One damnable heresy which infiltrated the early church, that we are supposed to be poor and miserly like Jesus, who had no place to lay his head, has corrupted men and women from doing good for the world that men and women would receive the goodness of God and repent.
The leaders in humanistic, flesh-driven church communities, I am convinced, taught this lie in order to justify taking money from the hard-working individuals in a community, then used the same monies to subsidize their own heathen, evil life-styles.
Yet from the beginning of Romans to the Third Epistle of John, "prosperity" matters:
"Making request, if by
any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to
come unto you." (Romans 1: 10)
For Paul, the prosperous journey benefits not just himself, but those whom he anticipates meeting.
"Beloved, I wish above
all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul
prospereth." (3 John 2)
Here, John puts the primacy where it belongs – on our soul, that we prosper on the inside.
And what do we have inside of us? Paul lets us in on what God has placed in every believer:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
"According as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love:
"Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the
good pleasure of his will" (Ephesians 1: 3-5)
and
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of his grace;" (Ephesians 1: 7)
All that we need, we have been granted. The question is not "how to get", but "how to accept"
"That the
communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every
good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." (Philemon 6)
We access this grace, these riches, by faith (Ephesians 2: 4-8)
So, we are already rich, because of all that Christ Jesus has done for us and in us. The question then remains — are you willing to believe him for it?