Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Don't Judge a Book By The Cover

 Everywhere we turn we see a library of humanity!


Behind the whole of human race
The smiling or the somber face
The eyes we meet in passing, oh
Behind each silence or hello
A story of a life unfolds

…behind facades our gaze beholds
Ink-drops of love, of loss and gain
Of want and need, pleasure and pain
Of holding on and letting go
Shimmers of a life story, so

…because we do not know in full
The details of love’s push and pull
The landscape of life’s ups and downs
That turns the face to smiles or frowns
Because we cannot see the part

…that cradles dreams, or breaks the heart
That fuels gladness or despair
The pressing paragraphs of care/prayer
Should we not be much kinder then
To a world full of fellowmen?

…and season each response with grace
For what we see upon the face
Does not reveal the no or yes
That authors ruin or success
Where we all share the common ground

…of hope, of Something lost or found
Of longings that have not been met
Held in the brooding bay of ‘yet
In stories of ink not yet dry
In so much more than meets the eye

Tall, short, rich, poor, plump or petite
Each bears a book that does not meet
The eye; where fingers cannot trace 
The lines that bridle human race
Into a kind of library

...penned by the likes of you and me
With no two stories quite the same
However great or small its fame
Where behind every face we meet 
Unfolds a story, bittersweet 

© Janet Martin

2 Cor.5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, 
so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done 
while in the body, whether good or bad.

Rev.20:11-13
Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it.
Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.
And there were open books,
and one of them was the Book of Life.
And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
13The sea gave up its dead,
and Death and Hades gave up their dead,
and each one was judged according to his deeds.

Monday, June 5, 2023

Like a Dead Man Walking...



2 Chron.6:18
Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You.

When one lives, indifferent to and unaffected by such a God
as described in the verse above,
such an one is surely like a dead man walking💔😥

wild flowers...just one example of how
our Creator delights to delight us!






May we never live unaffected by our awesome God!

Unrepentant of rebellion, undelighted by God’s word
Unexcited about spending eternity with the Lord
Unattached to wonder’s wellspring surging from the hand of He
Who created earth and heavens with His sovereign ‘let there be’

Unmoved by mercy’s renewal, unawed by redemption’s flood
Unbowed by confounded humble awareness of Holy God
Unchanged by His grace and goodness, untouched by unfailing love
Unpersuaded by the power that can earth and heaven move

Unstirred by the pretty flower, by the songbird’s sanguine trills
By the beauty of a bower lavished with leaf-layered frills
Undevoted to His kindness, undefended by His Shield
Unaffected by thought-blindness unoffended by sin’s yield

Unguarded by angel-armies, untransformed by hope’s pure joy
Inattentive to heart-gardens of innocent girl and boy
Indifferent to the Shepherd, who, without counting the cost
Leaves the fold to search until He gathers the sheep that was lost

Unfamiliar with the Father and faith’s fellowship of prayer
Unappeased by Living Water’s promises beyond compare
Unimpressed by the true riches stored beyond time’s subtle haste
Preferring one that bewitches Want with instant touch and taste

Unaroused by utter worship to the Author of all things
Unamazed and uninspired by blessing each season brings
Unable to see the table that is groaning with a feast
Granted by He who is faithful from the greatest to the least

Unthankful, proud and unholy, unresponsive to the toll
That will strip Self of its boasting, leaving nothing but the Soul
Giving no glory and honor to God for the gift He gave
Living like a dead man walking but to wake up in hell’s grave

© Janet Martin


Wednesday, April 12, 2023

The Holy Whole (of Soul's eternity)

Gorgeous sunny, spring daybreak!



I'm sure everyone in our neck of the woods wants to make the most 
of FINALLY, a fabulous stretch of sunshine warming winter-weary bones! 
Lawn-raking never felt so fine, like spring-cleaning the outdoors!


The wise in this world endeavor to make the most 
of every day, no matter the weather! 
Because, no matter who or where we are, death is life's gravest matter 
and none of us knows how near its Door draws with each breath we take...

***

We live but once; the wise weigh well the measure of its lease
For there are none who can foretell how soon a life will cease
But only God, who grants each breath beholds the holy Whole
Of numbered days before the death that bares the deathless soul

Not one of us can know who next will hear His summons fall
To draw us from time’s brief context to meet the Lord of all
Death is life’s gravest matter borne on seasons as they roll
Its dust and ash we scatter, the torn garment of the soul

The holy Whole of moment-sums slip subtly, yet rife
Through the undoing that becomes the measure of a life
The wise, aware of today’s momentous fragility
Weigh well the flickering blaze of accountability

Oho, how soon the afternoon dons twilight's dusky hues  
How swift life's gleaming gift spawns the shadow of deathly dues
How surely no one knows That Rending Toll's proximity 
That will  unveil The Holy Whole of Soul's eternity 

© Janet Martin

Luke 12:35-40
Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 
36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, 
so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.
 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. 
Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, 
will have them recline at the table 
and will come and wait on them. 
38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready,
 even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak.
 39 But understand this:
 If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming,
 he would not have let his house be broken into. 
40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come 
at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Oho, how soon the afternoon dons twilight's dusky hues...  



Monday, September 12, 2022

A Royal Opportunity

 

(photo in the public domain)


A few comments from King Charles III's proclamation speeches;
‘I shall strive to follow the inspiring example that has been set…’
‘Even as we grieve, we give thanks for her life well lived’

We have a royal opportunity to have something in common with Queen Elizabeth;
Through faith in Jesus Christ, to set an inspiring example
 and to leave behind a life well lived
to honour the King of kings and Lord of lords

 The family of believers in Jesus,
 is the greatest royal family of all!
Everyone is welcome🙏

John 3:16-17 NIV
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 
but to save the world through him.

