Soul Prosperity
God has given you prosperity and healing. The avenue through which these blessings come into your life is soul prosperity. 3 John 2 says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” Without wholeness in your mind, will, and emotions these other blessings can not enter in. When your soul prospers all other things will be added to you. Just as Jesus said in Mathew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
When seek the kindom that makes our soul prospers which will bring in others blessings from God.
You are a threefold being. You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. Since your spirit was recreated at the new birth the doorway through which the enemy seeks to gain access to your life is your mind. The things you think about are the very things you confess with your mouth and later act on. If the devil can influence what you think on, and if words and actions are added to those thoughts, then he has a legal right to come in and bring chaos to your life. Resist these thoughts and only meditate on the things God tells you to think about. Let the foundation of every thought you think and every word you speak come directly from the Word of God. Submit your thoughts to Jesus and let Him be the guardian of your soul.
Ps. 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stay awake in vain.” The word “vain” means ‘useless, loss of time and effort.’ The biggest and best army in the world will do you no good unless the Lord keeps watch over your city. God is the keeper of your life, your home, your business, and your country. He is the protector of your spirit, soul, and body. If He doesn’t keep it, then it won’t be kept. The labors of those who try will be in vain. They can sacrifice everything and it will mean nothing. Many people don’t know who the destroyer is and who the keeper is. They don’t know that God is a good God and destruction is not His will. In Luke 9 Jesus and His disciples came to Samaria and the people there did not receive them. The disciples wanted to command fire to come down and consume them. Jesus turned and rebuked them and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy man’s lives but to save them” (vs. 55,56).
God is not the destroyer. Many people and theologians say He is but they are wrong. They think that way because they don’t know Him well enough. John 10:10 says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Rev. 9:11 says the angel of the bottomless pit is Apollyon and his name means “destroyer.” The devil is the destroyer. He never comes for a friendly visit. He comes to destroy you. He comes to kill you, to steal something from you, or to destroy something in your life. This he does every single day. What prevents him from being successful? The Lord has kept you by His grace, mercy, and wisdom. He has kept you from your mother’s womb up to your most recent breath. You are not a self-made person. God has kept you. Yes, the watchman is supposed to watch and the military is to train. But unless the Lord keeps the city all their efforts are in vain. Unless the Lord keeps you, you are not going to be kept.
Ps. 42:5 says, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.” God is able and He is faithful to keep you. Yes, bad things have happened to good people and many don’t know the reason why. Believe the Bible anyway. Believe God even when you don’t understand why some things turn out the way they do. Jesus dealt with this in Luke 13:1-9. In vs. 4 He talks about how the tower of Siloam fell over and killed eighteen people. This was a terrible thing that happened and everybody knew about it. The people wondered why this horrible event occurred. Jesus asked, “Do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?” Many think that if something bad happens that they must have done something wrong and judgment has come. The Bible gives an explanation for these happenings but the church is not paying attention to them. Instead, they come up with their own conclusions which are wrong. Their finger pointing causes the world to despise what Christianity is all about.
Jesus answered His own question in vs. 5, “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Did this tragedy happen because they were bad people? No! If the Master says “no” then stop saying it is. Stop passing judgment on people when bad things happen to them. It is wrong for Christians to go around acting superior to other people when terrible things are happening. Do not imply that you are spared because you are better and smarter and more holy than the other person. It is not true. Do not be blind to the fact that a particular calamity does not measure or prove the guilt of those who suffer in it. If those to whom He was speaking imagined that such swift judgment was evidence of flagrant sin, they were made to realize that they had completely misunderstood the love and mercy of God. To counter these erroneous thoughts Jesus told the parable of the barren fig tree that showed God as a God of mercy and not of condemnation and judgment.
“A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit but found none” (vs. 6). By a deliberate act of the owner this fig tree was planted in a place where the soil was most favorable in order that he might ultimately enjoy its fruit. After all the care, time, and money he had expended on this particular tree he had every right to expect fruit. “Then he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?'” (vs. 7). Entitled to expect fruit, the owner’s just expectations were not realized. The soil was too valuable to waste on a fruitless tree, so it must perish, and its room be given to another tree. Knowing that the owner had every reason to be disappointed the keeper of the vineyard begged for the trees’ life. Jesus enlarged the scope of the character of God when the keeper interceded saying, “Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig ground around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down” (vs. 8,9). The fig tree that bore no fruit was spared and not cut down because somebody asked for some mercy and time to make the situation better. The owner showed mercy just because the man asked him to.
