Meditate on the Glory of God 

By Margaret Thomson  

“The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”  Psalm 19:1

This is a true revelation of God’s glory that displays His power, creativity, artistry, mercy, and wisdom, among other things. Meditating regularly on the words and works of God takes us a long way toward being engulfed in His glory. The universe is a revelation of God’s creation.  The verbs “declare” and “proclaim” express the continuous revelation of the heavens. I love looking at the sky and being engulfed by the mass area of creation which reflects God’s glory. This area is forever changing at different times of the day and night. The sun makes different reflections on the clouds through each day. At night, the sky becomes a reflection of the awesome glory of His glorious love. Words can’t described how God displays His presence in creation of the sky!     

I am always seeking to understand and delight in the glory of who God is, the character of His holiness and mercy, and His strength seen in His love for the plans and purposes for His people. When I see the work of the Lord in and through my brothers and sisters in Christ, I see a manifestation of His glory. God is a relational being who is seeking to form His beloved ones into a people of God together. Glory to God is expressed beautifully by John in Revelation 21:23 – “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” What a miraculous place heaven will be, illuminated by God’s glory 

Margaret Thomson is an avid student and preacher of the word. Her involvement with Elevate has been varied over many years. She also has Cerebral Palsy and a wicked sense of humour.  

I Will Not Be Shaken

By Cherry Lewis 

“Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” – Psalms 16: 8 

Have you ever worried because you have failed? done the wrong thing, thought wrongly about someone, omitted to do something, and then regretted it?   

Once you have confessed these things to our Heavenly Father, they are gone from His memory. He doesn’t even remember them, because He delights in setting us free, not having us weighed down with guilt. But how is it that we can often be plagued with regret? 

There is a conflict going on-the enemy of our souls is intent on pulling us down, whereas Jesus, who is the lover of our souls, said that He came to give us life and that more abundantly [John 10:10] 

We need to be alert to this enemy of ours who prowls around, looking for someone to devour. If we find negative, condemnatory thoughts such as…”Now you are in a mess. What will happen if….” Or “You messed it up there-that was terrible. Things are only going to get worse. How do you expect God to use you?”….  

Then, what can we do? 

We have a mighty weapon at our disposal, and that is the name of Jesus. Let me tell you of an incident that happened to me and that I will never forget. I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, gripped by some incredible fear that was worse than anything I had ever felt before. Strangely enough, there was no indication of what the fear was about, whereas normally we are afraid of something. The thought came to me that I needed to call on the name of Jesus, but I couldn’t speak. So, I thought I will just think His name and as I did, I felt immediately a slight lessoning of the power of this fear. So, encouraged by this, I managed to call out His name and immediately the fear left.  I can only liken it to being gripped by an octopus and having its tentacles release you from its grasp. 

A few weeks later, exactly the same thing happened again, but this time I was confident about what to do. I called out the name of Jesus and instantly the fear was gone. 

So, how can we strengthen ourselves in the Lord so that we are able to deal with these worrying thoughts that can plague us? What I have found to be very helpful is to get a notebook and build up a selection of favourite verses that talk about how amazing our Father is, how He cares for us, He is our strength and shield, He is right there with us at all times. The Psalms are wonderful for this.  

So, next time you feel weighed down with some worrying thoughts, you could recite one of your verses and think about the game of cricket! Picture yourself as a great batsman-the ball comes towards you and with one of these verses and a mighty swoop of your bat you send it flying to the edge of the field!! 

“He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken” – Ps. 62:2 

Cherry Lewis has been a long-time volunteer at the Drop-in Centre, our camps and Auckland CFFD.