3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.
John’s declaration is that you may prosper and be in health! What a positive declaration.
John not only reveals that the Lord’s heart is for you to have a blessed life, but he reveals that blessed life flows from the inside out.
However, some people lock themselves into a survival mentality. They are literally talked into a “survival mode” because everything is so bad that nobody is going to make it. So they better bunker down and get ready for a rough ride!
But in the same way, you can be talked into a “survival mode”, you can also talk yourself into a “thriving mode”!
Now I understand there are different seasons in life – seasons to sow and seasons to harvest. Sometimes the seasons are so tough, that victory is “I’m still standing”! But remember you are not called to stay there. You need to carry an expectation where you carry that thriving mentality. God will open new doors to you. The next season will be better than the last.
Keep living every day with a heart filled with hope and expectation, fully expecting the favor and grace of God to exceed all our expectations.
In the same way, God can take five loaves and two fish, bless them and then feed thousands of people, He can multiply your time, your talents and your treasure to help you get more done! He can exceed your expectation exponentially. He can multiply your wisdom, your favor, and the number of hands around you to help you get things done!
When the Lord takes you onto a new level, your opponent the devil can see what is happening and he will also go to work to bring discouragement into your life. He will try to make you believe that things are going backward. But if you will just carry a good opinion of God and continue to trust Him, breakthrough, growth, and blessing will come your way during harvest time!
A survival mentality can keep you out of God’s very best. It can prevent you from stepping into God’s purpose for your life. You might be turning up to church and a connect group every week – but just say God’s purpose is for you to be leading that connect group and raising up other connect group leaders – just say God wants you to become a factory that produces connect group leaders! That requires a thriving mentality!
Go back to the top of this devotion and read that prayer of John over and over again and again. The Lord is revealing to you through the Word of God that He wants you to be wealthy and healthy. Now that wealth might look different for everybody. Wealth for me as a Pastor includes financial wealth, but it also is to be filled with the riches of His wisdom and anointing of God to impart His grace and goodness into the lives of others! But wealth for a Christian businessman whom God wants to use to get the gospel to a nation might be hundreds of millions or billions of dollars!
But for both of us, the key is to believe this prayer of John.