“The elder unto the well beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 1:1-4).
Today's Morsel: Often when we hear the word prosper, we think and associate it with money or wealth. Many churches preach a prosperity message, and lead people to think that if they give more money to the church, they will prosper in more money. And so when people give more money and they don’t receive more money in return, they are left feeling as though God isn’t fair and God doesn’t honor His Word and that the minister lied to them. God never promised to give you money back if you give. He simply says, 'give and it shall be given to you,' and in that verse, God isn't talking about money, even though we should give of our finances; He's talking about forgiveness. The words, 'money will be returned to you,' are not mentioned or associated with your giving. We hear people in the church often say, "You are suppose to prosper as a child of God", but they don’t tell you how to prosper. And so when people hear this they think, here we go again with wanting more money.
As a child of God, you should always prosper if you are prospering for the right reasons. John's, writings unto the well beloved Gaius, said, “Whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” Notice here, first John said I love you in the truth. Gaius was an associate of the apostle Paul (Romans 16:23), and is now walking in the truth. Then he said, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” The word "Prosper" here, has nothing to do with wealth. In the Greek, it is, euodoō; yoo-od-o'-o, which means: To help on the road, that is, (passively) succeed in reaching; figuratively to succeed in business affairs: - (have a) prosper (-ous journey). So John is saying to him, I love you in the truth and above all things, I’m praying that on this road or on your journey to your destination, that you will be successful in reaching it; and that you will have a prosperous journey. He said, I'm praying that you prosper even as your soul prospesr. If your soul(your will, your intellect, your mind) isn't prospering, then you are not going to prosper. The mind is a terrible thing to waste. When we understand that we are made up of body, soul, and spirit, if we feed the body (flesh) we are not going to prosper, because the flesh is enmity against God. However, if we feed the spirit, then we find favor with God, we walk in the spirit, and we prosper on our/this journey to heaven in all things. Beloved, I love you in the truth, and I'm praying that you propser on your journey to heaven and hopefully I will see you over on the streets of gold!
Sing: I am blessed, I am blessed, every day that I live I am blessed, when I wake up in the morning, until I lay my head to rest, I am blessed, I am blessed.
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