Covenant Eyes Archives - Make No Provision

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

by Alan Sharpe November 18, 2022 Leave a Comment

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 Leave a Comment

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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Prevention

101 Biblical Ways to Resist Sexual Temptation

by Alan Sharpe October 13, 2022 Leave a Comment

If you want to resist unwanted sexual urges and overcome sexual temptation, here are 101 ways from the Bible (including the Bible) to overcome sexual temptation.

by Alan Sharpe October 13, 2022 Leave a Comment

If you are a Christian and if you are even remotely healthy, you face sexual temptation on occasion. If you want to resist these urges so that you do not fall into sin, here are some biblical ways to overcome sexual temptation (including the Bible).

1. Count the Cost
Sexual sin comes at a price, in this life and in the next. For one thing, adulterers and the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom (Galatians 5:19-21). That’s the eternal cost—your soul, punished forever, in the lake of fire. But there’s also a price to pay in this life if you give in to sexual temptation. Think sexually transmitted diseases. Unwanted pregnancy. Divorce. Loss of custody of your kids. Getting fired. Scandal. Loss of your testimony. Jail time. Your name on the Sexual Offender Registry.

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Prevention

10 Things I’ve Learned After 10 Months Porn Free

by Alan Sharpe September 4, 2022 Leave a Comment

I looked at pornography for the last time on November 4, 2021. Here I am, 10 months later, with some lessons I’ve learned along my journey.

by Alan Sharpe September 4, 2022 Leave a Comment

I looked at pornography for the last time on November 4, 2021. I remember the date because that is the day I started this daily devotional. My goal was to help Christian men (and myself) abstain from pornography biblically. Here I am, 10 months later, and I have not looked at any pornography since then, and neither have I masturbated. Here are some lessons I’ve learned along my journey.

Pastors don’t want to address the issue of porn
Some pastors and church elders refuse to address the issue of pornography or masturbation from the pulpit or in private in any meaningful way with brothers in the congregation.
Temptation can come anytime, anywhere
A few days ago I visited a beach on a remote lake in Northern Saskatchewan. I was the only person on the beach. I suddenly experienced a strong temptation to take matters into my own hands, as it were. I was surprised at the suddenness of the urge, and that it struck in such an odd place. I resisted it nevertheless.
I don’t feel it if I don’t feed
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Accountability
Why I Use Accountability Software as a Christian Man

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by Alan Sharpe August 15, 2022 Leave a Comment on Why I Use Accountability Software as a Christian Man

The whole reason for having an accountability partner is to be accountable to someone. That can only happen if you make sure you can’t hide your sin.

by Alan Sharpe August 15, 2022 Leave a Comment on Why I Use Accountability Software as a Christian Man

Want to discover the easiest and fastest way to quit porn? Get caught. Arrange your life so that anytime you look at pornography, someone catches you in the act, and then confronts you about your sin. This is what I do. Works for me.

I am talking, of course, about electronic accountability. When it comes to getting free of pornography, there are two types of accountability—someone, and software. An accountability partner is someone who helps you stay committed to moral purity. Accountability software monitors and reports on your Internet usage.

You can have a human accountability partner but not use accountability software, and vice versa, but victory comes sooner if you use both. After all, if you have an accountability partner but no accountability software, and if you sin by looking at porn, you can always “forget” to mention that episode, or lie about it. Your accountability partner will never know. And if you have accountability software but no accountability partner, you will get a notification from
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Lust
Why I Use Porn-Blocking Software as a Christian Man

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by Alan Sharpe August 12, 2022 Leave a Comment on Why I Use Porn-Blocking Software as a Christian Man

Porn-blocking software protects me against seeing pornography accidently or on purpose. I can’t stay sexually pure without this software, or, at least I haven’t tried to.

by Alan Sharpe August 12, 2022 Leave a Comment on Why I Use Porn-Blocking Software as a Christian Man

I am a Christian husband and father who used to struggle with the sin of looking at pornography. I haven’t looked at anything pornographic since November 4, 2021, but that doesn’t mean I’m not tempted today. That’s why I have porn-blocking software installed on all of my electronic devices (desktop PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone).

I happen to use Covenant Eyes because it works for me. Covenant Eyes is a porn blocker, also known as a porn filter. It filters out explicit content by blocking millions of explicit websites. If I enter any of these website addresses into my browser, Covenant Eyes blocks them so I can’t reach them. If I receive an email with a link in it to an explicit site, and if I click that link, Covenant Eyes blocks that, too. This is my first line of defense.

