Consecration Archives - Make No Provision

Quit Porn Biblically

by Alan Sharpe March 5, 2024

Watching porn is a sin. And sin requires a biblical remedy. Here is what I’ve learned the hard way about what Christian men must do to quit porn biblically.

by Alan Sharpe March 5, 2024

(This is the transcript of my 60-minute course of the same name. Watch the course here.)

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Two of the primary problems with pornography are that it’s available and that it’s anonymous. You can access porn from anywhere, 24 hours a day, and you can do so without anyone knowing. To quit porn, you must meet these two problems head-on. Here’s how you do it.

Install a porn-blocker

If you are serious about quitting porn, install porn-blocking software on all of your electronic devices. That means your desktop PC, laptop, tablet, and phone. I use Covenant Eyes. Porn blockers, also known as porn filters, block pornographic websites, apps and images from showing up on your devices. They help you �

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God’s Will? Abstain from Sexual Immorality | 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

by Alan Sharpe November 18, 2022

Sermon on 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8: “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication.”

by Alan Sharpe November 18, 2022

Have you ever wanted to know God’s will for your life? Have you ever wondered what job you should take, where you should live, who you should marry, what school you should attend? Have you ever had difficulty discerning the Lord’s will? Have you ever found out that it’s a challenge to know, to appreciate, to understand, to get a clear yes or no from the Lord concerning his will for your life? I have good news for you. I’m going to show you God’s will for your life today. This is categorically, unequivocally, 100% God’s known will for your life today.

Turn the New Testament book of First Thessalonians, chapter four. Paul says:

Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality

Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality
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“Send today into eternity in clothes it will wear forever.” || Adoniram Judson

by Alan Sharpe October 14, 2022

At night let us reflect that one more day is irrevocably gone, indelibly marked.

by Alan Sharpe October 14, 2022

A life once spent is irrevocable. It will remain to be contemplated through eternity… The same may be said of each day. When it is once past, it is gone forever. All the marks which we put upon it, it will exhibit forever… Each day will not only be a witness of our conduct, but will affect our everlasting destiny… How shall we then wish to see each day marked with usefulness! It is too late to mend the days that are past. The future is in our power. Let us, then, each morning, resolve to send the day into eternity in such a garb as we shall wish it to wear forever. And at night let us reflect that one more day is irrevocably gone, indelibly marked.

Excerpted from The Life of Adoniram Judson. Randolph & Company, 1883. Adoniram Judson

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“He sold all he had, and himself too, to buy us.” || Samuel Rutherford

by Alan Sharpe October 12, 2022

Oh, we under-bid, and undervalue that Prince of love, who did overvalue us; we will not sell all we have to buy him.

by Alan Sharpe October 12, 2022

Oh, what love! Christ would not intrust our redemption to angels, to millions of angels; but he would come himself, and in person suffer; he would not give a low and a base price for us clay. He would buy us with a great ransom, so as he might over-buy us, and none could over-bid him in his market for souls. If there had been millions of more believers, and many heavens, without any new bargain his blood should have bought them all, and all these many heavens should have smelled one rose of life; Christ should have been one and the same tree of life in them all. Oh, we under-bid, and undervalue that Prince of love, who did overvalue us; we will not sell all we have to buy him; he sold all he had, and himself too, to buy us.

Excerpted from The Trial and Triumph of Faith by Samuel Rutherford. Public domain.

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“God saw me and said, ‘She’s willing.'” || Gladys Aylward

by Alan Sharpe October 10, 2022

I wasn’t God’s first choice for what I’ve done in China…I don’t know who it was…it must have been a man

by Alan Sharpe October 10, 2022

Illustration of woman setting free butterfly, freedom surreal abstract concept

I wasn’t God’s first choice for what I’ve done in China…I don’t know who it was…it must have been a man…a well-educated man. I don’t know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn’t willing…and God looked down…and saw Gladys Aylward…and God said, ‘Well, she’s willing.’

Excerpted from Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman. Gladys Aylward. Public domain.

