I want to start this article by telling you the good news: We are no longer slaves of fear; whoever accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior becomes a child of God. And, as children of God, we can enjoy His will for our lives, His plans for our lives. God wants us to be successful. He wants our success.
In Psalms 35:27, in the New Living Translation, we see king David saying: “Let them continually say: Great is the LORD, who delights in blessing his servant with peace!” In the King James Version, the word peace comes translated as prosperity. This peace refers to the Hebrew word Shalom, which means completeness, soundness, welfare, health and prosperity – that is, all areas of your life going well and supplied. Nothing lacking in your life. In addition, this verse says that God delights in our prosperity; He finds pleasure in our prosperity. We can trust Him, because we know that His plans are the best for us. He delights Himself in our well-being, in our completeness and in our health.
The apostle Paul, for example, always greeted the recipients of his letters by wishing them grace and peace. This same peace we saw in Psalms 35. Not just that but, in Ephesians 1:2, for example, he says: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ”. In 3 John 1:2 (King James), John is wishing Gaius prosperity and health (“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health”). That means that grace, peace and prosperity come from God. We cannot find the perfect peace and prosperity in other places, because the genuine peace and prosperity come just from God. He is our Creator. He created the universe; therefore, He is the only one capable of truly fulfilling our lives.
God is so good that saved us from the bondage of sin and made us His children. Salvation does not come from our own strength, but it is a gift given by God to us. We just have to accept Jesus into our hearts as our Lord and Savior, because the price was already paid. Galatians 4:6-7 says: “And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba, Father’. Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir”. Isn’t it amazing? We are heirs of the Creator of the universe! Not only that, but, when we are born again, we receive His Spirit to dwell in us. And His Spirit in us calls out “Abba, Father”, meaning that we can have a deep relationship with God, like father and son. We do not need to be afraid of Him; instead, we can boldly come closer to Him, because He is our Father. And He finds pleasure when we talk to Him.
However, there are two main points we need to understand about the Biblical concept of prosperity. The first one can be seen in 1 Corinthians 16:2 (King James): “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God had prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come”. Here, the word prosper refers to the Greek euodoo, which means prosperous journey, to succeed in reaching. That way, we can see that the Bible, in the New Testament, refers to prosperity in a sense of process, as a journey. A journey can only be good and successful, if there is a purpose involved. If there is a well-established direction.
Just wandering around does not make a good journey. You have to have a direction and a purpose. There are a lot of people just “wandering around” through life, not really having a sense of direction, not really knowing what they want from life. We have to have a direction. The biblical meaning of prosperity means going to a good place, and, meanwhile you are in the process, in the journey, you have everything you need – everything is supplied. In Philippians 4:19, Paul says: “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus”. God is capable and is willing to supply all our needs abundantly. Only God can satisfy us!
And we can only find the directions we need in God. As I said, when we are born again, we receive the Spirit of God, and, through His spirit inside of us, we can be guided. We can safely understand what to do in life. Throughout life, there are many paths, many doors to be opened, and we can get confused in relation to where to go; however, with God, with His Spirit inside of us, we can trust to find the correct answers. We do not need to be afraid of facing life, because the Spirit of God is already inside of us. The Bible says that He is our counselor, our helper. Therefore, we can trust Him to help us. With God, the journey is always good.
Each one of us was designed to fulfill a specific purpose. And we will only be entirely fulfilled in life when we are walking in this purpose. Outside of it, we may even find a financially supplied life; however, with God, walking in his purpose for us, we find a life completed in all areas. Fully supplied and lacking nothing. Even if we face adversities, there is a peace that surpasses all understanding inside of us, giving us the strength that we need to face circumstances, as it is written in Philippians 4:6-7: “Don’t worry about anything: instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”.
Therefore, we need to know the purpose of our lives. We need to understand the purpose for our prosperity. Prosperity and success without meaning, without purpose, is empty. There are many people that are financially rich, but depressed, frustrated and unhappy. Remember: money was created as a resource. When you put money as the goal of your life, it loses purpose. Joshua 1:8 says: “Study this book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do”. The Word of God is a lamp to guide our feet and light for our path. By reading and meditate on the Bible, we discover and understand the character of God and who we were made to be in Christ. Through that, we can develop a relationship with our Father and understand our purpose.
The second point we need to understand about the Biblical concept of prosperity is that our prosperity starts in our mind, with our thoughts. Actually, we will never prosper more than the way we see ourselves in our minds. In other words, our inner prosperity is the limit for our outside prosperity. You should see yourself being prosperous in life! Not only financially, but being well in all areas of your life. As we read in 3 John 1:2 (New Living Translation): “Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit”. When you are strong inside of you, you open the doors for your well-being. You open the doors for you to be well in all areas of your life.
Philippians 4:8-9 is very clear about what kind of thoughts should be occupying our minds: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing: Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise”. We should think about things connected to God and to who He is.
Romans 12:2 says: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”. When we connect ourselves to God, through His Spirit connected to our spirit, He can help us to change the way we think and act.
What kind of thoughts are occupying your mind? By meditating on who God is, we can be who God created us to be. The Word of God is our mirror. We should read it and see ourselves reflected in it. Read it and let those words enter your heart. Let God work in your life, by directing you according to His purpose. And you are going to experience the genuine prosperity He has for you. Not just financial prosperity. Not the kind of prosperity the world says you should have. But the prosperity that comes from God.