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Many end-times prosperity gospel preachers proclaim that God wants us to live our best lives now. This message appeals to many who want to excel and prosper in the current age, yet this is not the message given to us by the Scriptures. It is not wrong, as a believer, to desire a good life now, but to believe that you can have your best life now, in a world fallen in a state of sin, comes straight from new age Satanic philosophy as demonstrates a lack of faith in the age to come.  While God wants us to have the necessities of life and does not enjoy seeing His saints suffer, as saints, we are subject to the evils of this current world and not guaranteed an easy life. Believers will often receive rejection and persecution in this age. This video will highlight some things said by prosperity gospel ministers and their messages of living your best life now and contrast it with what the Scriptures proclaim true believers should expect in this current age and the promises of a better life in the age to come.

THE WEDDING IN CANA – John 2:1-11

JOHN 2:1-11 (NKJV – Revised):
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Yehsua (Jesus) was there. Now both Yeshua (Jesus) and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Yeshua (Jesus) said to Him, “They have no wine.”
Yeshua (Jesus) said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, each with the capacity to hold twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Yeshua (Jesus) said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
This beginning of signs Yeshua (Jesus) did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

YOUR BEST DAYS ARE NOW

“As you’re standing today I want to read to you and, we’re gonna look at an unusual text to introduce this message. Uh, it was Jesus’ first miracle that He performed and it was at a wedding and if you don’t know the context, it was an incredibly embarrassing moment for the host who had this wedding – ran out of wine. And Jesus’ mom said, “Jesus go do something it,” and so He said to the servants, “Go get these jars, these massive jars, and what I want you to do is I want you to fill them up with water.” these were not regular jars, but they were maybe 20 or 30 gallon jars. And Jesus said to the servants, “What I want you to do is draw the water out of the jars and then go give it to the master of the banquet. And God’s word tells us this in John chapter 8, uh John chapter 2 verse 8, the servants they did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. And he didn’t realize where it had come from. But the servants who had drawn the water, they knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests get drunk.” That’s what it says in the Greek. “After they’ve had too much we bring out the cheap stuff.” Now I’ve always thought the next line said, “But you’ve saved the best for last.” But that’s not what God’s word says. What God’s word said is this, “But you saved the best till now.” …

The title of today’s message is” YOUR BEST DAYS ARE NOW. …
Would you look at the person next to you and say, Your best days are now. Your best days are now. Go ahead and be seated. You can type that in a chat. If you’re still with us, your best days are now.
– Craig Groeschel, “Stop Wasting Your Life,” Life Church, YouTube, Aug. 29, 2021

Prosperity gospel preacher Craig Groeschel correctly points out that the master of the wedding feast at Cana said, “You have saved the best wine till now,” then goes on to completely twist when ‘now’ was and takes the word out of the context of which it was spoken. When the master of the wedding feast said, “You have saved the best wine for now,” he meant, “You have saved the best wine for now, for last, at the end of the feast when the guests have already become drunk.

There is more to the story of Yeshua (Jesus) creating the best wine last, near the end of the wedding feast, besides Him beginning to manifest His glory through His miraculous works (John 2:11). Creating the best wine last, after the guests had drunk the inferior wine, is a metaphorical comparison to how God is preparing a good life for believers in the age to come. The water poured into jars represents Yeshua (Jesus), the living water, and the wine symbolizes our lives Yeshua (Jesus) came to restore and redeem.

JOHN 7:38 (NKJV):
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

JOHN 15:1-4 (NKJV):
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

We believers are living our inferior lives now, and as the best wine was served last at the Cana wedding feast, our best lives are also yet to come.

PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT

“You will often receive preferential treatment simply because your Father is the King of kings, and His glory and honor spill over onto you.”
– Joel Osteen, “Your Best Life Now,” p.40

As a prosperity gospel preacher, Joel Osteen is in the business of tickling people’s ears, not condemning sin, and not offending anyone with the truth of the Scriptures. Therefore, he may indeed receive preferential treatment in this age. By doing so, and not preaching the entirety of the Scriptures, Osteen is ensuring that he will not be receiving preferential treatment in the age to come.

JAMES 4:4 (NKJV):
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

GOD’S TIMING

“To live your best life now, you must learn to trust God’s timing, you may not think He’s working, but you can be sure that right now, behind the scenes, God is arranging all the pieces to come together to work out His plan for your life.”
― Joel Osteen, “Your Best Life Now”

Trusting in God’s timing is a matter of faith, and faith is important in this age, but in the age to come we will have our best lives and we will dwell among Yeshua (Jesus) and will want for nothing.

HEBREWS 8:10-11 (NKJV):
I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

REVELATION 21:7 (NKJV):
He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

The prosperity gospel new age message of living your best life now is synonymous with atheism’s and Satanism’s messages to do what you will, follow your heart, follow your bliss, you be you, love the one you’re with, manifest your dreams, believe in yourself, and live your best life now. Some of these philosophies of living life are fine to pursue, as long as they are pursued within the constraints of obeying God’s commandments. In other words, it is all good and fine if you want to follow your heart and be you, but if following your heart and being you means that you are a homosexual or sexually promiscuous person, then you need to repent and change who you are. If you live your truth, but your truth conflicts with God’s commandments of scientific truth, then you are not living your truth, but are living a lie. If loving the one you’re with means having sex outside a lawful marriage, you are committing fornication, adultery, or some other form of sexual immorality. If you want to believe in yourself and manifest your dreams, but your dreams go against God, nature, or science, then your dreams are delusions. If you want to live your best life now, then you have no faith in the promises of God of a greater life to come.

This is not to say people should not pursue their dreams or live the best that they can now in the age we are in. Yeshua (Jesus) said that He knows that we need things for our daily sustenance.

MATTHEW 6:11 (NKJV):
“Give us this day our daily bread.”

MATTHEW 6:31-33 (NET):
“So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

It is not a sin to pursue success and wealth, as long as those pursuits do not conflict with God’s will. Even so, wealth in this age will perish, but in the age to come it will be preserved for eternity.

MATTHEW 6:19-20 (NKJV):
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

The words of Yeshua (Jesus) in Matthew 6:19-20 are more applicable today, to the people of the end times, than when He spoke them. Not only will moth, rust, and corrosion eat away at a person’s possessions, but as this age is soon coming to an end, people will not be able to leave their worldly possessions to their heirs.

YOUR BEST LIFE NOW OR LATER?

“This is your best life, if your next life is in hell. But, on the other hand, if you are a child of God and your sins are forgiven and you’ve come to embrace Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, this is not even close to your best life! You can’t even comprehend what your best life looks like because ‘Eye hath not seen nor has ear heard what God has prepared for those that love Him.’“
― John MacArthur, American Non-Denominational Christian Pastor

YOUR WORST LIFE NOW

“For the true believer the best part isn’t here, it’ to come… For an “unbeliever” this is as good as it gets, for a “believer” this is as bad as it gets.”
― Paul Washer, American Protestant Christian Evangelist

“The only way to have your ‘best life now’ is if you’re going to hell when you die.”
― Vodie Baucham, American Baptist-Calvinist Pastor and Author

The aforementioned last three Christian ministers have it right, as it pertains to the theology of having and living your best life now. The following are some Scripture verses that serve as confirmation that our best lives, as believers, are yet to come.

ROMANS 8:18 (NKJV):
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

REVELATION 21:4 (NKJV):
“God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

1 CORINTHIANS 2:9 (NKJV):
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”