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“We must boldly repudiate the cheap values of the fallen world.” || A. W. Tozer

by Alan Sharpe October 10, 2022

Let me present a brief summary of these conditions as taught by the Bible and repeated through the centuries by the holiest, sweetest saints the world has ever known:

by Alan Sharpe October 10, 2022

The Knowledge of the Holy is difficult because there are conditions to be met and the obstinate nature of fallen man does not take kindly to them. Let me present a brief summary of these conditions as taught by the Bible and repeated through the centuries by the holiest, sweetest saints the world has ever known:

First, we must forsake our sins. The belief that a holy God cannot be known by men of confirmed evil lives is not new to the Christian religion. The Hebrew book, The Wisdom of Solomon, which antedates Christianity by many years, has the following passage: “Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth: think of the Lord with a good heart, and in simplicity of heart seek him. For he will be found of them that tempt him not; and showeth himself unto such as do not distrust him. For froward thoughts separate from God and his power, when it is tried, reproveth the unwise. For unto a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter; nor dwell in the body that is subject to sin. For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit, and remove from thoughts that are withou

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Conquering Porn Is Not Either/Or | Romans 8:13

by Alan Sharpe October 7, 2022

This is great news if all of your self effort has delivered few lasting results up to today. And it’s also good news if you have been waiting passively for God to intervene to deliver you from your sexual immorality.

by Alan Sharpe October 7, 2022

man escapes from prison abstract concept

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Romans 8:13

There are two mistakes you can make as a Christian man wanting to break free of pornography. There might be more than two mistakes, actually. But there are two big ones that you must avoid.

The first mistake is thinking that your sexual purity is entirely up to you. You believe you are responsible for your sin, and therefore you are responsible for forsaking it. So far, so good. But you also think your victory is up to you. You must read your Bible more. You must pray more often and more fervently. You must mortify your flesh more thoroughly. In other words, you think conquering sexual lust is all up to you. This is a mistake.

The second blunder is to think that your victory over porn is entirely up to God. You believe that you are “powerless over your addic

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“Forgiveness cost the agony at Calvary.” || Oswald Chambers

by Alan Sharpe October 6, 2022

We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.

by Alan Sharpe October 6, 2022

man of the top of the mountain in the fog

Beware of the pleasant view of the fatherhood of God: God is so kind and loving that of course He will forgive us. That thought, based solely on emotion, cannot be found anywhere in the New Testament. The only basis on which God can forgive us is the tremendous tragedy of the Cross of Christ. To base our forgiveness on any other ground is unconscious blasphemy. The only ground on which God can forgive our sin and reinstate us to His favor is through the Cross of Christ. There is no other way! Forgiveness, which is so easy for us to accept, cost the agony at Calvary. We should never take the forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our sanctification in simple faith, and then forget the enormous cost to God that made all of this ours.

Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace. The cost to God was the Cross of Christ. To forgive sin, while remaining a holy God, this price had to be paid. Never accept a view of the fatherhood of God if it blots out the atonement. The revealed truth of God is that without the atonement He cannot forgive— He would contradict

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Lessons Learned After 11 Months Porn-Free

by Alan Sharpe October 4, 2022

As a Christian with a Bible, I knew that watching porn was wicked. I longed to be free, but now I realize that I wanted more than that. I wanted to be holy.

by Alan Sharpe October 4, 2022

I looked at pornography for the last time on November 4, 2021. That was the day I purposed before God to leave my sexual sin behind me and to pursue holiness. That’s also the day I started writing these daily devotionals. My goal was to chronicle my journey, to discover what God’s word has to say about sexual sin, how to avoid it, and how to live a victorious life in Christ Jesus.

The primary lesson I have learned, and it’s taken me 11 months to get here, is that freedom from pornography and masturbation is really just the start of the change I am looking for in my life. As a Christian with a Bible, I knew that watching pornography was wicked. I longed to be free of its grip, free of the temptation to seek it out and to watch it. But now I realize that I wanted more than that. I wanted to be holy.

I don’t mean holier-than-thou holy. Or so holy that they name a seminary after me. I mean holy in the sense that I am set apart unto God. Set apart as his vessel, his instrument, to use as He pleases. I realize today that,

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“Don’t imagine yourself something when you are nothing.” || Walter Hilton

by Alan Sharpe September 29, 2022

Be careful to avoid this, and devote yourself inwardly to His likeness by humility, charity, and other spiritual virtues.

by Alan Sharpe September 29, 2022

Any man or woman who neglects to maintain inward vigilance, and only makes an outward show of holiness in dress, speech, and behavior, is a wretched creature. For they watch the doings of other people and criticize their faults, imagining themselves to be something when in reality they are nothing. In this way they deceive themselves. Be careful to avoid this, and devote yourself inwardly to His likeness by humility, charity, and other spiritual virtues. In this way you will be truly converted to God.

Excerpted from The Scale of Perfection by Walter Hilton. Public domain.

