A Passion For Thee

A Passion For Thee

By: Joe Zichterman

Set my heart, O dear Father,

On Thee, and Thee only,

Give me a thirst for Thy presence divine.

Lord, keep my focus on loving Thee wholly,

Purge me from earth;

Turn my heart after Thine.

Chorus:

A Passion for Thee;

O Lord, set a fire in my soul, and a thirst for my God.

Hear Thou my prayer,

Lord, Thy power impart

Not just to serve, but to love Thee with all of my heart.

Father fill with Thy Spirit, and fit me for service,

Let love for Christ ev'ry motive inspire;

Teach me to follow in selfless submission,

Be Thou my joy and my soul's one desire.

Chorus

This song is the prayer of my heart. I first heard it a few years ago at one of our Bright Lights meetings. Whenever I sing it, I think of how my heart's one desire is to love God more and more each day. In a world full of cares and distractions it is easy to set our hearts on other things besides God. For me, it's easy to set my heart on my dreams and the plans that I make, but I have come to realize that God is the author and finisher of my faith and it is He who will do work in my life. Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He will give thee the desires of thine heart." I used to think that this meant if I was a Christian, God would give me the things I wanted most. But, that is not what the psalmist was saying. "Delight thyself in the Lord..." If I am delighting in the Lord, I will have a passion for serving Him, for obeying His laws, for loving His Word, etc. Then my desire will be for God's perfect plan to be fulfilled in my life. I will desire to glorify God. I will desire to further His kingdom.
I want to love Christ above everything else. I pray that He would keep my focus on loving Him wholly, because He has given me everything; Life, breath... everything. I can do NOTHING for Him. Anything that I do, is really only Christ working through me. Therefore, I, with my own power, cannot love God. That is why I must pray, and beg Him to fill me with His love; to give me a love and passion for Him greater than anything else in my life.
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. My motive for everything that I do, should be to bring glory to God. Oh, this hurts! So often I fall short and find myself doing things for other reasons than to glorify God. That is why I must pray, "Let love for Christ ev'ry motive inspire."
I could go on and on about this song that has become another one of my favorites. I've been thinking about it alot lately because I played it for my piano recital. May this prayer of mine become your prayer too. I pray God fills us with love and a passion for Him. We must strive to quit putting our hopes and desires on other things than Christ. Let Him be the motive for all we do and say!
In Christ,
Kaila

Luther's Musical Achievement

How I LOVE when I find a gem among the ex-college library music books that I have accumulated! I'll be honest; most of these books are not exactly what I would consider pleasure reading. Not that this is a bad thing, they're just not easy to read. It's like overdone steak. You have to chew it for a VERY LONG TIME. Well, I was looking through my music books and came across this little gray book entitled, "Patterns of Protestant Church Music." It is wonderful! (So far) I just finished the first chapter which was on Martin Luther.
Luther had such a great love for music. He believed largely in singing in church, which was an issue argued by different reformers.  He said of music, "Next to the Word of God, only music deserves being extolled as the mistress and governess of human feelings.... Through the medium of praise the Holy Spirit placed His gifts into the hands of the Prophets; again through music the devil was driven away, as was the case with Saul, king of Israel.... The Fathers and Prophets desired....that nothing be more intimately linked up with the Word of God than music." 1

Luther not only loved congregational singing, but he also greatly liked polyphonic singing done by trained choirs. He is said to have defined music, "as an art which to be appreciated properly must be studied rather than merely listened to…" 2
 He knew music well and had a very good voice. He believed that the study of music was an essential part of the school curriculum. He would not hire a teacher that was not trained in music. He himself knew music well enough that when he got a new song book, if he saw one slight mistake he would return it and have it corrected.

"When natural music is sharpened and polished by art, then one begins to see with amazement the great and perfect wisdom of God in his wonderful work of music, where one voice takes a simple part and around it sing three, four, or five other voices, leaping and springing round about, marvelously gracing the simple part, like a square dance in heaven, with friendly bows, embracings, and hearty swinging of partners." Martin Luther, Quotation from Luther's foreword to Georg Rhau (1538) 3

One other thing that struck me was that he enjoyed "researching" the composers of the time to see if their music was appropriate. This is something that I enjoy doing myself, to some extent.
I intend to write a brief summary on every chapter of this book as I go through. Thus far, I have been exceedingly delighted by what I have found.  One thing is certain, the more you study music and the history of music, the greater appreciation of music one has.

In Christ,
Kaila

1. Stevenson, Robert M. Patterns in Protestant Church Music. London, England: The Duke University Press, 1953. pg.9

2. Ibid pg.4

3 Ibid pg.9-10

Love at Home - John Hugh McNaughton

1.  There is beauty all around, When there’s love at home;
There is joy in every sound, When there’s love at home;
Peace and plenty here abide, Smiling sweet on every side,
Time doth softly, sweetly glide, When there’s love at home.

   Refrain 1:
Love at home, love at home; 

    Time doth softly, sweetly glide,
When there’s love at home.

2.  In the cottage there is joy,  When there’s love at home;
Hate and envy ne’er annoy,  When there’s love at home;
Roses bloom beneath our feet,  All the earth’s a garden sweet,
Making life a bliss complete,  When there’s love at home.

