Life and Glory Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Life and Glory --------------------------------------- Date: 7/20/2000 Keywords:    "authority" "eternal life" "glory" "know" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: John 17:1-5* 1. After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. Questions 1. As Jesus faced a certain and painful death, to whom did he turn for comfort?   2. As you face temptation to experience life's excitement through pornography, where can you turn to find true life?   3. What is life?   4. How do you get it?   5. How was Jesus to be glorified?   Practical help Today we start on a seven-part study looking at Jesus' prayer at the Last Supper. There is a wealth of help in this passage for people struggling with how to cope with the hardships and temptations that life throws before them (i.e., all of us). Perhaps most obvious, what did Jesus do in his distress? He sought out his Father in prayer. He knew that his life was wrapped up in his relationship with his heavenly Father. If you take nothing else from this verse, take this: True life, eternal life, is simply the knowledge of God and his Son. If you already know that life, do what Jesus did — enrich it and enjoy it by calling on your Father, not by exposing yourself to pictures of other people's bodies. The word "know" is sometimes used as a euphemism for sex, hinting at the real reason for our sexual nature — to foster complete intimacy between two people, physical, emotional and spiritual. In that vein we can read verse 3 to say that true life is complete intimacy with God, allowing him to be master of our physical, spiritual and emotional lives. If you don't yet know this eternal life of which Jesus was speaking, how can you find it? Verse 2 says it is a free gift and is available to all people by the authority of God and through the person of Jesus. You can turn to him right now; fix your eyes on him and what God accomplished through him at the cross. Click here to learn more. The temptation you're facing, whether it's with Internet pornography or any other sin, is an attempt by Satan to deflect your eyes from the true source of life to a fake life, one that has some glitter and glitz to it, but no glory. Turn your eyes back to the source, and look upon true glory. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2000 by eXXit *Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version, © copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.