As followers of Christ, we know our souls are saved. But does your life suck? You’re guaranteed heaven, but what about your life on Earth? Does it matter?

Are we supposed to just endure this life, somehow drag our miserable butt through our days here while we just wait on heaven? Does God care about not only the state of your soul but your heart and mind too?

YES HE DOES – Let me prove it to you. This whole thing isn’t just about someday going to heaven – this is also about having a darn good life right here right now too.

Jesus said in John 10:10 – “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

Yes, Jesus came to save your soul, but it was more than that. He came to give you a rich and satisfying life today. Right now. You are not intended to dread your days or be overwhelmed in your stress. What’s rich and satisfying about that? If your life sucks, you’re doing it wrong. That was never God’s plan for you.

Hardship, yes. Struggle, absolutely. Pain, sometimes. But defeat, never. Never, ever was God’s plan to make you a vessel for his spirit, to fill you with his power, then have you walk in continual defeat. Knocked down, yes. But to stay down? Heck to the NO! That’s not God’s plan for you. That’s not his purpose for your days.

A rich and satisfying life is Jesus’ purpose for you. It’s not a surface level kind of satisfying, it’s a deep down in your bones, all the way to your soul kinda satisfying. A satisfaction that comes from facing the hard stuff and moving forward. A richness you tap into only after digging deep and discovering all that’s really inside of you. Oh yes girl, go digging and find God’s power right inside of you, just waiting to be tapped into!

Don’t you know God has already overcome the world and that means he has made a way for you through your problems. You do not have to live one more day defeated. You can hold your head and your hands up high in victory because YOU ARE ON THE WINNING TEAM. For all eternity, and hey guess what – today is part of eternity. Think about that, today is part of your eternity. Eternity starts now. Forever includes today. This day is already part of the package of the eternity Jesus gave you!

Don’t save up your happy for heaven. Nope, you can celebrate the victory today. God has already told us the end of the story, so don’t stress over this middle part. Some of this is going to get messy, but you don’t have to get down and wallow in it. This is temporary and your victory is eternal.

What’s really interesting is when you begin celebrating your victory, believing that a way has been made even when you’re in the middle of the mess and don’t quite see it, you can find joy in the struggle. You begin to see the potential purpose in your pain. You can live the rich and satisfying life Jesus is offering, even when circumstances are a far cry from perfection. And you know what we call that – we call it praise.

Praise is honoring God for the guaranteed victory, even when the battle still rages. Praise is knowing joy can still be found here, and going on a scavenger hunt for it! For real, go on a scavenger hunt for your joy. Start moving stuff, and digging under some things to see if maybe there might be some hidden joy for you here. It won’t always be surface level, but Jesus’ purposes never fail. He came to give you a rich and satisfying life, then that means a rich and satisfying life is to be found my sister! Get out your shovel!

Perfect life is heaven – this side of heaven it won’t be perfect. But it can be rich and satisfying. And do you know when you find rich and satisfying? When you decide to look for it! When you set your mind to it. When you start digging for delight instead of digging for dirt. I’m not here to look for what is wrong, I’m here to look for what is right. I’m not here to dig for what is dreaded, I’m here to dig for what is divine!

Yesterday, I sat outside of the emergency room while the man I love most was having some pretty serious tests run. We didn’t know what was going on, but we knew enough to know it could be bad. Sitting there by myself on a bench, my mind began to run wild. Does your mind ever just run around like a wild banshee on parade? Y’all I have the unique ability to run through 10 years worth of worst-case scenarios and paint the picture in full color to the point my entire body feels the pain of something that hasn’t even happened.

And you know what? I had to return those thoughts to sender. That fear and that worry didn’t come from the Almighty. So I sat on that bench outside the emergency room and I practiced 2 Corinthians 10:5 “Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

That’s not always easy, but it is possible. Instead of allowing my mind to dig for every possible dreaded scenario, I went on a hunt for the divine. The divine details of why we were where we were and who we were surrounded by. And you know what I found when I made my thoughts be obedient to Christ, the one who’s purpose is to give me a rich and satisfying life? I found the divine details. And you know what I felt? I felt peace.

YOU ARE NOT DEFEATED. Stop talking defeated words. Stop thinking defeated thoughts. Listen to me right now sister, Romans 8:37 tells me you are MORE than a conqueror. Overwhelming victory is yours through Christ who loves you. More than a conqueror.

Say that with me, I AM MORE THAN A CONQUEROR.

You know what that means? It means you’re not a one hit wonder. You didn’t just happen to win one little battle and now you’re set up for defeat. You didn’t make it through the last struggle to get stuck here. No, you win over and over again. You’re a champion. That’s what you are.

NOW START LIVING LIKE ONE.

Start talking like a champion. Take captive your thoughts like a champion. Get up and get dressed like a champion. Face down your problems like a champion.

And there’s a theme song for this. Take a listen to “Champion” by Carrie Underwood. It’s one of my favorites. Then listen for Ludacris to come in and rap because he breaks down each letter of CHAMPION into a list of what you need Sis. (Wait, can we quote a Ludacris rap in a devotional? Well this one we can because we do things a little different! I’m for the girl whose playlist jumps from Elevation Worship to Missy Elliott! Are you my people?)

Okay Ludacris, break it down. What does CHAMPION stand for?

The C is for the courage I possess through the trauma
H is for the hurt, but it’s all for the honor
A is for my attitude working through the patience
Money comes and goes, so the M is for motivation
Gotta stay consistent, the P is for persevere
The I is for integrity, innovative career
The O is optimistic, open and never shut
And the N is necessary ’cause I’m never givin’ up

More than a conqueror through Christ Jesus, girl you are a CHAMPION!

Heaven is yours, yes and hot dang do I look forward to it. It will be glorious. It will be worth the wait in every way. But a rich and satisfying life is yours today too. Don’t miss what’s being offered to you.

Go ahead and claim your place in the buffet of life and take a big healthy serving of rich and satisfying today. It’s available to you. Choose it. Look for it. Set your thoughts on it. And maybe you gotta dig for it.

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