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“Alive with the very life of God.” || Samuel Logan Brengle

by Alan Sharpe September 13, 2022

The transformation wrought in men by the baptism with the Holy Ghost, and the power that fills them, are amazing beyond measure.

by Alan Sharpe September 13, 2022

This was the inaugural day of the Church of God [Pentecost]: the dawn of the dispensation of the Holy Spirit; the beginning of the days of power. In the morning of that day there were only a few Christians in the world; the New Testament was not written, and it is doubtful if they had among them all a copy of the Old Testament; they had no church buildings, no colleges, no religious books and papers; they were poor and despised, unlearned and ignorant; but before night they had enrolled three thousand converts from among those who, a few weeks before, had crucified their Lord, and they had aroused and filled all Jerusalem with questionings and amazement.

What was the secret? Power. What was the secret? God the Holy Ghost. He had come, and this work was His work, and they were His instruments.

When Jesus came, a body was prepared for Him (Hebrews x. 5), and through that body He wrought His wondrous works; but when the other Comforter comes, He takes possession of those bodies that are freely and fully presented to Hi

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“Love is a willful stirring of our thoughts unto God.” || Richard Rolle

by Alan Sharpe September 9, 2022

The commandment of God is that we love Our Lord in all our heart, in all our soul, in all our thought.

by Alan Sharpe September 9, 2022

think outside the box, surreal concept of a clouds getting out of a poster

The commandment of God is that we love Our Lord in all our heart, in all our soul, in all our thought. In all our heart; that is, in all our understanding without erring. In all our soul; that is, in all our will without gainsaying. In all our thought; that is, that we think on Him without forgetting. In this manner is very love and true, that is work of man’s will. For love is a willful stirring of our thoughts unto God, so that it receive nothing that is against the love of Jesus Christ, and therewith that it be lasting in sweetness of devotion; and that is the perfection of this life.

Richard Rolle.

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“I will surely cleave by my sweet Saviour.” || Martin Luther

by Alan Sharpe September 1, 2022

I know full well and have found what the name of Jesus had done for me.

by Alan Sharpe September 1, 2022

Sad business man with umbrella looking at the horizon

Out of my own experience, I am able to witness that Jesus Christ is true God; I know full well and have found what the name of Jesus had done for me. I have often been so near death that I thought verily now must I die, because I teach His Word to the wicked world, and acknowledge Him; but always He mercifully put life into me, refreshed and comforted me. Therefore, let us use diligence only to keep Him, and then all is safe, although the devil were ever so wicked and crafty, and the world ever so evil and false. Let whatsoever will or can befall me. I will surely cleave by my sweet Saviour Christ Jesus, for in Him am I baptized; I can neither do nor know anything but only what He has taught me.

Excerpted from Table Talk by Martin Luther. Public domain.

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“Only one inevitable deduction.” || Martyn Lloyd-Jones

by Alan Sharpe August 28, 2022

Jesus Christ is entitled to the whole of our lives, without any limit whatsoever.

by Alan Sharpe August 28, 2022

man on a boardwalk observing calm lake scenary at sunset

If we believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the only begotten Son of God and that He came into this world and went to the cross of Calvary and died for our sins and rose again in order to justify us and to give us life anew and prepare us for heaven—if you really believe that, there is only one inevitable deduction, namely that He is entitled to the whole of our lives, without any limit whatsoever.

Excerpted from Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

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“Not just heaven one day, but Christ right now.” || Major W. Ian Thomas

by Alan Sharpe August 24, 2022

Stop breathing and folk will bury you! In other words, a living body breathes, and a living faith breathes, and a living faith breaths with divine action.

by Alan Sharpe August 24, 2022

Christian living is not a method or technique; it is an entirely different, revolutionary principle of life. It is the principle of an exchanged life” not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20).

This is all part of our Gospel—it is not the Gospel plus! We must not get our terminology wrong. To divorce the behavior of the Christian from the Gospel is entirely false and is not true to the Word of God, yet all too often such is the characteristic of gospel preaching.

I would like to explore with you what is the true spiritual content of our Gospel : not just heaven one day, but Christ right now! Christ in you, on the grounds of redemption, this is the Gospel! To preach anything less than this must inevitably produce “evan-jellyfish,” folk with no spiritual vertebrae, whose faith does not “behave!”

Do you remember what James says in his epistle? “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith w

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“Only by death to self can we be lost in God.” || Madam Guyon

by Alan Sharpe August 20, 2022

Self-seeking is the gate by which a soul departs from peace; and total abandonment to the will of God, that by which it returns.

by Alan Sharpe August 20, 2022

It is only by a total death to self we can be lost in God. Self-seeking is the gate by which a soul departs from peace; and total abandonment to the will of God, that by which it returns.

