Daily Devotional

I started out not being prepared—for anything, especially emergencies—that is, until I got married and had a family. My family and I going through some tough times certainly got my attention. For example:

• My brother’s home was destroyed and his office building was severely damaged in an    earthquake.
  
  
• Some of my church attenders were killed in a mudslide when a hillside buried scores of  homes.
  
  
• Our church and our home became a refuge during many days of power outages.
  
  
• A number of buildings on my family’s property were burned in a raging fire covering many acres.
  
  
• I, too, am bombarded with media threats and predictions of “doom and gloom.”

No, I do not have an underground bunker but I do have a well-stocked pantry and plenty of emergency supplies in my vehicles. I even have a stash of black licorice, a staple in my B.O.B—my “bug out” bag. Am I a doomsday prepper? Of course not! Am I prepared? Yes! Am I worried? No! Do I believe the world is safe? Of course not. I believe the world is on a collision course with the consequence of its own sin. Of this the Bible is clear:
2 Timothy 3:1 “In latter days difficult (Greek: chalepos, violent) times will come.

2 Timothy 3:3–4 continues, describing people in the end times as “…without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless…”

Listen to Jesus’ own words regarding the condition of the world prior to His return:
Matthew 24:6–7 “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not  frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.”

Seems to me this would be a good time to prepare.

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation