1. Our Proclamation 1 Peter 5:5b-11 (Personalized)
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Therefore we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God,
That He may exalt us in due time, having cast all our cares upon Him, for He cares for us.
We are sober, we are vigilant, because of our adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

2. Our Proclamation 1 Peter 5:5b-11 (Personalized)
We resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by our brethren in the world.
But the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory
By Christ Jesus, after we have suffered a while, will perfect, establish, strengthen and settle us.
To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.
Amen!

3. “We Become What We Behold”
Christ Connect Church (13-Jan-2013)

4. 1. Ahead by 5 points with only 2 minutes left, Univ
1. Ahead by 5 points with only 2 minutes left, Univ. of Alabama has possession at their 20 yard line. During the next play, the starting quarterback got injured. The 2nd stringer quarterback had to come in.
2. The opposing All-Star safety intercepted the weak pass and began to charge to his goal line, with only the Alabama quarterback in his way!
3. At the 2 yard line, the quarterback miraculously tackled the safety and stopped him from scoring. The final buzzer sounded and Alabama on!

5. Paul William “Bear” Bryant (1913-1983) legendary coach of the Univ
Paul William “Bear” Bryant ( ) legendary coach of the Univ. of Alabama Football Team
“Coach, you don’t understand. Your All-Star Safety was running for just points. My quarterback was running for his life!”

6. Mental Blindness 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (NIV)
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Genesis 6:5 (NIV)
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

7. 1. The Salvation Factor 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV)
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Proverbs 23:7a
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
Proverbs 4:23
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

8. 1. The Salvation Factor Romans 8:6
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Colossians 1:21 (NIV)
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour.
1 Corinthians 2:16b
But we (born-again children of God) have the mind of Christ.

9. 2. The Sincerity Factor 2 Corinthians 11:2-3
For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
‘Simplicity’ – means ‘sincere and single-minded devotion’

10. 3. The Stronghold Factor 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV)
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
‘Strongholds’ – can also mean ‘fortresses’

11. 3. The Stronghold Factor
The weapons are not carnal/worldly but spiritual:
Not Education
Not Psychiatry nor Psychology
Not Positive Thinking
Examples of Strongholds:
Compulsiveness
Obsessions and Fixations
Fears and Phobias
Bitterness and Resentments
Uncontrolled lusts
Distrust

12. 4. The Surrender Factor 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Hebrews 10:1b-2
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

13. “We become what we behold”
2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image (that is, Jesus).

14. “We become what we behold”
A beautiful Christian dynamic:
When we are saved and born-again, we are given a new mind – the mind of Christ (see 1 Cor. 2:16)
We learn to control the thoughts we allow in our minds because “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (see Prov. 23:7)
As we grow in using “the mind of Christ” and think the way Christ thinks, who do we become?

15. A. We become more and more like Christ!
(see Heb. 10:1-2 and 2 Cor. 3:18)