Our Best Life Now

Peruse almost any Christian bookstore or flip through religious TV and you will very quickly find that by faith we can have our best life now.  This line of teaching proclaims that in Christ we have won victory over sin and death.  Therefore we should live a victorious life.  By faith I can claim God’s prosperity in my life.  By faith, I can leave poverty, illness, discouragement, loss, and any other trouble behind.  The problem arises when this teaching simply doesn’t work.  Now, maybe I lack faith and that’s why I still face troubles.  However, we all know people who have displayed an amazing faith and yet faced hardship throughout their lives.  In fact, I wonder about the Apostle Paul.   Apparently, his faith was lacking when he found himself in prison, shipwrecked, stoned, beaten, left for dead, and many other countless trials.  Then there is Jesus himself.  He certainly displayed a faith we can all seek to emulate.  Yet, throughout his ministry he faced great persecution and trials culminating in his death.  Without that death, you and I would have no hope.  Suppose, Jesus subscribed to the view that God wanted him to have his best life now.  And that meant that he should never face poverty, persecution, illness, or relationship problems.  The Bible teaches that we will discover our best life now when we put God above all that this world has to offer.  When the gospel becomes our focus we experience true joy.   As long as we continue to believe that joy comes in a happy family, a successful career, friends, wealth, and status we will only find discouragement and pain.  When we live for Christ, knowing that to live is Christ (Phil 1:21), then and only then will we find the joy we desperately seek.  Sunday, we will study Philippians 1:12-26.  Paul will show us how to face all kinds of struggles and still be filled with joy.  The secret is the Gospel!