Covenant Eyes also offers custom blocking. If I happen upon a website that is not pornographic but is nevertheless inappropriate, I add it to my list of inappropriate sites. Covenant Eyes blocks my access to this site from then on. My list of vo
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Accountability
To Quit Porn, Get Caught | Job 24:15

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by Alan Sharpe June 17, 2022 Leave a Comment on To Quit Porn, Get Caught | Job 24:15

With Covenant Eyes, no matter where I am, no matter what time of day or night it is, if I look at porn, I get caught. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

by Alan Sharpe June 17, 2022 Leave a Comment on To Quit Porn, Get Caught | Job 24:15

The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
Saying, ‘No eye will see me’;
And he disguises his face.
Job 24:15

If you want to quit pornography, get caught. If you want to put sexual immorality behind you, use every creative tool and method and tactic at your disposal to make your sin known. The cure for habitual porn use is exposure.

The adulterer, after all, as Job observes, waits for twilight before leaving the house to have sex with another man’s wife. He disguises his face, and assures himself that no one will see him. That’s the nature of sexual sin—it thrives in darkness. It demands secrecy and deceit.

If you struggle with pornography, part of your challenge is that watching it in secret is so easy. You can get filthy images and videos on any mobile electronic device, whether laptop, tablet or phone, and you can carry these to any secluded place you want. Engaging in adul
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Accountability
Porn Is a Snare Because It’s Available

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by Alan Sharpe May 10, 2022 Leave a Comment on Porn Is a Snare Because It’s Available

You may be hooked on porn, but the easy availability of this sin isn’t your fault.

by Alan Sharpe May 10, 2022 Leave a Comment on Porn Is a Snare Because It’s Available

This post is part one of a three-part series. Pornography is a snare because it is:
Available | Affordable | Anonymous

You are living during the worst time in human history as far as sexual temptation is concerned. You face more temptations, of greater strength, in more places, at more times of the day, than any other man has faced in the past. Which means, if you struggle with pornography, part of your struggle is not your fault. Yes, your sexual sin is your responsibility. But the pervasiveness of porn isn’t.

Your challenge as a Christian man is that pornography is Avail
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Accountability
Make Sure Your Sin Finds You Out | Numbers 32:23

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by Alan Sharpe May 2, 2022 Leave a Comment on Make Sure Your Sin Finds You Out | Numbers 32:23

In my daily battle against porn, when I ensure that my sin will find me out, it does. And that makes all the difference. Vulnerability leads to victory.

by Alan Sharpe May 2, 2022 Leave a Comment on Make Sure Your Sin Finds You Out | Numbers 32:23

“But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out.”
Numbers 32:23

Four of the most beautiful words ever written in the English language are: “We Believe in You.” I see these four words each morning when I boot up my computer. They are found in a daily email report that I receive from Covenant Eyes, the company I use to block porn and hold me accountable online.

The Covenant Eyes app, installed on my desktop, laptop and tablet (and smartphone, if I still had one), keeps me accountable by taking screenshots of where I go and what I do on my devices. Covenant Eyes uses artificial intelligence to detect explicit content. When it catches me looking at pornography or nudity, it takes a screenshot and sends it to my accountability partner. The AI catches explicit content on websites, in apps, in downloaded images and videos, and in DVDs. Basically, if porn appears on my screen, Covenant Eyes knows about it, and tells on me. As you can imag
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Prevention
Want to Avoid Porn? Avoid Her Door. | Proverbs 5:8

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by Alan Sharpe March 23, 2022 Leave a Comment on Want to Avoid Porn? Avoid Her Door. | Proverbs 5:8

Short of throwing all of my electronic devices into a dumpster, the only proven way I know of to not go near the online door of pornography is porn-blocking & accountability software. It protects me from the immoral woman. And it protects me from another sexually immoral person I know—me.

by Alan Sharpe March 23, 2022 Leave a Comment on Want to Avoid Porn? Avoid Her Door. | Proverbs 5:8

“Do not go near the door of her house.”
Proverbs 5:8

The primary problem with pornography is proximity. Porn is easy to view because it’s easy to find. It’s always just a few clicks or swipes away, often free of charge. This wasn’t always the case. When I was a teen, the only way to get your hands on hardcore porn was to meet a man in a dark alley off Times Square or to visit a bookstore in Amsterdam. Today, hardcore pornography is right in your pocket. If you want to conquer your habitual sin of looking at porn, you must solve your proximity problem.