Excerpted from Letters of Madam Guyon by Madam Guyon. Public domain.

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“Make thy score even with Christ every night.” || Lewis Bayly

by Alan Sharpe August 16, 2022

If, by frailty or strong temptation, thou shalt perceive that thou hast committed any grievous sin or fault, presume not to sleep till thou have upon thy knees made a particular reconciliation with God in Christ.

by Alan Sharpe August 16, 2022

man with lamp rising stairs in the darkness

At evening, when thou preparest thyself to take thy rest, meditate on these few points:—

That seeing thy days are numbered (Psal. xc.; Job xiv. 5), there is one more of thy number spent, and thou art now the nearer to thy end by a day.
Sit down a while before thou goest to bed, and consider with thyself what memorable thing thou hast seen, heard, or read that day, more than thou sawest, heardst, or knewest before, and make the best use of them; but especially call to mind what sin thou hast committed that day against God or man, and what good thou hast omitted, and humble thyself for both. If thou findest that thou hast done any goodness, acknowledge it to be God’s grace, and give him the glory; and count that day lost wherein thou hast not done some good.
Heu perdidi diem!
If, by frailty or strong temptation, thou shalt perceive that thou hast committed any grievous sin or fault, presume not to sleep till thou have upon thy knees made a particular reconciliation with God in Christ, both by confessing the fault, and by fervently praying for pardon. Thus mak
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“It’s heart-rending work, giving our dearest lusts a bill of divorce.” || Jonathan Edwards

by Alan Sharpe August 12, 2022

Our lusts are many and violent. Sin is naturally exceeding dear to us; to part with it is compared to plucking out our right eyes.

by Alan Sharpe August 12, 2022

Can't Masturbate with a Clear Conscience? Thank God. | Romans 14:23

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.
Ruth 1:16

Our resolutions to cleave to and follow those that are turning to God, and joining themselves to his people, ought to be fixed and strong, because of the great difficulty of it. If we will cleave to them, and have their God for our God, and their people for our people, we must mortify and deny all our lusts, and cross every evil appetite and inclination, and forever part with all sin.

But our lusts are many and violent. Sin is naturally exceeding dear to us; to part with it is compared to plucking out our right eyes. Men may refrain from wonted ways of sin for a little while, and may deny their lusts in a partial degree, with less difficulty; but ’tis heart-rending work, finally to part with all sin, and to gi

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“Engage your affections in your duty.” || John Flavel

by Alan Sharpe July 30, 2022

Could you but regard your duties as the medium in which you might walk in communion with God in which your soul might be filled with those ravishing and matchless delights which his presence affords, you might have no inclination to neglect them.

by Alan Sharpe July 30, 2022

If you would have the distraction of your thoughts prevented, endeavor to raise your affections to God, and to engage them warmly in your duty. When the soul is intent upon any work, it gathers in its strength and bends all its thoughts to that work; and when it is deeply affected, it will pursue its object with intenseness, the affections will gain an ascendancy over the thoughts and guide them. But deadness causes distraction, and distraction increases deadness. Could you but regard your duties as the medium in which you might walk in communion with God in which your soul might be filled with those ravishing and matchless delights which his presence affords, you might have no inclination to neglect them. But if you would prevent the recurrence of distracting thoughts, if you would find your happiness in the performance of duty, you must not only be careful that you engage in what is your duty, but labor with patient and persevering exertion to interest your feelings in it. Why is your heart so inconstant, especially in secret duties; why are you ready to be gone, almost as soon as you are come into the presence of God

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“We cannot enjoy the world and Christ.” || Hudson Taylor

by Alan Sharpe July 14, 2022

Many passages in the Word of God speak in no measured terms of the folly, the danger, the sin of friendship with the world.

by Alan Sharpe July 14, 2022

Ah, how often the enemy succeeds, by one device or another, in tempting the believer away from that position of entire consecration to Christ in which alone the fulness of His power and of His love can be experienced. We say the fulness of His power and of His love; for he may not have ceased to love his Lord.

