3 John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.
Think of everybody that you dearly love right now – wouldn’t this be your prayer for them? That above all things, they may prosper and be in health!
I certainly want my wife and son to prosper and be in health all the days of their life. But the Apostle John says he wants this for you, above everything else!
When John wrote his 3rd epistle, he was a very old man, in his 90s. Most likely he is the only disciple of the original 12 still alive and it’s now been several decades since His Lord was crucified. But in the same way he leaned into the chest of Jesus during the Passover meal, John regularly leaned into the chest of God and was able to hear His heartbeat for the church.
The heartbeat of Jesus toward you is that you may prosper and be in health.
Jesus loves you more than even your ability or capacity to love your very own family and children and He wants the very best for you.
The Apostle John had witnessed Jesus daily, “doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil”. (Acts 10:38) And now nearing the end of his life it is interesting to note what his highest priority is toward the church – that it will prosper and remain in health.
What is the key to this kind of life? John says it is a prosperous soul.
When you are prospering on the inside, you will prosper on the outside. Everything that happens in your life flows out of the condition of your inner world. You will prosper in proportion to the well-being of your inner world.
Proverbs 4:23 guard your heart with all diligence for out of it flows all the issues of life.
Jesus said the Kingdom of God is not around you, it’s inside you (Luke 17:21). Everything about that Kingdom starts within you and then flows out of you – as it flourishes within you.
That’s the key to the prosperity message of the Bible. It is allowing the Kingdom of God within you to flourish; it is growing a healthy heart; it is having a prosperous soul and all this prosperity and health will then flow out of you and into everything – your personal well-being; your family; your relationships; your church; your workplace; your career… your entire life.
Let these two promises in 3 John 1:2 be settled and established within you as spiritual truth, that God’s will is:
For you to prosper in life
For you to be in health
This is my prayer for you. This is what I’m believing for your life and your family. That you will live well and be in health, just as you are prospering in your soul.