DAILY DISCIPLINE #40
By Colleen Donahue

"But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days."
2 Timothy 3:1

In my travels as a sales representatave one of the topics that keeps popping up amidst our business transactions begins like this... "What is happening to our society? What has happened to our neighborhoods that used to be safe after dark?" The newspapers are full of unbelievable stories. Television and movies, once a source of entertainment for all, have incorporated violence, brutality and sex as standard features. Our eyes are bombarded with pornography with lifesize billboards to magazines at the grocery checkout counters. Fear stalks the streets of most major cities after dark and now even rural and small town areas are affected. No place seems exempt from the ravages of evil lunatics, AIDS or drugs.

Is our world worse today than 20, 100, 1000 or 2000 years ago? Has the 1900's been an unusually evil century or...

HAS HISTORY SIMPLY REPEATED ITSELF?

Let's go back in history...

Day 1- 4004 B.C. Adam and Eve's first sin paved the way for a sin nature to be inherited by each of us. Notice that jealousy, strife and murder began right away with their first sons.
Genesis 4:1-8

Day 2- 2350 B.C. This was approximately Noah's time. What were men like at this time?
Genesis 6:11-12

Day 3- How will the final days of history be like Noah's days?
Luke 17:26-27

Day 4 -1918 B.C. What were men like during this time when Abraham and his nephew Lot lived?
Genesis 13:13 / Genesis 18:20-21

Day 5- How will the final days of history be like the days of Abraham and Lot?
Luke 17:28-30

Day 6- 1706-1452 B.C. This was the period when the Israelites left Egypt to get to the Promised Land. What were God's chosen people like?
Deuteronomy 1:26-28, 32 / 32:15-20

Day 7 -God's chosen people (the Israelites) had become a "sorry lot" through sin. But what were the nations around them like?
Deuteronomy 9:1-6

Day 8 -1394-1095 B.C. This was the Period of the Judges. What were men like at this time?
Judges 2:10-13, 19

Day 9- What became the consequences of their sins?
Judges 2:14-15

Day 10- 975-587 B.C. This was the period of the kings of Israel and Judah was then a divided kingdom. What were men like then?
2 Kings 17:7-23

Day 11- How did Jesus describe His own generation?
Mark 8:38

Many Christians feel that the world is entering the final arena for our "last act". What indications does the Bible give us concerning the "last days"?

Day 12- What will be the political situation between various nations?
Joel 3:9-10 / Matthew 24:6-7

Day 13 -What will be man's attitude to money and material goods?
2 Timothy 3:1-2a / Revelations 3:15-18

Day 14 -Read these descriptions of godless people in the last days. Do you see any symptoms now?
Proverbs 30:11-14 / 2 Timothy 3:2-5

Day 15- What will men do to increase their knowledge?
Daniel 12:4

Day 16- The Bible clearly indicates that in the last days there will be a departure from the Christian faith.
Matthew 24:10 / I Timothy 4:1 / 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Day 17- Why will the love of many towards God grow cold?
Matthew 24:12

Day 18 -What will be one area of great perversion?
Romans 1:24-32 / 2 Peter 2:14-15

Day 19 -How will the earth be affected, causing great tragedy to men?
Matthew 24:7b-8

Day 20- Who will national leaders and nations ultimately reject?
Psalm 2:1-3

Day 21- A man's conscience has kept an honesty in our society as good often triumphed over evil. But in "later times" what will happen to men's consciences?
I Timothy 4:1-2

Day 22- What will there be an increase of?
Matthew 24:5,11 / 2 Peter 2:1-3

Day 23- Who will be worshipped and honored besides God in the end times in a bigger way than ever?
Revelations 9:20 / Revelations 3:11-14

Day 24- What kind of false claims will men be spreading before the end comes?
I Thessalonians 5:1-3

How are WE to concern ourselves with the things happening around us? What is our response to be to the evil we see? How are we to conduct our own life?

Day 25- Concerning the Days of Judgement (that will be coming when Christ returns) Jesus had one command for us.
Matthew 24:42-44 / Mark 13:32-37

Day 26- The Apostle Paul felt that evil men and imposters would go from bad to worse, yet he had clear directives for a child of God living in the midst of it.
2 Timothy 3:13-15

Day 27- Although God has put us in the world to be its "salt and light", notice in these verses the people we are to maintain a separation from.
Matthew 18:17 / Roams 16:17 / I Corinthians 5:11 / 15:33 / 2 Thessalonians 3:6 / 2 Timothy 3:1-5 / 2 John 10

Day 28- Paul predicted a time when men would not put up with sound doctrine and truth but instead would hear only what suited them. Despite this changing audience, what did he command US to do?
2 Timothy 4:1-5

Day 29- As God's children, what kind of people ought we to be?
2 Peter 3:10-14, 17-18

Day 30- Our minds are constantly being bombarded (with books, magazines, billboards, radio, TV, etc.). More than ever the choice must be made by us whether we will allow certain thoughts, pictures, etc. to invade our thought life. What does Paul suggest should occupy our minds fully?
Philippians 4:8

Day 31 -In conclusion, what does the Apostle Paul suggest should be our position regarding good and evil?
Romans 16:19b / I Corinthians 14:20