Psalm 65:9-11 NLT – You take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile. The river of God has plenty of water; it provides a bountiful harvest of grain, for you have ordered it so. [10] You drench the plowed ground with rain, melting the clods and leveling the ridges. You soften the earth with showers and bless its abundant crops. [11] You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.

We are getting to the time of year when many farmers are seeding their farms or are preparing for seeding.

Psalm 69 talks a lot about God and His care for the earth and how by caring for the earth, He shows His care for us.

Three key things jump out at me as I read verses 9-11…

1. God takes care of the earth and makes it rich and fertile

2. He has plenty of water to drench the ground

3. He crowns the year with a bountiful harvest

I love that He takes care of the earth and makes it fertile. It is ready to for us to do our part.

I also love that He has plenty of water to drench the ground. In a world where people are worried about water, the Bible says God has plenty.

And finally I love that it says He crowns the year with a bountiful harvest. We play our part and God does His.

What a great Psalm for this time of the year. Especially for farmers who are busy getting ready for seeding.

Prayer

Dear God, I thank You that You are the source of all life and all blessing. I am so glad that You make the earth rich and fertile and You provide rain and growth. I pray You will bless all farmers today. I pray that You will provide a rich and bountiful harvest this year. Amen

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT – Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, [20] for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

The Bible tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit as He lives in us. The Holy Spirit takes up residence when we are born again and receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. Because of this we do not belong to ourselves any more as Jesus paid for us on the cross to redeem us back to God. Now as Christians our goal should be to honour God with our body. Our goal should be to please Him in the way we live.

Prayer

Dear God, help me to remember that Jesus paid the price for me on the cross. Help me to remember now that the Holy Spirit lives inside me. I pray that I can honour You in all I do, say and think. Amen.

Psalm 146:6-9 NLT – He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever. [7] He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The LORD frees the prisoners. [8] The LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are weighed down. The LORD loves the godly. [9] The LORD protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.

In this short passage we see that God made the world and everything in it. We also see 10 things He does for us. If we read the passage too quickly we may miss them.

1. He keeps His promises forever
2. He gives justice
3. He gives food to the hungry
4. He frees prisoners
5. He opens blind eyes
6. He lifts up those who are down
7. He loves the godly
8. He protects foreigners living amongst us
9. He cares for the orphans
10. He cares for the widows

What a wonderful God we love and serve. He truly is our all in all.

If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, I would encourage you to visit my find peace with God page above.

For my devotions today I read 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 NLT. It says…

[6] So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. [7] For we live by believing and not by seeing. [8] Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. [9] So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. [10] For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

Five things jumped out at me today.

1. While we are here on earth we are not at home with the Lord in heaven.

2. Because of our eternal hope we would rather be away from our earthly bodies and be with Jesus.

3. Regardless of where we are, our ultimate goal is to live in a way that pleases Him.

4. As Christians we know one day we will stand before Him and give account for our lives.

5. We will receive what we deserve for the good and bad things we have done.

As Christians we have a great hope of heaven. Like the Apostle Paul we sometimes long to be away and our bodies and be present with Christ. Which as Paul says is better by far.

While we are here we have work to do on earth. And we also know that one day we will have to stand before Jesus and give account for the things we have done.

For some people judgement day is a scary day, but for others it is a day when they will see Jesus face to face and receive their eternal rewards.

For me personally I use these thoughts to motivate to be about God’s work while I am here. My goal is to please Him. How about you?