Music brings life and love

Can you believe it’s already July?! It seems like it was only yesterday that I was writing down my 2018 faith goals, trying to foresee how this year will play out. We’re past half of the year now and I am in awe of God’s faithfulness. He has answered so many of my prayers! He’s given me the chance to watch Citipointe Live, well, live 😂 and after three years of praying, I was finally able to visit Korea (more on that on my next post)!

On my previous post, I shared how ecstatic I was over the news of Citipointe Live visiting Manila. I love their songs, especially Into the Deep. I’ve imagined myself countless of times, hands outstretched, worshiping to this song at the top of my lungs. I prayed about it, but it was that “I wonder how it would feel like to experience this” kind of prayer. You know the one where you want something but you’re not sure if it’s possible? So when I finally heard and saw Chardon Lewis on stage, I had goosebumps. I was teary eyed as I sang my heart out to Into the Deep and Dominion. It was so surreal. I ended up with more favorites (Seek, Higher + Wider + Deeper) than I had before I came in.

All of the earth is Yours

You are Alpha and Omega

All of the earth is Yours

You’re our delight

You are Lord of all

– Dominion

I must admit that I delayed writing about this experience because at one point during the night, it felt like I was attending a concert and not a worship session. I had to check my heart to see if I was truly worshiping God through these beautiful songs or if I was idolizing Citipointe Live. Christian music is supposed to glorify God, not the people who performed it. So I waited it out.

For Victory’s Midyear Prayer and Fasting, one of the things I fasted on was listening to secular music, limiting myself to Christian music. This time, though, because I was also spending a lot of time on reading God’s Word and praying, music became an edifying tool and a supplement to my prayer life as I let the lyrics become my prayer.

When I began to focus more on the lyrics and what it meant in my walk with God (not the melody or the singer’s voice), I got more out of these songs. Higher + Wider + Deeper’s lyrics particularly spoke to me:

Love that can move the mountains

Yet knows me by name

Imagine hearing this during your morning commute and realizing that the traffic shouldn’t faze you, that whatever you’re going through shouldn’t worry you because God can move mountains and He loves you. What a great reminder, what an encouragement! The song Beautiful Love by Victory Worship tells of the same:

From throne to cross You came to die

A crown for thorns to bring new life

With every nail I fill Your mind

You looked upon me with delight

Oh, what love, how can it be

From that cross You looked at me

Oh, what love poured out for me

What a beautiful love

And Seek, also by Citipointe Live, is the perfect response:

I won’t relent in my pursuit for You

No matter what comes my way I will seek You

I’ll keep running, I’ll keep chasing after You

‘Cause I’m so in love, so in love with You

I make this vow

Jesus, here and now

That I will seek You

I will search and I will chase

Running to Your name for all of my days

Lifting Your praise

Holy, Holy is Your name

Songs of praise and worship are anointed by God and they were meant to do just that — praise and worship God, the rock of our salvation [Psalm 95:1]. No matter how much we listen to Christian music, the act is futile when we fail to give glory where glory’s due. And the best way to glorify God is to walk in the path He has set for us [Isaiah 30:21] and live our life in a way that pleases Him. We live out the lyrics of the worship songs we sing; we incorporate those in our lives. I’m thankful that God uses music to speak love to me and sometimes, to correct my heart. Isn’t it awesome how a tool for giving glory to Him is something that’s also beneficial to us? God is truly deserving of all honor.

My prayer is that we immerse ourselves more in His love by constantly praying, meditating upon His Words, and praising and worshiping Him in every way we can. As Into the Deep goes:

Into the deep I will go with You

Submerge my feet to my head in all of You

As Your presence falls I am drowned in Your love

Immerse me, immerse me

May we always drown in this amazing, powerful love of our Creator. ❤️