Soul Food

Positioned to Prosper – Part 2

3 John 2 (ESV)

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

3 John 2 (KJV)

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

This is a greeting, but it is also a prayer: that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.

Would you want someone to pray that over you? "Lord, may their prosperity and physical health match their soul!" Some would say, "Maybe I need to strengthen my soul a little. My prosperity is matching my soul and that is the problem."

My mentality is all wrong. I am stressed and depressed. Not walking in my purpose.

Today let's look at how we can get that soul prospering. Let's feed that soul. Let's get some soul food—some candied yams, fried chicken, cornbread, collard greens, black-eyed peas, mac and cheese.

Let's look at Gaius to see how his soul was fed.

The Example of Gaius

3 John 3-4 (ESV)

For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Three Ways to Feed Your Soul

#1 Walk in Truth

Do you operate in truth?

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

A prosperous soul needs Jesus.

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

That word "abundantly" means beyond or extraordinary.

John 17:17

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Sanctify them. Make them holy. Get that Word in you so you can walk in truth.

Psalm 119:104-105

Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

1 John 1:6-7 (ESV)

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

When you are walking in the truth, people will testify to it. In verse 3, brothers came and testified to it. When you walk in truth, your spiritual father gets joy. John was so joyful that his children were living what they had been taught.

#2 Show Hospitality to Strangers

3 John 5-6 (ESV)

Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.

Being hospitable positions you for prosperity.

Gaius would welcome Christian missionaries into his home. He would faithfully take care of them. He would show hospitality even when others told him not to take these missionaries in.

3 John 9-10 (ESV)

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.

There are people here who have helped other church members. You have helped honest co-workers, and they have stayed in your guest room, on your couch, in closed-in patios. Your rental property is not making as much money as it could because you are helping a member or friend. God sees you. God is keeping receipts. Your soul is getting ready to receive what God is preparing for you.

Rahab took in the spies, and salvation came to her house. Jesus often stayed at Mary, Martha, and Lazarus's house, and when Lazarus died, Jesus came and said, "I am the resurrection and the life."

Are you hospitable and loving? Are you willing to be inconvenienced?

Hebrews 13:1-3 (ESV)

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

#3 Be Generous Toward the Things of God

3 John 7-8 (ESV)

For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

Gaius would use his means to support the work of the Lord. In verse 7, they had gone out for the sake of the name. These were traveling preachers that he supported.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

A prosperous soul knows that all things belong to God.

John 3:26-27

And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him." John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven."

All the gifts are His. The ministry He gives you is His. The plans are His. "I know the plans I have for you."

James 1:17 (ESV)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

When you can let go of things, God can use you because you are steady. When you have a strong soul, you are not easily moved if things are taken away. You get a diagnosis—"Lord, I trust You."

Job 1:21 (ESV)

And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

A Soul That Cannot Be Shaken

Life happens to everybody, but I've been working on my soul man, and my soul is prospering. I walk in truth, I walk in favor, I walk in power, I'm hospitable, I'm generous, I walk in joy, I walk in love.

Romans 8:31-39 (ESV)

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
"For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Imitate the Good

3 John 11

Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

Discussion Questions

1. The Soul-Prosperity Connection: John prayed that Gaius would prosper physically and financially "as his soul prospers." How would you honestly assess the health of your soul right now? What specific areas of your soul (mind, will, emotions) need the most attention and strengthening?
2. Walking in Truth: The sermon emphasizes that a prosperous soul needs Jesus and must be rooted in God's Word. How consistently are you feeding your soul with Scripture? What practical steps can you take this week to make God's Word more of a "lamp to your feet and a light to your path"?
3. Hospitality as Soul Food: Gaius welcomed missionaries even when others opposed him, and the sermon mentions people who have opened their homes and resources to help others. When was the last time you were genuinely inconvenienced for someone else's benefit? How does showing radical hospitality strengthen your own soul?
4. Generous Hearts, Strong Souls: According to 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, God loves a cheerful giver and promises that generosity leads to abundance. How does your giving—whether time, money, or resources—reflect your trust in God's ownership of everything? Are you sowing sparingly or bountifully?
5. Unmovable in Crisis: Job declared "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" even in his darkest moment. What current circumstance or future fear is testing the stability of your soul? How can you apply the truth of Romans 8:31-39 to stand firm as "more than a conqueror" regardless of what life brings?