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“Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.”

 3 John verse 2, (NAS)

There is such a thing as soul-prosperity—one of the greatest blessing on this side heaven.

This supposes newness of life in Christ, and an inward wellspring of spiritual life via His indwelling Spirit. “Christ in us (is) the (only) hope of Glory!” Releasing his life and love into the mind will and emotions must become a daily occurrence for soul-prosperity to be realized. As spiritual treasures advance, the ‘soul’ is in a fair way to the kingdom of glory. But is this what most suppose ‘prosperity’ to be?

The ‘pop’ religious fad teachers have demeaned “prosperity” to being the self-absorbed lavishing of worldly excesses on their own flesh. This stock is increasing for many ‘so-called’ religious and political leaders and, while their ‘constituents’ languish impoverished footing the bill. This is nothing close to biblical prosperity!

John’s good wish for his friend that his body may prosper and be in health as well as his soul prospered was righteous. Grace and health are two rich companions; grace will improve health, health will employ grace. It frequently falls out that a rich soul is lodged in a crazy body; but, grace must be exercised in the disciplines associated with true health.

I am not speaking as an expert-rather as one who for too long has presumed to cheat fate by grace.  But we may well wish and pray that those who have prosperous souls may have healthful bodies too; their grace will shine in a larger sphere of activity. “Soul” and “Body” health are certainly vital parts of biblical prosperity. And I am one who has been too slow to ‘care’ for his soul and body.

It is also a major part of ‘biblical prosperity’ to pray God’s continued grace through each stage of life’s journey: “good” or “bad”. Failure, struggle, temporary setbacks do not define who you are. The only ones who can judge and/or doom anyone to a fate of ‘failure’ instead of ‘prosperity’ is the one who quits. You can prosper after what ‘some’ religionists would call failure or disqualification. The following wisdom from Alan Smith provides a great view of this aspect of ‘biblical prosperity’.

“A crisis of life is like a building that has fallen upon a man. When you hear his voice from under the rubble, remember, he is not the fallen building. Just clear away the rubble, and then you can see and bring healing (prosperity) to the man.”  It would be just as righteous to define prosperity as ‘waking up’ and then helping others awake.

Brotherly love/help and new awakenings are written into the ‘prosperity’ DNA of spiritually finishing well. Prosperity is helping others finish well and that in turn, helps them know how to help others finish well. True prosperity is what a “fathers heart” motivated by the love of heavenly Father’s heart desires for succeeding generations.

I was recently blessed by one who has helped me ‘hope’ to finish well with what I believe is an apt description and example of ‘authentic prosperity’.  

The Eagle

The eagle has the longest life-span among birds. It can live up to seventy years. But to reach this age, the eagle must make a hard decision in its forties.

Its’ long and flexible talons can no longer grab prey as food. Its’ long and sharp beak becomes bent. Its’ old–aged and heavy wings, due to their thick feathers, become stuck to its’ chest and make it difficult to fly.

Then, the eagle is left with only two options; die or go through a painful process of change which lasts 150 days. The process (journey to awakened prosperity) requires that the eagle fly to a mountain top and sit on its’ nest.

There the eagle knocks its’ beak against a rock until it plucks it out. After plucking it out, the eagle will wait for a new beak to grow back and then it will puck out its’ talons. When its’ new talons grow back, the eagle starts plucking its’ old-aged feathers.

And after five months, the eagle takes its famous flight of re-birth (awakening) and lives for 30 more years. Why is its change needed?

In order to survive long enough to help others finish well, we have to be en-couraged and emboldened to change in order to identify and facilitate getting rid of ‘old’ memories, traditions, habits and ways of doing things that will not serve future generations well. Unfortunately, this decision will not generally be made without first suffering great loss.

When freed from past burdens we will more fully take advantage of the present to help others prosper in the future. When it rains, most birds head for shelter; the eagle is the only bird that, in order to avoid the rain, starts flying above the clouds. The prosperity process of the eagle helps us understand the parallels to what we must go through to become all that God intended for us. I pray that you ‘soar’ in ‘prosperity’ as resurrected fully loved children of God—becoming fully equipped to help others soar!

In the grip of prospering grace! Ron Ross