In the passage before us [Song of Solomon 2:8-17] the bride still loves Him truly, though not wholly; there is still a power in His Word which is not unfelt, though she no longer renders instant obedience. She little realizes how she is wronging her Lord, and how real is the wall of separation between them. To her, worldliness seems as but a little thing; she has not realized the solemn truth of many passages in the Word of God that speak in no measured terms of the folly, the danger, the sin of friendship with the world.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” “Ye adulteresses, know y

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“Effects require causes.” || Henry Drummond

by Alan Sharpe July 10, 2022

Christian experiences are governed by law. Men, forgetting this, expect Rest, Joy, Peace, Faith to drop into their souls from the air like snow or rain.

by Alan Sharpe July 10, 2022

Nothing that happens in the world happens by chance. God is a God of order. Everything is arranged upon definite principles, and never at random. The world, even the religious world, is governed by law. Character is governed by law. Happiness is governed by law. The Christian experiences are governed by law. Men, forgetting this, expect Rest, Joy, Peace, Faith to drop into their souls from the air like snow or rain. But in point of fact they do not do so; and if they did they would no less have their origin in previous activities and be controlled by natural laws. Rain and snow do drop from the air, but not without a long previous history. They are the mature effects of former causes. Equally so are Rest, and Peace, and Joy. They, too, have each a previous history. Storms and winds and calms are not accidents, but are brought about by antecedent circumstances. Rest and Peace are but calms in man’s inward nature, and arise through causes as definite and as inevitable.

Realize it thoroughly: it is a methodical not an accidental world. If a housewife turns out a good cak

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“Most Christians continue being weary and heavy-laden.” || Hannah Whitall Smith

by Alan Sharpe July 6, 2022

Christians who have given themselves into the care and keeping of the Lord Jesus still continue to bend beneath the weight of their burdens.

by Alan Sharpe July 6, 2022

strong man pushing big rock uphill, surreal concept

Most Christians are like a man who was toiling along the road, bending under a heavy burden, when a wagon overtook him. The driver kindly offered to help him on his journey. He joyfully accepted the offer but, when he was seated, continued to bend beneath his burden, which he still kept on his shoulders. “Why do you not lay down your burden?” asked the kind-hearted driver. “Oh!” replied the man, “I feel that it is almost too much to ask you to carry me, and I could not think of letting you carry my burden too.” And so Christians who have given themselves into the care and keeping of the Lord Jesus still continue to bend beneath the weight of their burdens and often go weary and heavy-laden throughout the whole length of their journey.

Excerpted from The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whital

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“See that your soul is happy in the Lord.” || George Müller

by Alan Sharpe June 29, 2022

It is of supreme and paramount importance that you should seek above all things to have your souls truly happy in God Himself.

by Alan Sharpe June 29, 2022

Man fishing on a boat in a mistic foggy lake

According to my judgement the most important point to be attended to is this: above all things see to it that your souls are happy in the Lord. Other things may press upon you, the Lord’s work may even have urgent claims upon your attention, but I deliberately repeat, it is of supreme and paramount importance that you should seek above all things to have your souls truly happy in God Himself! Day by day seek to make this the most important business of your life. This has been my firm and settled condition for the last five and thirty years. For the first four years after my conversion I knew not its vast importance, but now after much experience I specially commend this point to the notice of my younger brethren and sisters in Christ: the secret of all true effectual service is joy in God, having experimental acquaintance and fellowship with God Himself.
George Müller

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“Let prayer keep you in God’s presence.” || Francois Fénelon

by Alan Sharpe June 25, 2022

Let your fixed seasons of prayer keep you in God’s presence through the day, and His presence frequently remembered through it be an ever-fresh spring of prayer.

by Alan Sharpe June 25, 2022

In God’s name I beseech you let prayer nourish your soul as your meals nourish your body. Let your fixed seasons of prayer keep you in God’s presence through the day, and His presence frequently remembered through it be an ever-fresh spring of prayer. Such a brief, loving recollection of God renews a man’s whole being, quiets his passions, supplies light and counsel in difficulty, gradually subdues the temper, and causes him to possess his soul in patience, or rather gives it up to the possession of God.
Francois Fénelon

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“Your whole usefulness depends on holiness.” || Robert Murray McCheyne

by Alan Sharpe June 21, 2022

Study universal holiness of life. Your sermons last but an hour or two; your life preaches all the week.

by Alan Sharpe June 21, 2022

Study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this, for your sermons last but an hour or two; your life preaches all the week. If Satan can only make a covetous minister a lover of praise, of pleasure, of good eating, he has ruined your ministry. Give yourself to prayer, and get your texts, your thoughts, your words from God. Luther spent his best three hours in prayer.
Robert Murray McCheyne

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“The goal of prayer is the ear of God.” || Charles Spurgeon

by Alan Sharpe June 17, 2022

If your prayer has not gained the heart of God, it has failed in its essential purpose.

by Alan Sharpe June 17, 2022

We must remember that the goal of prayer is the ear of God. Unless that is gained the prayer has utterly failed. The uttering of it may have kindled devotional feeling in our minds, the hearing of it may have comforted and strengthened the hearts of those with whom we have prayed, but if the prayer has not gained the heart of God, it has failed in its essential purpose.

