Posted on by Christian Armetta

Fraudulent

Jeremiah 23:1-4

23 “How terrible it will be for the leaders of Judah. They are destroying my people. They are making them run in all directions,” says the Lord.

2 They are responsible for the people. And the Lord, the God of Israel, says to them: “You have made my people run away in all directions. You have forced them away. And you have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil things you have done,” says the Lord. 3 “I sent my people to other countries. But I will gather my people who are left alive. And I will bring them back to their own country. When they are back in their own land, they will have many children. And they will grow in number. 4 I will place new leaders over my people. They will take care of my people. And my people will not be afraid or terrified. None of them will be lost,” says the Lord.

spirituallyblind

[Interpretive]

You lead the masses through your strong arm of influence. The spiritually blind accept your words like an infant desiring nourishment. The cloak of deception blinds the crowd to your splintered tongue. Your followers reach the edge of truth and blindly fall into the valley of deception. Charism, intelligence, and wisdom hide the stench of lies, hypocrisy, and pride. You defile the inner sanctuary and set traps for the weak. The destructive goal cannot be satisfied as ego, control, and fame continue to ignite your passion. The crowd shouts your name; the congregation longs to hear from you, oh deceitful one. Truth cannot be found on your lips as your dark chariot awaits.

Yet, the warriors among you know your name. Their discernment comes from the Lord. The Holy Spirit shields your fiery darts from the elect. Your filth is uncovered and your wicked ways will be made known. The belt of truth girds all the other pieces of our armor. The sword of the Spirit is sharper than anything from your mouth and it pierces even to the division of soul and spirit. Your wicked ways are no match for God’s army and you will face judgement. Your false kingdom will fall. Your hypnotic timbre is nothing but clanging parlance. The secret prayers of the faithful will destroy your weak foundation. You have been identified and your kingdom will be destroy along with you.

I read Jeremiah 23 as part of a daily devotion today, and it really opened my eyes. The Bible makes it very clear that there will be false teachers among you. Yet, are we really spiritually in-tune to recognize these false prophets, leaders, and teachers? It is vital that we keep our eyes on the good Shepherd, Jesus. I strongly encourage you to surround your church leadership teams and bathe them in prayer. I also find it vital to assess the spiritual health of your leaders. Who are you following and why? Be cautious submitting to the authority of a false teacher, one who speaks with honey yet his actions detail venom.

Challenge: Seek truth; open your spiritual eyes; pray without ceasing; guard your heart; and put on the full armor of God as you go out and battle in this deceitful world.

Thankful,

Christian Armetta

Posted on by Christian Armetta · 1 Comment

Traps

1 Peter 5:8-9

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

traps

[Narrative]

Satan’s timing is incredible. The landmine of criticism incinerates the atmosphere of joy. Fiery darts invade your home; however, your unveiled eyes only see emotional triggers. Dirty clothes scattered throughout the hallways and open school books singe your last effort to cope. The spirit of anger penetrates deep within, and the enemy laughs at your attempt to hold it all together. Your physical attempt to resist melts under the weight of stress and trial…explosion.

The raindrops cannot drown out the downpour of exhaustion. Fear, fatigue, illness, abuse, and addiction surface. Immediately, you are contemplating the end. Hours now replace seconds. Empty promises produce a false sense of comfort where the Holy Spirit once stood. Finally, the fiery darts have nailed you to your strongholds.

In a moment of surrender, a prayer is heard. The Holy Spirit flashes the light of forgiveness that cleanses within. The fragments of this world are flushed out as the Spirit overflows the soul. Gifts are strengthened, and clarity revives spiritual will. Fiery darts are extinguished and joy is renewed. Hearts are mended. Strongholds are broken, and families are restored.

Challenge: Be mindful of Satan’s traps in your life. Pray over your families every day.

Thankful,

Christian Armetta

Posted on by Christian Armetta · 1 Comment

Tarnished Gifts

Ecclesiastes 3:11

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Spiritual-Gifts-Sermon

Satan is a liar! In fact, he is the father of all lies. John 8:44 says, “…for he is a liar and the father of lies.” I begin with this emphatic statement because I’m tired – tired of watching Satan kill, steal, and destroy in plain sight. I’ve learned recently that we all listen to his lies from time to time. So…we must get real, be honest, and embrace our calling as valiant warriors.

As believers, we ARE gifted! We are given the Holy Spirit to perform supernatural abilities to further God’s kingdom, not ours. However, Satan has done a good job at tarnishing these gifts and making them useless or ineffective at best. It should not be surprising that these gifts frighten the kingdom of darkness. The same God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you and me!

Romans 8:11, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” I quote this Scripture often because frankly we need to be reminded of its power! Satan clearly knows this kind of power because he remembers losing the keys of death that day. Therefore, he is spending an enormous amount of time whispering lies and tarnishing your gifts to make you ineffective for God’s Kingdom.

So what do we do? Be encouraged! You might feel like you are far from God’s grace. You might feel as though your gifts are so broken and tarnished that they cannot be repaired so why try. Speak truth over your situation and allow the Holy Spirit to resurrect your gifts and talents just like He resurrected our Savior. This is what I know – God creates beauty and that includes you – don’t listen to anything else!

Challenge: Place your tarnished gifts and talents at His altar and allow Him to resurrect them to perfection for His purpose!

Thankful,

Christian Armetta

Posted on by Christian Armetta

Driving in Reverse

Hebrews 13:5

5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

living in the present

We’re moving, YES…but in the wrong direction! Wake up! Face forward and drive in the direction God has designed.

-Narrative-

You’ve convinced me that I was destined to be someone that I’m not! My mind scatters into countless pieces of possibilities. I see puzzle pieces floating above with self-defeating labels. My eyes are drawn to the bleeding ink of failure, loser, weak, incompetent, and sinner. These pieces congregate together and begin to fit tightly into one picture – my past. But I’m moving in the right direction, right? “Yes!” says the evil one. “Then why do I feel so defeated by my own desires and passions?” “Keep looking into your rearview mirror and the answers will become clear,” exclaims the author of all lies. The mirror widens as my focus intensifies. I ponder countless life decisions and fall deeper into despair. “If only I had pursued that career,” exclaims the weary one. Satan is now fully in control as your life moves forward but you are driving in reverse.

Dear friends, stay alert! 1 Peter 5:8, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” The enemy wants more than anything to get into the driver’s seat and convince you to drive in reverse! You cannot use your spiritual talents to impact the Kingdom of God when you are focused on the past and driving in reverse.

Remember – you are exactly where you’re supposed to be because God is ultimately in control. Your struggles and encounters can and will be used for good when you focus on Christ and drive forward! Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Therefore, stop analyzing the past. Tear down the rearview mirror and drive in the direction of Christ. He will use all of you to glorify His name if you surrender the keys!

Question: Does your “Spiritual Gear Selector” say “R – Reverse” or “D – Drive”?

Thankful,

Christian Armetta

Posted on by Christian Armetta

Mirror

James 1:22-25

22-24 Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. 25 But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

looking into mirror

[Narrative]

“Of course that’s me!” the distracted soul exclaims as he stares intently at his reflection. “Why am I so confused?” he ponders. “I was just here moments ago and somehow forgot my own reflection!” He feels such conviction as the Holy Spirit speaks, “Do not be deceived my dear child. You must be a doer of the Word and not just a listener.”

The tortured soul refutes such conviction as he listens to the deceptive whispers of the evil one, “I go to church regularly, and I even bow my head reverently during prayers so I know I’m a good person.” The battle ensues over the wanderer’s confusion. His focused attention is suddenly interrupted by a knock at the door. An alluring voice can be heard from the other side, “Are you coming? We are waiting on you!” The distracted one turns from studying his reflection and exclaims, “Yeah, give me a minute to grab my stuff, and I’ll be there shortly.” Carousing speech can be heard on the other side of the door as they await his arrival.

As the conflicted one turns from his own reflection, a bright light catches the corner of his eye. The spiritual battle intensifies as he struggles between following his fleshly desires versus listening to the counsel of God. With only a glimpse, he sees a holy messenger standing where his reflection was once projected. The cautious one immediately recalls Galatians 5:17, “The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.”

Instead of grabbing his keys, he opens the nightstand and pulls out God’s holy word. He opens directly to Psalm 19:14 as he repeats, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Instead of walking to the door to leave, he carefully walks back to the mirror. This time, his reflection is replaced by the Son of God. The fiery darts appear to come from all directions; however, they are not penetrating his focus. With purposeful intent, the seeker reaches for the Savior’s hand and takes his first step of obedience. 

Jesus hand.jpg

Dear friends, you cannot live a double life. Proverbs 27:19 says, “As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.” Do not be deceived. Seek holiness as you bear the name of Christ for your witness is greater than you think. 

Thankful,

Christian Armetta 

Posted on by Christian Armetta

Who Are You Kidding?

1 John 2:4

Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,


I’m truly starting to understand the differences. In one corner you have head knowledge. In the other corner you have heart faith. I have said once before that many will stand before the King and sadly hear, “Depart from me, for I never knew you.” 

Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

What does this look like on earth? For starters, I cannot and will not judge. However, the Word makes it very clear that believers should bear fruit! 

Galatians 5:22-23, “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Where do you see yourself?

-peacemaker or instigator?

-gentle or harsh?

-calm or rash?

-joyful or sorrowful?

-kind or abrasive?

-humble or prideful?

We are not perfect, BUT the Spirit yearns to produce such good fruit when we actively strive to become more like Christ. We must stop saying, “I know him” but our actions scream otherwise. 

Do you find yourself stirring up trouble? Do you rebel against worship? Do you secretly seek praise and reinforcement to feed your pride even when it comes to “Godly things?” Who is responsible for instigating these evil fruits within you? It’s time to clean house my friends! 

Question: Do you REALLY know your King? Let Him search your heart – for there you will find your answer. 

Thankful,

Christian Armetta

Posted on by Christian Armetta · 2 Comments

Distracted

Proverbs 4:25-27

25 Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. 26 Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established. 27 Don’t turn to the right or to the left; keep your feet away from evil.

focused on christ

“He seems determined!” Satan grumbles to the demons and tormentors. “This cannot happen,” he continues. “Where does his strength come from?” He has had enough and strategizes devious plans to kill, steal, and destroy the unsuspecting Christ-follower.

In the meantime, the believer yearns to know Christ more. He isn’t perfect – not by far – but he strives. His heart bleeds for the Father’s kingdom. He is on a journey, one initiated by salvation and punctuated by deliverance, clarity, mission, and purpose. Every thought and every action is measured by Christ’s motivation, intent, and will. His life’s verse would most certainly be Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.”

Focused, driven, and purposeful are words I would use to describe this believer. His eyes pierce for a glimpse of the Father’s goodness in this world. He seeks the Father’s understanding and listens intently for the Spirit’s call. “What is He whispering today?” he would most certainly declare. He rebukes fear in Jesus name because 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Yes, he embodies the power of the Holy Spirit. The same God that raised Christ from the dead lives in him. He cries out for unity and spirit-filled conversion. His visions are persistent. God is speaking and he begs for more.

But…just then…he feels a cold chill trickle down his neck. The breath of death appears to have been unleashed from the depths of the abyss in full battle gear. He senses fear and knows death has brought his unprofitable friends: fear, doubt, insecurity, and distraction. This child of God timidly turns to face the challenge. With unsuspecting force, he is knocked down. The weight of destruction is now fully upon him. He weeps.

“This was too easy,” the reporter shares with the evil one. “It appears that the strong one is in fact – weak!” Satan stops pacing and unfolds his arms. He turns and sits basking in the news. “Picking them off one by one is the only way my kingdom will survive,” he acknowledges to himself. The evil one dismisses the court and rumblings are heard throughout the depths.