This is the advice that Solomon has for his son. To avoid the immoral woman, says Solomon, “do not go near the door of her house.” That is, to avoid the seductress, the woman whose steps lead you down to death and hell, don’t go near the door of her house. The house of the immoral woman, of course, is where she practices her trade. It’s where you find the bedroom and the bed where she and her clients
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Prevention
To Conquer Temptation, Avoid the Temptress | Proverbs 5:8

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by Alan Sharpe March 16, 2022 Leave a Comment on To Conquer Temptation, Avoid the Temptress | Proverbs 5:8

You have the power to resist the online temptress because you have the knowledge to avoid her.

by Alan Sharpe March 16, 2022 Leave a Comment on To Conquer Temptation, Avoid the Temptress | Proverbs 5:8

“Remove your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house.”
Proverbs 5:8

The key to victory over pornography isn’t fight, but flight. Your sexual purity depends not on your moral backbone nor on your strength of character nor on your level of willpower. It depends on your ability to avoid temptation in the first place. To conquer the sin of looking at pornography, you must learn to bypass—not battle—sexual temptation.

This biblical tactic comes from none other than Solomon himself. In Proverbs 5, he warns you about the strange woman, which is to say, the sexually immoral, adulterous, forbidden woman. Her lips drip honey and her mouth is smoother than oil. In other words, the sexually immoral woman is seductive and enticing. She offers you sexual pleasures that appeal to your flesh, are enjoyable in the moment, but are sinful and forbidden. She leads you to your death and destruction.
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Lust
You Can’t Hide. But You Can Run. | 2 Timothy 2:22

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by Alan Sharpe January 28, 2022 Leave a Comment on You Can’t Hide. But You Can Run. | 2 Timothy 2:22

You win the battle against pornography with your mind. When tempted by sexual thoughts, don’t fight. Flee.

by Alan Sharpe January 28, 2022 Leave a Comment on You Can’t Hide. But You Can Run. | 2 Timothy 2:22

“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22

How do you run away from something in your mind? If you are on a cruise and the captain commands you to flee to the lifeboats, you know what to do and where to run. If you are on a hike and your guide commands you to run away from a rattlesnake on the path in front of you, your feet intuitively know what to do. But how do you flee from a thought, or a desire, something like lust? Two ways.

The first way to flee sexual lust and sexual temptation is with prevention. Draw up a list from experience of the people, places and things that excite your sexual lust. I’m talking about the immodest waitresses at that restaurant downtown. The porn websites whose names I won’t mention. Those dodgy apps on your smartphone. Flee youthful lusts by fleeing these people, places and things before you even come into contact with them
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Accountability
I Quit Porn After Taking God’s Word Personally | Proverbs 6:23-24

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by Alan Sharpe January 17, 2022 Leave a Comment on I Quit Porn After Taking God’s Word Personally | Proverbs 6:23-24

When Samuel penned this proverb to his boy, he didn’t write about The Bible or sexual sin in the abstract. That’s made all the difference to me.

by Alan Sharpe January 17, 2022 Leave a Comment on I Quit Porn After Taking God’s Word Personally | Proverbs 6:23-24

“For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light; reproofs of instruction are the way of life, to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress.” Proverbs 6:23-24 NKJV

I tried multiple remedies as a Christian man for my sinful habit of watching pornography. I talked with my pastor (1996). I participated in a men’s study group at my church based on the book, Every Man’s Battle (2006). I installed Covenant Eyes on all my devices (2007). I got an accountability partner (2010). I attended weekly Celebrate Recovery meetings (2018-19). I confessed my sin to God and asked for forgiveness (1991-2021).

These actions worked with varying levels of success over the space of 30 years—none of them permanent. What finally worked was sitting down each day and reading God’s Word to discover what it had to say about pornography, adultery, lust, sexual temptation and sexual immoralit
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Prevention
Gouge Out Your Right Eye While Out and About: Part 3 of 3 | Mt 5:27-29

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by Alan Sharpe December 20, 2021 Leave a Comment on Gouge Out Your Right Eye While Out and About: Part 3 of 3 | Mt 5:27-29

Jesus says pluck out your right eye and cast it from you if that eye causes you to commit sexual sin. Here’s how to do this while out and about.

by Alan Sharpe December 20, 2021 Leave a Comment on Gouge Out Your Right Eye While Out and About: Part 3 of 3 | Mt 5:27-29

Jesus says you are to pluck out your right eye and cast it from you if that eye causes you to commit sexual sin (Matthew 5:27-28). Here’s how to do this while out and about.

Stop eating at restaurants where waitresses wear revealing uniforms
Stop attending strip clubs, massage parlors and so-called men’s clubs
Stop attending theatres to watch movies that are rated NC-17 and R
If your library card causes you to borrow steamy novels or inappropriate movies and TV shows on DVD, cut it up
Stop driving, walking, jogging, cycling or skating through parts of town where you know you will see provocative women or sexually suggestive billboards and storefront displays
If a nearby female colleague dresses provocatively, re-arrange your desk or chair to permanently face the other way
If an immodestly dressed woman sits near you, or vice versa, get up and sit where you can’t ogle her
Don’t walk through the lingerie section at Walmart (or any other store, for that matter)</
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Prevention
Pluck Out Your Right Eye Online: Part 2 of 3 | Matthew 5:27-28

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by Alan Sharpe December 20, 2021 Leave a Comment on Pluck Out Your Right Eye Online: Part 2 of 3 | Matthew 5:27-28

Jesus says you are to pluck out your right eye and cast it from you if that eye causes you to commit sexual sin. Here’s how to do this online.

by Alan Sharpe December 20, 2021 Leave a Comment on Pluck Out Your Right Eye Online: Part 2 of 3 | Matthew 5:27-28

Jesus says you are to pluck out your right eye and cast it from you if that eye causes you to commit sexual sin (Matthew 5:27-28). Here’s how to do this online.

If your smartphone causes you to sin, smash it into a thousand pieces and fling the fragments into several dumpsters across town. Then buy a dumb phone that gives you zero access to the internet (recovering heroin addicts don’t carry heroin in their pockets)
Install an internet porn filter, such as Covenant Eyes, on all your devices (desktop, laptop, tablet, phone) so that you can’t access pornographic websites or apps anymore
Delete your Facebook account if it causes you to look at inappropriate images and videos
Delete your Twitter account if it causes you to watch porn
Delete your Instagram account if it causes you to gape at women
Delete your TikTok account if it tempts you to think sexually immoral thoughts about the women who post there
Use the Site Blocking feature in Covenant Eyes (or the internet fil
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Prevention
Want to Quit Porn? Avoid Her Corner. | Proverbs 7:6-9

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by Alan Sharpe December 4, 2021 Leave a Comment on Want to Quit Porn? Avoid Her Corner. | Proverbs 7:6-9

If you want to avoid porn, stop walking though the places in town where you know you’ll find it. You know where they are, offline and online. Visiting them proves you are devoid of understanding.

by Alan Sharpe December 4, 2021 Leave a Comment on Want to Quit Porn? Avoid Her Corner. | Proverbs 7:6-9

If you want to conquer your compulsive porn habit, if you want to break free from the grip of habitual sexual sin, learn a lesson from a young man who lived in Israel around 700 years before Christ. You read about him in the Old Testament book of Proverbs, chapter seven, starting at verse six:

“For at the window of my house, I looked through my lattice, and saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, a young man devoid of understanding, passing along the street near her corner. And he took the path to her house, in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night.”
Proverbs 7:6-9

Notice how Solomon describes the place where the prostitute looks for customers. It is a corner, an intersection of two or more streets so that the whore has the greatest chance of soliciting the largest number of men. It is her corner. People in this town see her at this corner during so many hours of the day and night, and on so many days thro
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Obedience
Quitting Free Porn Will Cost You Plenty if You Quit Biblically | Matthew 5:27-29

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by Alan Sharpe November 13, 2021 Leave a Comment on Quitting Free Porn Will Cost You Plenty if You Quit Biblically | Matthew 5:27-29

The sure way to quit watching pornography is to quit biblically, starting with obedience to the explicit commands of Jesus. Just prepare yourself for the consequences. Your obedience will cost you plenty.

by Alan Sharpe November 13, 2021 Leave a Comment on Quitting Free Porn Will Cost You Plenty if You Quit Biblically | Matthew 5:27-29

The irony of pornography is that you can watch it for free but you have to pay dearly in order to stop watching. Getting out of the grip of pornography takes effort, and comes at a price that many Christian men seem unwilling to pay. I present as Exhibit A the clear command of Jesus on the subject of lusting at women with your eyes. Jesus says:

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
Matthew 5:27-29

If you want to be free from your bondage to pornography, you must pluck out your right eye and cast it from you. In other words, you must rid yourself of anything valuable and
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Prevention
How to Pluck Out Your Right Eye to Overcome Porn | Matthew 5:27-29

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by Alan Sharpe November 9, 2021 Leave a Comment on How to Pluck Out Your Right Eye to Overcome Porn | Matthew 5:27-29

Obeying Jesus means plucking out anything of value in your life that causes you to watch pornography. This will hurt. A lot. But the effort is worth it when your soul is at stake.

by Alan Sharpe November 9, 2021 Leave a Comment on How to Pluck Out Your Right Eye to Overcome Porn | Matthew 5:27-29

Winning the battle against pornography requires drastic, costly action. You must attack the enemy at the source. And that means making many sacrifices in your life that put you out of step with the majority of Christian men. But no matter. Your eternal destiny is at stake. So get moving.

I am referring, of course, to the clear teaching of Jesus about what you must do to conquer sexual sin that involves your eyes. Here is what Jesus commands you:

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
Matthew 5:27-29

In practical terms, obe
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