RANDOM THOUGHTS 16
Originally posted: April 29, 2022
Various bits of miscellany which have accumulated (mostly on sticky notes and scraps of paper) since the last RANDOM THOUGHTS (almost three months ago).
PERHAPS this offering should have been called “Random Thoughts about Random Thoughts,” since the first two or three items address that specific topic?
* When EVERYBODY (the government) pays, then NOBODY pays.
At least that is the thinking of many moderns.
This is evident from the great number of people who treat government benefits and other monies AS IF there was NO cost to this largesse and no differently than if this benefit suddenly “dropped out of the sky.”
A LARGE number of moderns suppose that their monthly checks from the government are a “right” and as such, they DESERVE those benefits.
The money which pays for those benefits is not seen as having come from ANYWHERE or ANYONE previous to the government having possessed it.
* There appears to be a natural reluctance on the part of man to PUT AWAY the many stories he has been told from his youth.
EVEN IF ONE KNOWS BETTER–or can see through the sugar-coating of lies–the comfort such stories bring all those who believe in them often outweighs any benefits the truth might bring. At least that is the way that almost ALL moderns behave.
* Regardless of what he may say to the contrary, man LOVES his routine.
Perhaps this is because most men are CREATURES OF HABIT–and what is a ROUTINE but habits which are formalized and organized into mostly-daily behaviors?
There is a COMFORT to the routines which most men organize and create.
Perhaps this is one reason why times of chaos and confusion affect men so: the routines they have grown so accustomed to visiting–many daily or even, MULTI-daily–are suddenly uprooted and often suffer irreparable harm.
* The sense that NOT all is right with the world may be more than just a vague perception of troubles on the horizon.
WHAT IF there is something deeper going on which the person affected does not see?
A bit of what that ‘something’ that one cannot see is hinted at in the entire quote of “all is right with the world.”
AT LEAST ONE of the dictionaries gives the entire entry as “God is in his heaven and all is right with the world.”
Robert Browning (in 8141) first expressed the thought in print over 180 years ago.
Perhaps the feeling that “NOT all is right with the world” is a WARNING that man gets from his CREATOR—even if that man denies such a CREATOR exists?
Could such a feeling of unease perhaps cause that man to RE-EVALUATE his behaviors, his circumstance, his life?
Perhaps.
* Those who propagate the propaganda that one partakes of EACH AND EVERY DAY do NOT take a DAY OFF if nothing much is happening.
This is one big reason that modern man will STILL be surrounded by false stories and premises regardless of whether anything happens to further that particular false story or false premise along.
The Wicked Take No Vacation
* Over the years, we are REPEATEDLY told that “No man is an island.”
HOWEVER, modern man is increasingly finding ways to disprove that supposed maxim.
EACH modern appears to live in a sort of SELF-IMPOSED isolation; a sort of informational cocoon: MOST moderns become SEPARATED from their family, their former friends, their fellows AS IF those groups of people FORMERLY referred to as a person’s “support network” did NOT exist.
These PERSONAL contacts have been increasingly supplanted by an IMPERSONAL collection of government agencies, NGOs, and other alternatives.
It may be true that “No man is an island.”
But every day brings us closer to a time when perhaps that motto may be swept into the “ash heap of history,” replaced by latest tidbit which flashes across the screen of man’s smartphone or computer.
* The observations and small details which are noticed a man will have as a FOLLOWER OF JESUS CHRIST are NOT the same ones he had when he was a heathen.
IF God’s Word is true, then this would HAVE to be true as well.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
–2CORINTHIANS 5:17
One CANNOT be a NEW CREATURE if one still lives by the OLD LIES.
* One of modern man’s GREATEST DELUSIONS is that modern man possesses “something inside” which some refer to as “The (Modern) Art of Navigation.”
This “something” that modern man supposedly has inside of him is seen BY MAN as a guide through troubled times.
And when one forsakes his CREATOR, one USUALLY finds SOMETHING ELSE to worship.
Many moderns have found that “something inside” to be a nearly-perfect substitute for the God they no longer believe in.
In this regard, the Art of Navigation is more an idol than a true guide through troubled times.
OF COURSE, if one’s idols (or what lies behind that idol) waits until the times are VERY chaotic to desert that person who previously depended upon it, then where does the person NEXT turn to for comfort and guidance?
“But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.”
–1CORINTHIANS 10:20
OR, does that person–having forsaken his CREATOR–give up on comfort and guidance?
A person may depend a GREAT DEAL on his Art of Navigation IF that person NEVER ventures very far from shore.
AND THESE are what pass for Random Thoughts in the times in which we now find ourselves.
PAST RANDOM THOUGHTS
DOES the reader sometimes have ‘random thoughts?’
It is not YET too late: there is still a LITTLE time to change direction (repent), place your faith (hope) for the future entirely on Jesus Christ and enter the kingdom of heaven.
DOES the reader believe he is saved?
Make Your Calling and Election Sure: End Times Survival
DOES the reader believe he is NOT saved?
Time is Running Out: Today is the Day of Salvation
THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. ”
–1 Corinthians 15:1-8
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
-–Romans 1:16
A Reminder: The Gospel is Simple
MORE: Eternal Salvation Through Jesus Christ: Salvation Messages from End Times Prophecy Report
[Portions of this piece appeared originally in End Times Prophecy Headlines: April 29-May 1, 2022.]
MORE
MORE
RELATED ARTICLES
by Jeremiah Jameson
–with Mondo Frazier
image: ETPR/Image by Larisa-K from Pixabay.com/ETPR
© Jeremiah J. Jameson and End Times Prophecy Report, 2012-19. © Mondo Frazier and End Times Prophecy Report, DBKP 2007-2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeremiah J. Jameson and End Times Prophecy Report with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Link Disclaimer: inclusion of links to other blogs/websites is not necessarily an endorsement of all content posted in those blogs/websites.
[NOTE: The following articles are from a service. We neither endorse nor at times have much control over them–although we do, of course, enjoy articles originating from this website on this service. Some articles illustrate points made in ETPR articles; some are merely for the reader’s edification or education.
ALL such links appearing in End Times Prophecy Headlines, such as those below, should originate at ETPR.
RE: our link disclaimer: there are links, from time-to-time which appear on this site which we neither approve nor endorse. The frequency of these types of links will no doubt grow worse. All effort is made to remove such links when we become aware of them.]
Let this reminder serve as a heads-up to all of our regular readers out there. ETPR will be taking some time off for the holiday season. Regular output will resume after the first of the year.
The day before Christmas is, MANY TIMES, filled with various ponderings and other types of pensive recollections. And so we find ourselves writing a bit about Christmas 2023.
End Times Prophecy Report 