In complete surrender, the believer calls upon the Spirit of the living God for he knows he is nothing without Christ. His mouth opens and the sword of Spirit, which is the Word of God utterly destroys any chance for these evil powers to overtake this child. An army of angels arrives through the prayers of frontline believers. With a mighty wind, piercing light, and fiery petitions, the evil is rebuked and flees.

“Wait, what? Why are you all back so soon?” the evil one babbles. The demons cowardly state, “We thought he was giving up. He was still but his words were sharp. They were too bright! The forces of the heavenly realm overtook us.” The evil one leaps forward with humiliating tongue, “But wasn’t he alone? You couldn’t take out one single believer?” The demons now shaking from comprehension, “But he wasn’t alone! His prayers, the prayers of others, and the Spirit of the Living God were surrounding him.” Satan slumps to his knees, “You all are useless.” With cold eyes, he looks up and exclaims, “I will always seek to destroy them, and I’ll be looking for his open gates.”

The believer begins to feel Christ’s presence surrounding him – covered in His wing. He hears, “Rest my child. You are not alone nor will you ever be.” The Spirit continues, “8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” [1 Peter 5:8]. “Put on the full armor of God daily, and never stop focusing on Christ, the One who initiates and perfects our faith.” With renewed strength and purpose, the believer seeks to share his testimony for God’s glory. – Amen

Thankful,

Christian Armetta

Posted on by Christian Armetta · 1 Comment

Blaze

James 3:2-6

Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.

But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.

flame

We’ve all been there…with just seconds separating the two episodes, both edifying words and destructive gossip inhabit the same space—your tongue! We have all seen the destructive power of the tongue. Sadly, many of us have been the “lingual pyromaniacs” before!

We know from science and psychology that pyromania is an impulse control disorder where an individual cannot control the urge to start fires. However, I am here today to shed light on the truth that many of us have the same impulse control disorder when it comes to controlling the tongue.

Many of us are never fully aware of how our words catastrophically impact others, situations, events, etc. We simply express negative thoughts, hurtful gossip, and wrongful lies without ever thinking of the whole impact; in fact, we feel somewhat reinforced when we are able to spread information to others, even falsely. This is true sin-nature.

Just as the passage above denotes, your “tiny spark” of negativity and gossip has great potential to set an entire “forest on fire.” To be fully transparent, I was a witness to this exact phenomenon recently. I was approached by a friend who “heard some gossip” about a local leader. These defamatory words were being shared in rapid transformation between multiple parties creating a “forest fire” of lies, hate, gossip, and division! Sadly, the information presented was not even worth sharing, repeating, engaging, etc. However, the devil used just the right people at just the right time to create a fire storm in order to destroy a leader…for what…gossip!

Let’s be real…Does the instigator know that he or she created such a mess? Honestly, probably not but that’s the point! Most of us are never fully aware. I am here to tell you that the impact is always great! Do not assume that impact is proportionate with volume. Meaning, “If I share this hateful speech, negative thought, or wrongful gossip with just one other person and it ‘stops’ there, then it won’t be so bad!” —WRONG.

The damage is done when the language leaves your mouth and travels through the atmosphere awaiting the acoustic clearing into another’s mind. Satan is granted permission to use your “spark” and create a firestorm of destruction. Dear friends, do NOT be used by the evil forces surrounding us. For starters, I strongly want to encourage each of us to focus on the cross, mind our manners, and stop thinking so piously of ourselves.

You may find that you have so much to say about others because you find yourself so important. You begin to find peace and stillness in speech when you humble yourself before the Lord. Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and make you keenly aware of such sin; repent and allow the Spirit to feed you correctly. If you find that you are instigating such hurtful speech, I encourage you to extinguish such behavior through prayer and worship. Use your speech to glorify the Father, which gives you less time to focus on yourself and what other’s are doing or not doing to your satisfaction. As God is faithful to forgive, I implore you to seek forgiveness from those you have hurt as well.

Question: How are you using your words lately?…[edification or destruction]

Thankful,

Christian Armetta