BACKGROUND
#HeyGuys!
Check out our latest review of ‘Stay With Me’ by Winner of The Voice 2020, Annatoria (Blessing Chitapa).
MUSICALITY
Annatoria delivers this multi-lingua afrobeats song in English, with bits of Shona, Broken and Spanish in the key of C sharp minor. We catch flashes of the digital saxophone instrumental endemic to the genre.
Chitapa vocalises a lot like Brandy, with the layering of voices on the Nigerian Broken expression ‘Oh Baba God’ and in other lines. Her riffs and runs are executed intricately, with precision and speed.
She utilises her mixed voice in the verses, belts well in the refrain and generally has great control over her vocal range, which you savour as it pans left and right, through the saxophone instrumental, the vamp and the bridge, giving the song an infectious quality.
VIDEO
The video showed scenes of Annatoria having fun, driving, eating ice cream by a fountain, posturing herself in worship, dancing on a rooftop, etc. I think I would have liked a firmer creative and videographic direction, but it was alright. The video has a lot of tans and browns, which nicely suits the singer.
MESSAGE
‘Stay With Me’ tells the story of a young christian lady who does not fully apprehend her inheritance in Christ, and is subjected to the feeling that her God is not bound to stay with her and turn her face away from her at any time. Well, I’ve got news for this young girl. Regardless of who you are or what you’ve done, you become the righteousness of God the moment you give your heart to Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Thus, you stand righteous before Him and righteousness is your nature.
God has no interest in turning his face away from you, ever. His righteousness is yours for you to flaunt all the time, exactly like a new garment! If Christ took on our sin as in 2 Corinthians 5:21, then we don’t have any issues as to giving ourselves grief over anything we do wrong. It is simply a matter we discuss with the father and reaffirm the fact that we are His righteousness.
We do not need to take on the ‘Cast me not away from your presence oh Lord, take not your Holy Spirit from me’ (Psalm 51:11) mindset. That state of being obtained in the old testament, wherein the Holy Spirit would come on priests, prophets and kings for only a short time. See 1 Samuel 10:10.
This does not apply to us since the Holy Spirit has been sealed upon us and is proof of our eternal life. Ephesians 1:13 says, ‘And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory’.
God is not interested in hiding his presence from us. Jesus paid the price for our righteousness, so we can boast about it and have a filled day with it. That should be our perspective even when we feel like we have done things wrong. This is what we should be singing about. It might sound hoity toity or arrogant, but it is really not. It is who we are. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We are not sinners.
It is important to remember that the Devil uses guilt as a tool to keep us under and to keep us feeling bad, like God is just managing us or something, which is completely untrue. When you feel like you have done something wrong, declare over yourself that you are God’s righteousness, and that is your nature, and that the blood of Jesus speaks for you. (Please bear in mind that this perspective is not to condone evil behaviour or anything).
CONFESSIONS
When you feel like God may not want to hang around you, please say these confessions:
1. I am not a sinner, I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus
2. God does not hide his presence from me. I have access to His presence at all times.
3. God rejoices over me with gladness; He quietens me with His love; he exults over me with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)
TRIVIA
Name one person who was the exception to the rule in the Old Testament, who was born with the Holy Spirit on the inside of him. Answer: John the Baptist
