David Jeremiah wrote, Our fallen natures are easily deceived. Deception, after all, was (involved in) the first sin. Eve cried out, “The serpent beguilded me, and I did eat.” At the end of the Bible we’re told that the Antichrist will deceive the whole world (Revelation 13:14). Between the devil and the Antichrist are millions of deceivers, and the Lord warns us to think clearly and to be on guard. The Bible says the last days will be characterized by “evil men and seducers” growing worse and worse, “deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13).

The way to avoid deception is to study God’s Word daily, confess your sins quickly, pray for wisdom, and live a life of integrity and honesty. As 1 John 3:7 puts it: “Little children, let no man deceive you: He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.” Take heed that no one deceives you.

Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right.— Spurgeon

—the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.–James 1:3_4

Pastor Jack Graham writes, “One of the most amazing phenomena in nature is the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. Of course, we know how it goes: A caterpillar makes a cocoon for himself, sleeps in that cocoon for weeks, and then breaks out of that shell completely transformed into a beautiful butterfly.

A story is told of a little boy who was watching a butterfly emerge from a cocoon one spring day, and he thought he’d help him along in the process by breaking the shell open. But to his dismay, the little butterfly fell to the ground, tried to fly, but couldn’t. His wings weren’t strong enough because he didn’t experience the struggle of breaking the cocoon himself.

A powerful lesson is learned here: We must never seek to shortcut the process of struggling. Everyone experiences struggles and they’re meant for a specific purpose… to make you stronger. And when we try to cut them short by numbing the pain with drunkenness, sex, or some other kind of sin, we miss out on the strengthening God wants to bring about!

Don’t shortcut the struggles in your life. They have a purpose. Instead, hold fast to Jesus Christ, who has a purpose for your pain and promises He will always bring you through victoriously!”

ALLOW YOUR STRUGGLES TO BUILD YOU UP BY TRUSTING IN GOD TO BRING YOU OUT OF THEM STRONGER THAN EVER!

Here was the grand evidence of the perfection and acceptance of His sacrifice. The atoning work of Jesus was in itself perfect and complete. It was all that God demanded, all that the Church required, and all that law and justice asked. Yet there lacked one proof that this work was accepted by God, and was satisfactory to divine justice. On the cross He had uttered that wondrous cry, which sent gladness through all heaven, and dismay through all hell- “It is finished.” But, lo, He dies! The Captain of our salvation is conquered! The promised Victor is vanquished! He is laid in the grave! The stone covers Him! The earth imprisons Him! What proof have we now that He was more than mortal? What evidence that He was God? What divine seal is affixed to the great charter of redemption? What pledge have we that it is complete? What security against the law’s loud thunder, and the consuming flames of justice- against the wrath of an offended God, and the condemnation that is to come? In a word, how may we know that all the divine perfections are harmonized in our salvation, and that “whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish, but have everlasting life”? Behold, the Father raises Him from the dead! This is the evidence- this is the seal- this is the pledge- and this is the security. We need even ask no more. It satisfied God; it satisfies us.–Octavius Winslow

The cross was the goal of Jesus from the very beginning. His birth was so there would be His death. The incarnation was for our atonement. He was born to die so that we might live. And when He had accomplished the purpose He had come to fulfill, He summed it up with a single word: “finished.”

In the original Greek, it was a common word. Jesus probably used it after He finished a project that He and Joseph might have been working on together in the carpentry shop. Jesus might have turned to Joseph and said, “Finished. Now let’s go have lunch.” It is finished. Mission accomplished. It is done. It is made an end of.

So what was finished? Finished and completed were the horrendous sufferings of Christ. Never again would He experience pain at the hand of wicked men. Never again would He have to bear the sins of the world. Never again would He, even for a moment, be forsaken of God. That was completed. That was taken care of.

Also finished was Satan’s stronghold on humanity. Jesus came to deal a decisive blow against the devil and his demons at the cross of Calvary.( Hebrews 2:14)— This means that you no longer have to be under the power of sin. Because of Jesus’ accomplishment at the cross, finished was the stronghold of Satan on humanity.

And lastly, finished was our salvation. It is completed. It is done. All of our sins were transferred to Jesus when He hung on the cross. His righteousness was transferred to our account.

So Jesus cried out the words, “It is finished!” It was God’s deliberate and well-thought-out plan. It is finished—so rejoice!–Greg Laurie