Consider the prosperity of Job in The Bible. How he had it (Chapter 1:13) How he lost it (Chapter 1 and 2) and how he received it back many fold (end of Chapter 42).
We seek here to prove from the book of Job and the rest of scripture that true prosperity is not about money and material goods but is first and foremost about the prosperity of our soul (3 John 2, Revelation 3:17-19).
At the start of the story, Job is said to be perfect and upright before God (Chapter 1). The content of his uprightness is to be found in Chapter 31 from Job’s own confession. He worshiped God solely and singularly (not his creation) and he did not worship money (31: 24-28). He kept himself from lust, from being a womanizer and an adulterer (31: 7-12). He dealt justly with his employees. He took in strangers and shared his goods with the poor, the widow and the orphan (31: 13-22). Such was Job's impeccable character. He was a man who sought to serve and please God with all his heart.
Had God made Job prosperous? Yes, even Satan admits to this while insinuating that Job's devotion emanated from his earthly blessings. What was Satan’s design for Job? It was to make Job curse his creator(Chapter 1 and 2) and ultimately to destroy him and his testimony.
Why did God allow Satan to attack Job? Did God allow Job's testing to prove Job's devotion, whether it was pure or tainted by an ulterior motive like Satan had said? Regardless of the answer to those questions, God allows all of Job's earthly substance to be taken away by Satan including all of his children. In a demonstration of incredible devotion to God, Job manages to bless his creator in the midst of Satan's cruel onslaught on his life.
How prosperous do you think Job felt after Satan had attacked him several times? Presumably, not very much; he rather mourned the calamity that had come upon him so disastrously.
What was God’s design for Job? It was to let him go through a season of trails and suffering followed by a deeper face to face encounter with himself (Chapter 42:5). Job would become an example of suffering, being made an eternal testimony for us who would believe so we can endure and persevere in trails. Job's sufferings mirror the sufferings of our own savior. Rather than cajole us with a half-truth ( IE that we will be healthy, wealthy and wise if we follow God) Job’s story gives us a complete picture of the trails of life, the attacks of the enemy and the wonderful plan God has for our life in-spite of these trails.
In the end, God blesses Job even more than at the beginning with better and more beautiful blessings. However, the story of job does not permit us to single out material prosperity as the main purpose and reason for life. Neither is material prosperity front and center in Jesus's teachings in the gospels or in all of the Bible for that matter.
Teachings that emphasize material prosperity apart from the cross are deceptive and give an unbalanced view of scripture and God's plans for our life. We should not buy into the greed driven gospel being preached in certain corners of Christendom. Yes, material possessions and wealth are spoken of throughout the bible and its OK to have them but we should be careful that these things don't become a snare to our spiritual life and don’t come between us and a pure love and devotion for our beloved Jesus.
The main course of our salvation is knowing and loving God and becoming like him. As a side dish for our salvation we are promised that prosperity that pertains to our mind, body, intellect and our material and emotional needs will be supplied profusely and abundantly.
For example, we see God commend Solomon when he asked for wisdom instead of material wealth ( 2 Chronicles 1:11) and as a reward God blesses Solomon with both. In his word, Jesus is telling us that our attitude about money should be to put him first before everything else. We need to be wary of going primarily after "all these THINGS" that are to be "added" to us instead of "The kingdom of God and his righteousness" which we are to seek first and foremost (Matthew Ch. 6:33).
As many would testify, Those of us who are in love with Jesus already know and have proven that Jesus is all sufficient, and that all we need He has provided for us. This is the prosperity we should all desire, one that is born of a close walk with the master and includes us being prosperous in all areas of life so that we can overflow in our spiritual and earthly life and become a blessing on this earth.
Even if we don't have a single penny at the moment but have the Lord in our life then we should consider ourselves wealthy for we have the greatest gift anyone can have, a relationship with God through Jesus Christ our lord.
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
The spiritual treasures that God is about to release to us in Christ are a thousand times more valuable and glorious than any material blessings we can have on this earth.