Why are some spared and others are not? It is because of His mercy. In the book of Job the devil wanted to kill him, steal from him, and destroy him. It makes one wonder why up to this point the devil hadn’t yet done it. What’s he waiting on? If you’ve got faith that God will keep you then you’re not going to fear and believe that the devil is going to destroy you. God has not given you a spirit of fear. The devil has not been able to destroy you because he is not able to destroy you. God is your keeper. His mercy endures forever. He has spared your life thousands of times and you may not have ever known it. Don’t fear the devil. Unfortunately, some people have more faith in the devil’s ability to destroy them than they do in God’s ability to keep them. Satan said to the Lord in Job 1:10, “Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.” A “hedge” is a fence. God has supernatural, special fences that He puts around His people. He puts fences around everybody He can.
One way to get prosperous is to stop the destruction in your life. Stop having to spend money on doctor bills, quit having things stolen from you, stop having things break down all the time. If you can stop the destruction and the killing and stealing you will automatically begin to prosper. Job is the most influential man in his nation and he loves God with all his heart and soul. Even the Lord said “there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). The devil hates holy people who love God but more than that he hates rich holy people who love God. Job was hurting the devil’s business because he was a righteous man who went about doing good. This is why the number one goal of the devil was to find a way to take Job’s fence down. If he could find a way to remove this hedge of protection he could bring destruction into Job’s life and Job by himself could do nothing about it. Unless the Lord keeps the city all of man’s efforts are in vain.
The prophet Isaiah wrote a parable about a vineyard and begins by stating, “My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill” (Is. 5:1). In the form of a wall a hedge of protection was around this vineyard. “He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine” (vs. 2a). Tender care was given to this vineyard and everything possible had been done to assist the fertility of the vineyard and to ensure the development of good fruit. But such care and attention bestowed upon this vineyard was in vain. “So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes” (Vs. 2b). The sole purpose of a vineyard is to produce good fruit and this the vineyard failed to do. God is the owner of the vineyard and He asked, “What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done it?” (vs. 4a). The answer is nothing. God did everything He could do but still His vineyard brought forth bad fruit. The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel (vs. 7) and this parable is saying that the evil hearts of people will produce wild grapes in spite of God’s efforts to have them produce good grapes.
There is no safe place on this planet and the only thing that keeps you safe is this hedge of protection. Unfortunately, people by their wayward thoughts, words, and actions can remove this hedge of protection. “And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will lay it to waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it” (vs. 5,6). Unfruitfulness was the nation’s transgression and barrenness became its punishment. The nation had broken down its fences by its idolatry and neglect of divine laws. Punishment for this rebellion was to be the withdrawal of divine protection and provision. National vitality was to be sapped and thieves were to rob the people and wild beasts would devour them as Assyria and Babylon did in Israel. From such deserved judgment there would be no escape (vs. 8-30).
When hard times come people ask, “Why did God do this? Why did He let this happen?” This is the wrong question. God is not the destroyer. The correct question should be, “Why couldn’t God keep us from this destruction?” What happened? How did it get in? We know it can’t get through the hedge. No poverty, disease, or plague can penetrate this hedge nor can the devil or any evil person or act of terrorism get through it. This is what Ps. 91 is all about. Vs. 9-11 says, “Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.” Jeremiah wrote in Lam. 3:23,24, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness! ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!'” Never fear the devil but always be aware of the things you can do that will cause the hedge to come down.
Numbers 21:4,5 shows that discouragement is the beginning of getting the hedge removed, “Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.'” Discouragement is the beginning of fear. It robs a person of prosperity of the soul. How did Job’s hedge get removed? He said, “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3:25). These people are in fear and they are afraid of dying. They got discouraged and spoke against God and Moses. When you don’t think right you want to blame other people for your problems and for why things aren’t right in your life. You are not walking in love and you are not walking in faith. God requires you to do both but now discouragement causes you to murmur and complain and to turn your back on God. Today there are people all over this planet blaming God for their hardship and this explains why they continue to experience more and more problems and trouble. Their hedge of protection is down.
“So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died” (vs.6). God passed judgment that allowed the destroyer access to come in. He did not want this to happen. His will is, “Hedge up! Let Me protect you.” Yes, He is gracious and merciful but He is also the righteous Judge in all the earth and He has to do what’s right. These people were in the desert and there were snakes all around. Why didn’t these snakes bite the people before now? Their hedge was up. When these people were in Egypt the frogs and the lice and the death angel couldn’t touch them. When you get into fear and start judging people, when you gripe and complain and no longer walk in faith, the hedge comes down. Eph. 4:26,27 (NLT) says, “And ‘don’t sin by letting anger control you.’ Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.” The NKJV says, “nor give place to the devil.” If you yield to anger and fear, if you do or say something you shouldn’t have, you have given place to the devil. It’s your fault if you have a bad temper. It’s up to you to not give place to the devil.