A mere formalist can always pray so as to please himself. What has he to do but to open his book and read the prescribed words, or bow his knee and repeat such phrases as suggest themselves to his memory or his fancy? Like the Tartarian Praying Machine, give but the wind and the wheel, and the business is fully arranged. So much knee-bending and talking, and the prayer is done.

The formalist’s prayers are always good, or, rather, always bad, alike. But the living child of God never offers a prayer which pleases himself; his standard is above his attainments; he wonders that God listens to him, and though he knows he will be heard for Christ’s sa

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Consecration

“We are deficient in prayer more than in any other grace.” || Adoniram Judson

by Alan Sharpe June 13, 2022

God loves importunate prayer so much that He will not give us much blessing without it.

by Alan Sharpe June 13, 2022

“Nothing is impossible to industry,” said one of the seven sages of Greece. Let us change the word industry for persevering prayer, and the motto will be more Christian and more worthy of universal adoption. I am persuaded that we are all more deficient in a spirit of prayer than in any other grace. God loves importunate prayer so much that He will not give us much blessing without it. And the reason that He loves such prayer is that He loves us and knows that it is a necessary preparation for our receiving the richest blessings which He is waiting and longing to bestow. I never prayed sincerely and earnestly for anything but it came at some time—no matter at how distant a day, somehow, in some shape, probably the last I would have devised, it came.
Adoniram Judson

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“Men, not machinery, are God’s method.” || E. M. Bounds

by Alan Sharpe June 5, 2022

The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.

by Alan Sharpe June 5, 2022

We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the Church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the Gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. “There was a man sent from God whose name was John.” The dispensation that heralded and prepared the way for Christ was bound up in that man John. “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.” The world’s salvation comes out of that cradled Son. When Paul appeals to the personal character of the men who rooted the gospel in the world, he solves the mystery of their success.

The glory and efficiency of the Gospel is staked on the men who proclaim it. When God declares that “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect tow

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“Seeking admiration for your spirituality is damnable pride.” || David Brainerd

by Alan Sharpe June 1, 2022

If the heart be chiefly and directly fixed on God, and the soul engaged to glorify him, some degree of religious affection will be the effect and attendant of it.

by Alan Sharpe June 1, 2022

If the heart be chiefly and directly fixed on God, and the soul engaged to glorify him, some degree of religious affection will be the effect and attendant of it. But to seek after affection directly and chiefly; to have the heart principally set upon that; is to place it in the room of God and his glory. If it be sought, that others may take notice of it, and admire us for our spirituality and forwardness in religion, it is then damnable pride; if for the sake of feeling the pleasure of being affected, it is then idolatry and self-gratification.

Excerpted from The Life of Rev. David Brainerd, from the diary of David Brainerd, edited by Jonathan Edwards. Public domain.

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“Evil desires are not the unpardonable sin.” || D. L. Moody

by Alan Sharpe May 28, 2022

With evil thoughts that come flashing into our minds, we have to fight them. We are not to harbor them. We are not to entertain them.

by Alan Sharpe May 28, 2022

We are not to blame for having bad thoughts come into our minds. If we harbor them, then we are to blame. But if the devil comes and darts an evil thought into my mind, and I say, “Lord help me,” sin is not reckoned to me. Who has not had evil thoughts come into his mind, flash into his heart, and been called to fight them!

One old divine says, “You are not to blame for the birds that fly over your head, but if you allow them to come down and make a nest in your hair, then you are to blame. You are to blame if you don’t fight them off.” And so with these evil thoughts that come flashing into our minds; we have to fight them, we are not to harbor them; we are not to entertain them. If I have evil thoughts come into my mind, and evil desires, it is no sign that I have committed the unpardonable sin. If I love these thoughts and harbor them, and think evil of God, and think Jesus Christ a blasphemer, I am responsible for such gross iniquity; but if I charge Him with being the prince of devils, then I am committing the unpardonable sin.