   Refrain 2:
Love at home, love at home;
Making life a bliss complete,
When there’s love at home.

3.  Love becomes a way of life,  When there’s love at home;
Sweet, insistent end to strife,  When there’s love at home;
Glad submission each one’s gift,  Willing pledge to love and lift,
Healing balm for every rift,  When there’s love at home.

   Refrain 3:
Love at home, love at home;
Healing balm for every rift,
When there’s love at home.

4.  Anger cools and pressures cease,  When there’s love at home;
Children learn to live in peace,  When there’s love at home;
Courage to reach out in grace,  Meet a stranger face to face,
Find a reconciling place,  When there’s love at home.

   Refrain 4:
Love at home, love at home;
Find a reconciling place,
When there’s love at home.

5.  There’s no question you can’t ask,  When there’s love at home;
There is strength for any task,  When there’s love at home;
Sharing joy in work or play,  Confidence to face the day,
Knowing love will find a way,  When there’s love at home.

Refrain 5:
Love at home, love at home;
Knowing love will find a way,
When there’s love at home.

6.  Kindly heaven smiles above,  When there’s love at home;
All the world is filled with love,  When there’s love at home;
Sweeter sings the brooklet by,  Brighter beams the azure sky;
Oh, there’s One who smiles on high  When there’s love at home.

Refrain 6:
Love at home, love at home;
Oh, there’s One who smiles on high
When there’s love at home.

7. Jesus, show Thy mercy mine, Then there’s love at home;
Sweetly whisper I am Thine, Then there’s love at home.
Source of love, Thy cheering light Far exceeds the sun so bright—
Can dispel the gloom of night; Then there’s love at home;

Refrain 7:
Love at home, love at home,
Can dispel the gloom of night;
Then there’s love at home.

This is the hymn we have been studying in school this month. I have learned so much about love. I guess I just never realized how much there was behind true Christ-like love. We did a Bible study on 1 Corinthians 13 (you can click here to access it) and I was humbled at the lack of Christ-like love in my own life. I knew that I didn't have perfect love as Christ did, I just didn't realize to what extent. It is always good to be brought down to the reality of our sin. Without it, we would never see our need for a Savior. Of course, we have learned alot of other things, (this song is loaded) but the big topic for me was love.

Another song we have been learning is "The Fear of the Lord" by: Joseph Hart. Oh, is it a powerful song! When I have time I will type out the lyrics to share.

Anyways, I'm terribly sorry about the long wait for a post. I've been very busy lately. I was in a piano recital yeasterday and... well you can just look at my Mom's blog to read about our business. I won't go into detail. Perhaps I will put up a video from the recital.

In Christ,

Kaila

A Preface To All Good Hymn Books - Martin Luther

Having a great love for music, I naturally have a great love for poetry - good poetry that is. I love reading it, singing it, reciting it and in truth, the only thing I don't like about it, is the fact that I cannot write it. Some people are just so amazingly gifted with a poetic tongue and sadly, I am not one of them. One of those gifted people was Dr. Martin Luther who wrote the powerful song, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. While going through some boxes of books, (a common occurrence in our household) my Mom came across a small book of stories from the life of Martin Luther. In the book, there are several poems that he wrote, but this one was my favorite (naturally). It is called "A Preface To All Good Hymn Books," and it honestly should be the preface to all hymn books.

Lady Musick Speaketh.
Of all the joys that are on earth
Is none more dear nor higher worth,
Than what in my sweet songs is found
And instruments of various sound.


Where friends and comrades sing in tune,
All evil passions vanish soon;
Hate, anger, envy, cannot stay,
All gloom and heartache melt away;
The lust of wealth, the cares that cling,
Are all forgotten while we sing.


Freely we take our joy herein,
For this sweet pleasure is no sin,
But pleaseth God far more, we know,
Than any joys the world can show;
The Devil’s work it doth impede,
And hinders many a deadly deed.


Se fared it with King Saul of old;
When David struck his harp of gold,
So sweet and clear its tones rang out,
Saul’s murderous thoughts were put to rout.


The heart grows still when I am heard,
And opens to God’s Truth and Word;
So are we by Elisha taught,
Who on the harp the Spirit sought.


The best time of the year is mine,
When all the little birds combine
To sing until the earth and air
Are filled with sweet sounds everywhere;
And most the tender nightingale
Makes joyful every wood and dale,
Singing her love-song o’er and o’er,
For which we thank her evermore.


But yet more thanks are due from us
To the dear Lord who made her thus,
A singer apt to touch the heart,
Mistress of all my dearest art.
To God she sings by night and day,
Unwearied, praising Him alway;
Him I, too, laud in every song,
To whom all thanks and praise belong.
Translation byCatharine Winkworth.
Public Domain at The Online Library of Liberty

Is that not an absolutely beautiful poem? It just captures the essence and purpose of music in an absolutely wonderful way! I love the line which says, "Where friends and comrades sing in tune, All evil passions vanish soon..." It is such a true line. I feel this way when we sing A Mighty Fortress Is Our God in church. It is such a powerful song that it just draws you right in... at least for me.

To God she sings by night and day,
Unwearied, praising Him alway;
Him I, too, laud in every song,
To whom all thanks and praise belong.

In Christ and for His Kingdom,
Kaila