The Amplified Bible says, “Leave no room or foothold for the devil, give no opportunity to him.” Obviously the devil needs an opportunity to come in and wreck havoc in your life. He has to have an opening to bring destruction your way. If he could do it whenever he wanted to nobody could live a victorious life. No, he needs an opening. He has to find a place or an opportunity to come in and steal, kill, and destroy. So many people blame God for so many things but the Bible clearly says it is your responsibility to not give the devil this opening. One of the main ways people give place to the devil is found in the story of Job. What he greatly feared came upon him and what he dreaded happened to him. This is a spiritual law. If you fear something long enough you will draw it to you. If you persist in that fear and allow it to grow until it consumes you, the thing you’re afraid of will find you and overtake you. Millions of Christians don’t believe this. As a whole the church has not been serious enough about the dangers of fear.
God put a hedge of protection around Job but fear tore it down. The devil then came in and destroyed his flocks, killed his children, and put boils on him from head to toe. The Bible says “Satan went forth and smote Job” (Job 2:7). Why didn’t the devil do this sooner? He didn’t have an opportunity to do so until Job got into fear and gave place to the devil. To yield to something means to act on the prompting, the urging, the feelings and the thoughts that come your way. You can yield to and act on the promptings of God or you can yield to and act on the promptings of the devil. When you act in faith miracles happen and when you act in fear destruction comes. Acting on fear is one of the most dangerous things you can do in this life. It gives the devil an opening and a right to manifest death and destruction in all that concerns you. If you act on a fear you prove you believe it. Many Christians don’t even realize that when their actions are prompted by fear they are being led by the devil. God leads by faith and love and the devil leads by fear. And where does the devil lead? He will lead you to something that will kill you and steal from you and ultimately destroy you.
2 Tim. 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” If fear comes to you, you know it’s not from God. And if it’s not from God, you should not receive it but instead need to resist it. Beware! Fear is not a harmless thing. It’s one of the most dangerous things in life. When you think on it and act on it you’ve given the devil place in your life. You’ve given him a right to work destruction in all that concerns you. Timidity and dread is a form of fear. If you dread doing something you should do and don’t do it, you have acted on fear. This means you are somewhere you’re not supposed to be and now God can’t lead you. Fear is a choice just like faith is a choice. David wrote in Ps. 23:4a, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” It’s a choice to either yield to fear or resist it. The valley of the shadow of death is no rose garden and the sun is not shining. Your knees can be shaking and the hair on the back of your neck can be standing up but from deep down inside of you comes the words, “I will fear no evil for You are with me.”
No fear gives the devil no place so refuse to fear. Feelings of fear are only symptoms and they don’t tell you what you have to say or do. 1 Peter 5:7 says to cast all your care and worry upon God for He cares for you. Worry is associated with fear. You worry because you’re afraid something bad is going to happen. Vs. 8a says, “Be sober, be vigilant…” You better be on the watch. You better be alert and awake “because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (vs. 8b). He has to have a place to devour you. He has to have an opportunity. Casting all your cares, worries, and fears on the Lord takes away this opportunity. It closes the door on the devil’s face. “Resist him, steadfast in the faith…” (vs. 9a). The NLT Bible says, “Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.” As an act of your will resist fear and refuse to give place to it. Refuse to let fear bind you and dominate your life. Refuse to be afraid even if you’re trembling and your heart is racing. It’s your choice what you yield to! Stand up and resist the devil and refuse to yield to fear.
There is nothing in this life that is okay to fear. Nothing! Refuse to care, worry, and fear. If someone says to you “take care” you say, “No, thank you. I cast all my care on Jesus.” Why take care? Phil. 4:6 (NLT) says “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.” Be careful for nothing. If something is bothering you don’t be afraid and worry about it, pray about it. Talk to God about it and then “the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (vs. 7). Paul then says in vs. 8, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.” When you think about these good things wholeness comes to your soul. You are not giving place to the devil and fear does not enter into your life. Your soul is prospering and you are now able to prosper and be in good health (3 John 2).
Some things you must not think on because it will feed fear and give the devil opportunity to destroy you. What you let yourself think about is a matter of life and death. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:5,6). Thinking of good things feed your faith but thoughts of bad things will destroy you. It is impossible to listen to bad things night and day and not have it affect you. If something is making you afraid then immediately cut it off and walk away from it. Refuse to consider it or think about it. Whose report will you believe (Rom. 10:16)? Are you going to believe what God says or are you going to believe what the devil says? Rom. 8:14,15 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.'” The NLT Bible says “you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.”
