Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The mission of Beyond Positive Thinking Ministries is to help people fulfill the will of God is their lives according to 3 John 2, they prosper in all things and live in health. The key to receiving the prosperity and health that God wants for you is found in the last part of the verse, “just as your soul prospers.”

3 John 2 (NKJV)
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

Your soul refers to your mind, will, intellect and emotions. The soul is where your thinking takes place. You will prosper both financially and physically just as you are prospering mentally. It all starts with your thoughts and the way you think about these two areas of your life.

We are going to answer four questions in this article:
1. Who is “Beloved” referring to?
2. What does “prosper” mean?
3. What does “health” refer to?
4. What does it mean to prosper in your soul?

Who is “Beloved” referring to?
It is important to identify to whom this verse (3 John 2) is being written. At first glance, after reading verse one, it appears that John is writing this letter to Gaius only, but in verse two John uses the word “Beloved” to address the recipients of this letter. We will use the Word of God to answer this first question.

Ephesians 1:5-6 (NKJV)
v. 5 Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
v. 6 To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted IN THE BELOVED.

What is the definition of “Beloved” in verse six? We will define it with the New Living Translation of verse six.

Ephesians 1:6 (NLT)
So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son.

“Beloved” refers to any person who belongs to God’s dearly loved Son, Jesus Christ. Do you belong to Jesus Christ today? Are you a child of God? Are you in the family of God? You are if you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:26 (NLT)
So you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Any person who has placed his or her faith in Jesus Christ has been accepted in the Beloved, and is a member of the family of God, and now God is his or her very own Father.

What does “prosper” mean?
The word “prosper” is only found once in the New Testament and the word “prosperity” is not found at all in the New Testament.

What is the first thing most people think of when “prosperity” is mentioned? Money and material possessions, right? However, prosperity is really much more than that. Let’s look at the biblical definition of prosperity. The first thing we know is that it is God’s will for us to prosper in ALL THINGS (Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things).

The Greek word for prosper is “euodoo” (yoo-od-o: Strong’s #2137). Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible gives this definition: “to help on the road; to succeed in reaching; to succeed in business affairs; to have a prosperous journey.” Certainly life is a journey, and God’s will is that it be a prosperous one!

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words adds this to the definition of prosper: “in material things; the continuous tense suggests the successive circumstances of varying prosperity as week follows week; in 3 John 2 prosper also refers to the “prosperity” of physical and spritual health.”

Prosper and Prosperity are found well over 50 times in the Old Testament. One of the three Hebrew words for prosperity is “shalom” (Strong’s #7965). It means peace, prosperity and health.

Each individual must determine what prosperity means to them. Every person must find a definition that he or she can believe in. Do you know how many people do not believe that it is God’s will for them to prosper and be in health?

Many people equate prosperity with an amount on money or with material possessions. To one a prosperous person is a millionaire, to another a prosperous person is one who is financially free, and yet to another a prosperous person is one who lives in a spacious home, drives a luxury car, and wears designer clothes.

Is a person prosperous if he or she is continually challenged with a lack of physical wellness and their bodies continually filled with sickness and disease? Is a person prosperous if he or she is continually experiencing strife in their relationships? Is the prosperous person one who is continually filled with fear, worry and anxiety? According to our previous Bible definitions, a lack of peace and/or a lack of physical health would disqualify an individual from being defined as prosperous person.

My point is twofold. First, prosperity is not an amount. Second, prosperity is all encompassing, it not only includes financial well being, but it also includes physical well being and spiritual well being.

Here is my personal definition of prosperity: “Prosperity is having enough of God’s resources to fulfill my God-given dream.”

What does “health” refer to?
Prosperity does not only refer to financial and spiritual health, but it refers to physical health as well. It refers to your body keeping well. Let’s read the Amplified Translation of 3 John 2 in order to confirm our definition of the word “health.”

3 John 2 (AMP)
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way AND [THAT YOUR BODY] MAY KEEP WELL, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.

God’s will is that your body gets well and stays healthy. After all, God called Himself Jehovah Rapha to His covenant people in Exodus 15:26, which means the Lord who heals you!

What does it mean to prosper in your soul?
What is a prosperous soul? We find the answer in 3 John 3-4.

3 John 3-4 (NKJV)
v. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth.
v. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

A prosperous soul is a mind filled with the Truth. What is the Truth?

John 17:17 (NKJV)
Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

God’s Word is Truth! A prosperous soul is a mind filled with God’s Word. A prosperous soul is a renewed mind. Your soul prospering, which means your mental prosperity, is dependent on renewing your mind with the Word of God. “Just as your soul prospers” refers to the degree that your mind is renewed with the Word of God.

Your prosperity and health are dependent upon your soul prospering. Your soul prospering means renewing your mind with what the Word of God says about prosperity and health. You will prosper financially and physically just as you are prospering mentally. It all starts with your thoughts and the way you think about these two areas of your life.

God’s greatest joy is to hear that His children walk in the truth of His Word. Walking in the Truth means walking in the light of God’s Word. It means practicing the Word of God. It means living according to the success principles set forth in the Word of God.

