it was in 1953. In fact, the goalposts keep moving farther away as the ever-increasing complexity of the cell is discovered. “Oh, you mean I have to build that structure, too?” the scientists ask. “And that other one, which only now we see? And now that one?” On and on it goes.

God’s ‘invisible qualities,’ his creativity, eternal power and divine nature, are all revealed in even the simplest of cells.

I am, most likely, preaching to the Worship Team here, for if you read these daily devotionals, you recognize the true God, even without a brief review of microbiology. But it is always good to remind ourselves of the places, big and small, in which God reveals himself. If nothing else, it reminds us to remind others.

We recognize God’s transformative power all around us. Mostly, we see it in the love of Jesus Christ. There is no greater love than Jesus’ love, and no greater power than God’s power expressed through that love.

Paul tells us we have no excuse but to see God through his creation. Today, open your eyes and see him.