Welcome back to “Friday Feature!” Grab a cup of coffee, relax, and enjoy today’s devotion! If you missed the last devotion, you can read it here!
Charity Gayle brings us today’s devotion titled, “Worship and our Relationship with Jesus.” Charity houses a powerful voice which has a fresh yet reminiscent sound. She loves the Lord with fierce faith and has authored songs such as “Amen,” “Enter In (Psalm 100),” “New Name Written Down in Glory,” “Cleansed,” and more. Charity grew up in a home full of worship and has been involved in ministry since she was a child. Charity is featured on The Emerging Sound records Volume 1 through 5. Her first solo album, ‘Lord, You are My Song’ debuted at #1 in the Christian & Gospel genre and #20 in all genres in January 2018. She is currently writing for her highly anticipated sophomore album coming soon. Charity lives and leads worship with her husband Ryan Kennedy and continues to minister in the US and globally. Give Charity a follow! @charity_gayle
Worship and our Relationship with Jesus
I think we get tripped up on the word worship sometimes. To some, it’s only meaning has become singing a song on a Sunday morning at church, or simply an outward expression of praise like lifting your hands or shouting Hallelujah. Now, both of these things ARE a piece of worship, but to make things easier, let’s replace the word worship with the word love.
I have recently fallen in love and gotten married. And if there’s one thing I know, is that the relationship I have with Ryan, is deeper than I can describe; but it wouldn’t have gotten that way if I didn’t communicate with him. I know it sounds simple, but THAT’s how God wants to relate to us. From the beginning of mankind, All God has wanted is to be with us! To talk to us and have a real, genuine, relationship with His creation, but we messed up. We wanted knowledge more than we wanted God and that caused a barrier between us. However, God didn’t give up on us that easily and He committed the greatest act of love by putting on flesh and dying for our sins so that we could have that ACCESS to Him once again. Now that’s true love.
Now if I tended to my relationship with Ryan by only talking to him and telling him how amazing he was a couple of hours a week, our marriage would fall apart. It wasn’t until I made this realization with the Lord- that He just wants to spend time with me, wants me to tell Him how good He is, wants me to cast all of my cares on Him, that I hadn’t really experienced what I could in my relationship with Jesus.
I love the song that says “I’m coming back to the HEART of Worship – because it’s all about YOU”. Worship isn’t genuine if it isn’t all about the Lord. period. It’s not about how great of a singer or player someone is, the platform it provides, or the song that’s being sung. If It isn’t expressing how much we LOVE HIM, it’s just a show. Music is NOT our worship, it’s merely a tool we use to express our adoration for God. So, why do we use music for our worship and praise?
Ryan Kennedy has written me love songs. He takes his love for me and pens it into lyrics and melody and there’s just something about that creativity coupled with his love for me that makes my heart melt. BUT if he only professed his love to me in a song, and never spoke to me otherwise, it would not be a good thing. Do you see? Can you see why the Lord adores our worship through song but why it needs to be more than that?
Let’s look at Psalm 92 which is currently one of my favorite psalms. For one reason, it validates the tool of music in worship: “It is GOOD to make music to Your name O Most High. Psalm 92:1. For another, it is David’s proclamation of God’s love and faithfulness: Proclaiming your LOVE in the morning and your faithfulness at night. Psalm 92:2. When I look at that scripture, I see a DAILY adoration to God, and that’s where our worship needs to live- in daily adoration whether with music, praise, or just talking with God.
When I was little, worship was taught to me as giving thanks and love to the Lord. no matter what song was being sung (even if it wasn’t a song I ‘preferred’), I lifted my hands, I showed the Lord I loved Him through what I knew to be praise. Now that I’m older I understand that everyday He is the same, so my worship should be everyday. It’s talking to Jesus while I do the dishes, It’s doing my best to love my neighbor. It’s being like Jesus and giving hope to all whether we agree with them or not. You want to worship the Lord deeper? Love Him better by talking to Him, getting to know Him through His word and just letting Him love you back. You’re not afraid to share your flaws and trials with someone you REALLY trust and God should be the One we trust the most. Let’s REALLY love Him through our worship.