What does God’s Word say about healing?

1. The prophecy of healing was given.

Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

This prophecy promises that God would provide a complete redemption for the entire threefold makeup of your being; spirit, soul, and body.

In Isaiah 53:4 from the New Living Translation, the prophecy specifically refers to being redeemed from sickness and disease.

Isaiah 53:4 (NLT)
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows* that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!

*Yet it was our sicknesses he carried; / it was our diseases.

2. Jesus fulfills the prophecy.

Matthew 8:16-17 (NKJV)
16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,
17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”*

*Isaiah 53:4

Matthew 8:17 (NLT)
This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.”*

*Isaiah 53:4

3. Now divine health belongs to the children of God!

1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV)
Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

Just like salvation is one of your new covenant benefits, divine health is also one of your new covenant benefits. It is part of your inheritance in Christ. Hopefully, you now know 3 things: First, healing belongs to you. Second, it is God’s will to heal you personally. Third, it is God’s will for you to live in divine health.

So the question we want to answer is: “How do you keep your healing?” In other words, how do you live in divine health?

Hebrews 3:1 (NKJV)
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and HIGH PRIEST of OUR CONFESSION, Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 4:14 (NKJV)
Seeing then that we have a great HIGH PRIEST who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast OUR CONFESSION.

Notice the two phrases in these two verses: “Our Confession” and “High Priest”. Jesus is the High Priest of our confession.

Confession comes from the Greek word “Homologeo” which means “to speak the same thing.” It also means “to agree with.”

Key Point #1:
If you want to keep your healing, if you want to live in divine health, you must develop the habit of saying the same thing about your health that God says about it. You must develop the habit of agreeing with God concerning the subject of your personal health. You can agree with God by saying the same thing that He says about any given matter, including living in divine health.

You will never enjoy the promises in God’s Word until you confess them. The Bible will never become a living thing in your life until you confess what it says, and then put it into practice. Until you confess God’s Word, until you practice God’s Word for yourself personally, you will never receive what God thinks already belongs to you. God thinks healing already belongs to you!

Confessing God’s Word is one way you can act on it. Confession leads to action. You release the power of God into your life by confessing God’s Word – by speaking God’s Word. You will then find yourself acting on God’s Word.

Christianity is called the Great Confession. The Bible is God’s confession. Healing follows confession just as salvation follows confession (See Romans 10:10). Confession precedes possession concerning all the promises of God.

Your High Priest, Jesus, is doing something with your words. Jesus Christ is doing something right now with the words you speak. He is saying to God, “Father, make that person’s words good in their life.” Whether you speak positive words or negative words, Jesus has no choice because He is bound to His own word, which He stated in Mark 11:23.

Mark 11:23 (NKJV)
“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”

You are having in your life today that which you have spoken in your past. Whatever you have been saying is gong to show up in your life. Many people are not having what they say because they are saying what they have. They are walking by sight. The goal of your life is to make your confession, the words you say, harmonize with the Word of God, with what God says.

Hebrews 4:14 (NKJV)
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us HOLD FAST our confession.

Hebrews 10:23 (NKJV)
Let us HOLD FAST the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

The phrase “hold fast” means to seize, retain, and keep. You keep your healing by holding fast to your confession of God’s Word. You keep your healing by continually speaking what God’s Word says about your health and healing. Key point number two, if you want to keep your healing, comes in the form of a question:

Key Point #2:
Where is your tenacity? Where’s your tenacity to hold fast to your confession of God’s Word concerning your healing?

The motivation and the inspiration to hold fast to your confession lies in your ability to honor Jesus as your High Priest. Where is your tenacity to honor Jesus as your High Priest? Your confession is your estimation of the value of the Word of God in your life.

Hebrews 10:23 (AMP)
So let us seize and HOLD FAST and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.

Jesus is the One who promised you complete and eternal redemption, and now He is faithful to make that promise good in every area of your life. All God’s promises are found in the Holy Bible, which is God’s Word. The challenge is whether the One who made the promises is faithful to His word. We know that Jesus is reliable, sure, and faithful to His word, but you will never enjoy the promises in God’s Word until you confess them and act like you have them.

Your confession, the words you say, will either honor Jesus or dishonor Jesus. Jesus Christ is the Guarantor of every word from Matthew 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. Jesus has become the guarantee of God’s Word.

You can say the following affirmation based on 1 Peter 2:24 to confirm God’s thoughts about your health and healing. Making this affirmation will also help you practice “holding fast” to your confession of living in divine health.

1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV)
Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

Confession:
Jesus Christ bore my sins in His own body on the cross. I am now living right with God. He also bore my sicknesses and removed my diseases. Jesus has already obtained healing for me. His wounds healed me. I believe it. I accept it. I have it now. I was healed by the stripes of Jesus, and now I can live in divine health.

Continue to make this life-changing affirmation and expect the life, health, and strength of the risen Christ to infuse your entire body with life, health, and strength!