Fear will lead you into bondage. Heb. 2:15 says that Jesus came to “release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” The word “subject” is a submissive word. Fear gives bondage a place of control in your life. Daily say out loud, “I refuse to fear anything.” Refuse to fear getting in a car accident or getting cancer. Refuse to fear that you won’t have enough money to pay your bills at the end of the month. You have a sound mind and your soul is prosperous. The devil is a defeated foe. He is under your feet. If you resist him he will flee from you. Ps. 91:7 says, “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.” Throughout scripture God told people, “Fear not! Do not be afraid! Do not be discouraged!” Why did He tell them that? Because fear could stop Him from doing what He wanted to do for them. So, when your back is against the wall, fear not. Jesus told Jairus when told that his daughter was dead, “Fear not, only believe” (Luke 8:50). Without faith it is impossible to please God and the mortal enemy of faith is fear.
You are to be led by the Spirit and not by fear. If you are led by fear you are led by the enemy and he will lead you into bondage and destruction. He will lead you into situations where you will be stolen from, where things in your life will be destroyed. And, if possible, he will try to cause your life to come to an early end. This is why you have to aggressively resist fear and unbelief. You can’t be passive about it. Stay away from people who speak fear into your life. 1 Cor. 15;33 says, “Do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits.” Fear will lock you up. It will put you in bondage. For some people fear comes in like a tsunami. It gets so bad that people tremble and refuse to shake another person’s hand because they fear the germs that may be there. They cover their face because they’re afraid to breathe the air or they worry about what may be in the water they drink. These people fear that around every corner lurks something that will harm them. They become prisoners to their own way of thinking. They won’t leave their house or visit other people nor will they go to church or have fellowship with their own family.
Fear puts you in bondage and it goes beyond some of these silly phobias that some people have. Fear is all over the earth and it’s so common people don’t even notice it. People talk fear and act on fear and don’t even see what they’re doing. They think it’s normal because they’ve been immersed in it for so long. People are dead because of fear. They did not die because they were afraid, they died because they acted on the fear. Never is it reasonable or acceptable to act on a fear. Fear is perverted faith and what is true about acting on faith is also true about acting on fear. James 2:17 says, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” You can have faith in you but unless you act on it no results are produced. Only living faith gets results. You must act on what you believe. Likewise, if you act on a fear it opens the door for the destroyer to come into your life. It gives him the right to ruin your relationships and everything else connected to your life. People have not yet seen how serious acting on a fear is.
Is. 7:1,2 tells how a great multitude went up to Jerusalem to make war with it and the fear of what happened moved the heart of the king and the people “as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.” The fear moved them in their heart and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34). If fear moves your heart and mouth, it will move your decisions. If it moves your decisions, it will move your actions and when you act on a fear the devil has a right to manifest supernatural power to steal, kill, and destroy. David knew this and wrote in Ps. 62:5,6, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.” David is talking to his soul. Sometimes you have to talk to yourself. If you feel afraid or something is trying to shake you then tell yourself to fear not and wait silently for God. Do not speak words of fear and doubt but instead say out loud, “I shall not be moved! I will not act on this fear!”
David said “I shall not be moved” and in vs. 2 he said “I shall not be greatly moved.” This is safety. This is divine protection. When fear comes you are not moved because like David you dwell in the secret place of the Most High and abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Ps. 91:1). When the sirens are going off or you’ve just heard the worst report you’ve ever heard in your life say out loud, “I shall not be moved.” There are times in life when everything is piling up to move you and your flesh and mind are screaming out telling you to do something. Don’t do it! If you submit to these urgings and do something out of fear you could die. Acting on fear is no small thing. It’s just as powerful as what acting on faith is. The devil works night and day trying to move you in fear. Why is this so? Because he is powerless to do anything unless he can get you to act on fear. This is what happened in the story of Job. What he greatly feared came upon him. Never make decisions based on fear for this is what opens the door to the enemy.
People lie, steal, and are mean to other people because they are afraid of something. They become irrational and fear has gripped their hearts. They are now acting on that fear. In Gen. 18:15 Sarah lied because she was afraid. Make a vow to never tell another lie ever again, even if it means your life depends on it. Lying is acting on fear and gives the enemy access to your life. It causes your hedge of protection to come down and now your life is headed for destruction. The truth is the only way and if you’re led by fear you are no longer being led by God. God is love and 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” How can you tell if you’re walking in fear? Fear has torment. You are tormented thinking about what could happen to you or your family. All sense of peace has left your life. Do not allow your heart to be troubled. Be not moved for you have within yourself the power to make this happen.
1 Thess. 5:23,24 says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” The God of peace will keep you and set you apart. Do not be overcome with fear but “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts” (Col. 3:15). The Amplified Bible says, “Let the peace from Christ rule, act as umpire continually in your hearts, deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds.” Follow the peace of God in everything. And where does this peace come from? Jesus said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Jesus was calm and in peace wherever He went and He takes His peace and gives it to you. You can have and walk in His peace wherever you go and if Jesus was never afraid neither do you have to be afraid. Believe it. Be like Smith Wigglesworth who once said, “I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe.”