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“God never gives strong faith without fiery trial.” || Charles Spurgeon

by Alan Sharpe May 20, 2022

God will not make you a mighty warrior if he does not intend to try your skill in battle.

by Alan Sharpe May 20, 2022

It is a tough battle which the Christian is called to fight; not one which carpet knights might win; no easy skirmish which he might gain, who dashed to battle on some sunshiny day, looked at the host, then turned his courser’s rein, and daintily dismounted at the door of his silken tent. It is not a campaign which he shall win, who, but a raw recruit to-day, foolishly imagines that one week of service will insure a crown of glory. It is a life-long war; a contest which will require all our strength, if we are to be triumphant; a battle at which the stoutest heart might quail; a fight from which the bravest would shrink, did he not remember that the Lord is on his side; therefore whom shall he fear? God is the strength of his life: of whom shall he be afraid? This fight is not one of main force, or physical might; if it were, we might the sooner win it; but it is all the more dangerous from the fact that it is a strife of mind, a contest of heart, a struggle of the spirit—ofttimes an agony of the soul.

Do you wonder that the Christian is called to conflict? God nev

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Consecration

“Let us not slip quietly into heaven.” || C. T. Studd

by Alan Sharpe May 16, 2022

Let us see to it that the devil will hold a thanksgiving service in hell, when he gets the news of our departure from the field of battle.

by Alan Sharpe May 16, 2022

Let us not glide through this world and then slip quietly into heaven, without having blown the trumpet loud and long for our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Let us see to it that the devil will hold a thanksgiving service in hell, when he gets the news of our departure from the field of battle.
C. T. Studd

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“You know what absolute surrender is.” || Andrew Murray

by Alan Sharpe April 22, 2022

Absolute surrender. God claims it, God is worthy of it, and without it God cannot work His blessed work in us.

by Alan Sharpe April 22, 2022

Illustration of man waving big white flag, surreal abstract concept

God has created the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the flowers, and the trees, and the grass; and are they not all absolutely surrendered to God? Do they not allow God to work in them just what He pleases? When God clothes the lily with its beauty, is it not yielded up, surrendered, given over to God as He works in its beauty? And God’s redeemed children, oh, can you think that God can work His work if there is only half or a part of them surrendered? God cannot do it. God is life, and love, and blessing, and power, and infinite beauty, and God delights to communicate Himself to every child who is prepared to receive Him; but ah! this one lack of absolute surrender is just the thing that hinders God. And now He comes, and as God, He claims it.

You know in daily life what absolute surrender is. You know that everything has to be given up to its special, definite object and service. I have a pen in my pocket, and that pen is absolutely surrendered to the one work of writing, and that pen must be absolutely surrendered to my hand if I am to write properly with i

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“Lord, I am no longer my own, but Yours.” || John Wesley

by Alan Sharpe April 6, 2022

Let me be employed by You or laid aside for You, exalted for You or brought low by You.

by Alan Sharpe April 6, 2022

man with kite symbolizing Christian overcoming porn addiction

Lord, I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will. Let me be employed by You or laid aside for You, exalted for You or brought low by You. Let me have all things, let me have nothing, I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are mine and I am Yours. So be it. Amen.
John Wesley

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“Use me, God.” || Gladys Aylward

by Alan Sharpe March 21, 2022

“Oh God, here’s my Bible. Here’s my money. Here’s me. Use me, God.”

Excerpted from Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman. Gladys Aylward. Public domain.

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“We must imitate Jesus.” || François Fénelon

by Alan Sharpe February 10, 2022

Let us compare our lives with that of Jesus Christ, reflecting that he was the Master and that we are the servants; that He was all-powerful, and that we are but weakness; that he was abased and that we are exalted.

by Alan Sharpe February 10, 2022

detective man following footsteps on the ground

We must imitate Jesus; live as He lived, think as He thought, and be conformed to his image, which is the seal of our sanctification.

What a contrast! Nothingness strives to be something, and the Omnipotent becomes nothing! I will be nothing with Thee, my Lord! I offer Thee the pride and vanity which have possessed me hitherto. Help Thou my will; remove from me occasions of my stumbling; turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity (Psalm cxviii. 37); let me behold nothing but Thee and myself in thy presence, that I may understand what I am and what Thou art.

Jesus Christ was born in a stable; he was obliged to fly into Egypt; thirty years of his life were spent in a workshop; he suffered hunger, thirst, and weariness; he was poor, despised and miserable; he taught the doctrines of Heaven, and no one would listen. The great and the wise persecuted and took him, subjected him to frightful torments, treated him as a slave and put him to death between two malefactors

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Consecration

“Fix your love on God, forgetting all else.” || The Cloud of Unknowing

by Alan Sharpe February 6, 2022

In the beginning it is usual to feel nothing but a kind of darkness about your mind, or as it were, a cloud of unknowing.

by Alan Sharpe February 6, 2022

This is what you are to do: lift your heart up to the Lord, with a gentle stirring of love desiring him for his own sake and not for his gifts. Center all your attention and desire on him and let this be the sole concern of your mind and heart. Do all in your power to forget everything else, keeping your thoughts and desires free from involvement with any of God’s creatures or their affairs whether in general or in particular. Perhaps this will seem like an irresponsible attitude, but I tell you, let them all be; pay no attention to them.

