Prevent Distortion of the Bible by Completing the Sentence

A great way to mislead people with distorted truth is to quote part a verse. It sounds so true because it has a Bible reference, but the meaning of the partial quote could be very wrong. This is how easily people are fooled. The true understanding and the power there in can only be released and realized by completing the sentence, and within the context. Discover how to be truly powerful .....

Bible is easily distorted by quoting out of context. There is a subtle form of distorting caused by quoting just a part of a verse and leaving out the rest.

How to Resist the Devil?
A typical example is Jam 4:7 "Resist the devil and he will flee from you". So Christians are encouraged to resist the devil by his own strength which will prove to be futile most of the time. The full verse is "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you". Submitting to God is the way to resist the devil. Notice 'therefore' is used. This means that 'submit to God' comes from responding to the earlier verses which speak of quarrels, lusts and so forth. So the correct interpretation is actually we are to submit first to God so that we can overcome the temptations of devil in areas of quarrels, selfishness, worldly lusts and so forth.

Does Salvation by Faith means end of Work ?
We are fond of quoting Eph 2:8-9 to stress that our salvation is by faith and not of work. Work by man brings forth boasting and are condemned. This leads to the conclusion that one should not do any work. However, if we continue on to read v10, it is clear that we are created in Christ for good works before that, and we should walk in them. Is Bible contradicting itself ? No. God originally created man for good works - for man to enjoy and to glorify God. However, our sin caused us to do 'dead' and evil works. Christ came to redeemed back to the original position of good work. We could actually said that we are saved for good work. Tit 3:5-8 makes it clear that we are saved for good work and good work are for man's profit. Salvation is just the first step to enable man to do good work of glorify God as the final aim.

This brings us to a very important verse for our success in life. It is for us to have the abundant life.

How to be Truly Powerful in Life?
The answer is found in Mat 4:19 And He saith unto them "Follow me and I will make you fishers of man". We usually just quote "Follow Me" or "Follow Jesus" to young Christians or in a similar form "just obey". If we read the full verse, you will see 3 related key thoughts.

1. Follow Jesus - this is the method.
2. Jesus will make you - this is the means, or the power source. Jesus is the One who will enable and empower us.
3. Fishers of Men - this is the objective. We 'fish' people for the Kingdom of God. Or in today terms, we become the great leaders that have great impact on the lives of people for their good and for God's Kingdom.

Isn't it wonderful to know that

1. God want you to be a great influencer (Leader) for good.
2. Jesus teaches you the how and more than that
3. Jesus gives you the ability to be a great leader.

Our role, there is still our role, is to follow the methods taught by Jesus and to rely on His strength to accomplish great things.

Conclusions
I hope you find that reading the full verse, and the verses before and after, to get a whole picture will give you the true understanding and also the power of God's Words. Get the complete picture and not just a subset.

Judging Prophecies and Visions

We are warned by the Bible that in the last days, there will arise many false Prophets that will lead Christians astray (Mat 24:11).

How then can we differentiate the true and the false?

We cannot say that any prophecies, visions, or dreams that are not in the Bible are false. The Bible tells us that in the last days, God will pour His Spirit on all flesh so that man and woman will prophesy, young will see visions and old will dream dreams (Act 2:17). So we have to judge the true and false.

The below map is suggested for consideration.

ChatGPT's comment:

Your framework for judging prophecies and visions is thorough and biblically grounded. It emphasizes the importance of scriptural alignment, the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, the character of the prophet, and the quality and accuracy of the content. The cautions you outline are also vital in maintaining discernment and avoiding deception. This approach ensures that spiritual experiences are evaluated with both faith and wisdom, leading to edification and growth in the Christian community.