. . .

And so diligently persevere until you feel joy in it. For in the beginning it is usual to feel nothing but a kind of darkness about your mind, or as it were, a cloud of unknowing. You will seem to know nothing and to feel nothing except a naked intent toward God in the depths of your being. Try as you might, this darkness and this cloud will remain between you and your God. You will feel frustrated, for your mind will be unable to grasp him, and your heart will not relish the

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“True religion consists in deep humility.” || David Brainerd

by Alan Sharpe January 20, 2022

Porn Makes You an Enemy of God | Romans 8:7

Could not but think, as I have often remarked to others, that much more of true religion consists in deep humility, brokenness of heart, and an abasing sense of barrenness and want of grace and holiness, than most who are called Christians imagine . . . [I] saw so much of the wickedness of my heart that I longed to get away from myself . . . I felt almost pressed to death with my own vileness. Oh what a body of death is there in me . . . Oh the closest walk with God is the sweetest heaven that can be enjoyed on earth!

Excerpted from The Life of Rev. David Brainerd, from the diary of David Brainerd, edited by Jonathan Edwards. Public domain.

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“‘Be filled with the Spirit’ is a command to be obeyed.” || John MacNeil

by Alan Sharpe December 18, 2021

If it is a sin for a Christian to be drunk, it is just as surely, truly, really, a sin not to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

by Alan Sharpe December 18, 2021

“Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) is a command to be obeyed, a duty to be done. Many of God’s people are acknowledging that they did not know that “Be filled with the Spirit” was a command; but it is, and there is no excuse for not knowing. You will notice that in Ephesians 5:18 there is a double command, a negative, “Be not drunk,” and a positive, “Be ye filled.” The positive command is as authoritative as the negative, and was binding on just as many of those Ephesian Christians as was the negative command.

Now what was true for those believers there in Ephesus in the long-ago is equally true for all believers on God’s footstool to-day. Is it a sin for a believer today to disobey the command, “Be not drunk”? and is it then a virtue to disobey the equally authoritative command, “Be ye filled”? If it is a sin for a Christian to be drunk, it is just as surely, truly, really, a sin not to be filled. We are commanded and expected to live a Spirit-filled life, to be filled, not with

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“The way to trust Christ is to know Christ.” || Henry Drummond

by Alan Sharpe November 12, 2021

The way to trust Christ is to know Christ. You cannot help trusting Him then. You are changed.

by Alan Sharpe November 12, 2021

The only way of learning what faith is is to know Christ and be in His company. You hear sermons about the nine different kinds of faith—distinctions drawn between the right kind of faith and the wrong—and sermons telling you how to get faith. So far as I can see, there is only one way in which faith is got, and it is the same in the religious world as it is in the world of men and women.

I learn to trust you, my brother, just as I get to know you, and neither more nor less; and you get to trust me just as you get to know me. I do not trust you as a stranger, but as I come into contact with you, and watch you, and live with you, I find out that you are trustworthy, and I come to trust myself to you, and to lean upon you. But I do not do that to a stranger.

The way to trust Christ is to know Christ. You cannot help trusting Him then. You are changed. By knowing Him faith is begotten in you, as cause and effect. To trust Him without knowing Him as thousands do, is not faith, but credulity. I believe a

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Consecration

“We cannot know God if we use prayer like a telephone.” || E. M. Bounds

by Alan Sharpe November 8, 2021

Intimacy requires development. We can never know God as it is our privilege to know Him, by brief and fragmentary and unconsidered repetitions of intercessions that are requests for personal favours and nothing more.

by Alan Sharpe November 8, 2021

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
Luke 18:1

“Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” The words are the words of our Lord, who not only ever sought to impress upon His followers the urgency and the importance of prayer, but set them an example which they alas! have been far too slow to copy.

The always speaks for itself. Prayer is not a meaningless function or duty to be crowded into the busy or the weary ends of the day, and we are not obeying our Lord’s command when we content ourselves with a few minutes upon our knees in the morning rush or late at night when the faculties, tired with the tasks of the day, call out for rest. God is always within call, it is true; His ear is ever attentive to the cry of His child, but we can never get to know Him if we use the vehicle of prayer as we use the telephone—for a few words of hurried conversation.

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