***

Far more than merely moments spring from time’s volatile fount
Where life runs rife with choices for which we will give account
As step by step and day by day we all advance toward
Last Breath, when this world slips away and we will meet the Lord

What earnest heed we ought to give to what we do and say
Between the past and future, we live always in Today
Where no one knows how near or far its final grant will be
Or when the person that we are becomes A Memory

The common ground of opportunity is made of dirt
A momentous velocity of happiness and hurt
Where we all share the common need, however rich or poor
Of faith in Jesus Christ; He alone keeps the soul secure

This is the day the Lord has made; oh, will it be our last?
Not all will see its shadow laid to rest in ages past
Lord, help us live as if today could be the steppingstone
To that which never fades away, when life on earth is done

© Janet Martin

Col.1:9-13
For this reason, since the day we heard about you,
 we have not stopped praying for you 
and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will 
in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 
10so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord
 and may please Him in every way: 
bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
  11being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might 
so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, 
who has qualified youc to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness 
and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, 
14in whom we have redemption,
d the forgiveness of sins.







Monday, September 5, 2022

Life; a Rollercoaster Poster

Happy Labour Day!
(Here's hoping mine will soon taste like tomato soup, salsa etc.! )


For this Labour Day I chose these two passages below to remind us to
serve with gladness while letting patience have its perfect work!
SO much easier said than done!!

Psalm 100:2
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, [a]all you lands!
2Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and [b]not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

James1:4
... let patience have its perfect work,
that you may be [b]perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Oh! The labor pains of patience
before we are perfectly complete and lacking nothing🙏😥💔🙏

Jim's patience is being tested right out of the gates this week!
His high hopes for Happy Labour Day 
 have already taken a plunge; truck troubles
changing 'early start' to 'turn back' !! 😓

If life had to be portrayed with one image 
it would have to be a roller-coaster, right?!
(an image used in yesterday morning's message at WBC)
We can go from being on top of the world to a spiraling plunge in an instant!
and SO many unexpected twists, turns and tunnels!
Aren't you thankful God is steadfast, changeless and faithful no matter what?!




The ups and downs and smiles and frowns of love and life persist
The ebb and flow of boon and blow and high and low repeat
The perfect work of patience lurks at every turn and twist
To teach us how to reach and bow and ‘wash each other’s feet’

Where faith and fear, laughter and tears, dismay and cheers conflict
Where serving God with humble laud makes every task esteemed
Where thick and thin of loss and win and groan and grin’s edict
In due time earns wisdom’s returns in ways we never dreamed

The fruit of toil and root of spoil in close proximity
Tests vim and verve and who we serve; The Apple of our eye
With age-old art reveals the heart with startling clarity
No trick or fence thwarts consequence; no truth can ever lie

Hope and defeat clash and compete; bittersweet battleground
Love’s push and pull not beautiful when felled in broken dreams
Where faith refined appears unkind, where bold doubters abound
Where ‘to serve God with gladness’ is madness to most, it seems

Where ups and downs and smiles and frowns of love and life repeat
Where ebb and flow of boon and blow and highs and lows persist
To teach us how to reach and bow and ‘wash each other’s feet’
The perfect work of patience holds refined gold in its fist

Do not despair; the work of prayer is oft invisible
While we who see in part and He who sees the heart entreat  
Until the awesome consummation of Love's Miracle 
So brutally refined, bows heart, soul and mind at God's feet 

© Janet Martin







Thursday, July 28, 2022

Mist-kissed Flower

This poem is a bit of bittersweet longing
 for the days/ 'mist' of July; 
a month that always seems to vanish too fast!

James 4:14
What is your life? 
You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.


Psalm 103:15-16

As for man, his days are like grass—
he blooms like a flower of the field;
16when the wind passes over, it vanishes,
and its place remembers it no more.



Sweet day, you wend your way through thought and touch to disappear
The sparkle of your subtle shuttle weaving yester-year

Like ripples on a lake of laughter; longing-hold-let go
Where echelons of ever-after ever ebb and flow

It makes life feel a little like a dreamland made of mist
A little like a spectacle of echoes/roses to untwist

Dawn spills and fills dusk’s purple tray with latest live-and-learn
Where always, sweet today, you wend your way to No Return

…only to reappear, my dear, as new as new can be
To weave fresh wisps of smile-and-tear/dust veneer into a memory

Bruised bliss, This; being brave enough to kiss your hands and feet
And dance with you, sweet day; for love is always bittersweet

…sometimes I get the sense of you soft-slipping from my touch
And sometimes then, I wish I didn’t love you quite so much

Sweet day, you spill your hour to a bower of Back When
Like petals from a flower that will never bloom again

© Janet Martin


I'm off to spend a sweet day among hollyhocks, green beans, tomatoes aka Garden😊





Thursday, February 17, 2022

With Constant Reminders of Why



We know, sooner or later it will .
We just don't know when.
but Death serves constant reminders of its Certainty
Therefore when it comes for you or I
not one of us can say
'I didn't think you would!'

Our church-family is heartbroken 
as we mourn the loss of a dear 55 year old 'brother'. 💔

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed/contrite in spirit.
Hallelujah!

Suddenly I hear my Grandma's voice reminding me lovingly always to remember
'the old will die but the young can die'
and to make the sacred soul-preparations 
that after death cannot be made!
He remembered!
I have remembered.
Have you remembered?!
I am old enough to have seen the truth of her caution over and over!

I want to live life to the full
but never for a moment forget
the nearness of Death
making sacred every single, gifted breath!

This is a secular song but its message bears repeating
Esp. now, it seems





I want to live life to the full
Where its archrival, death
Hastens the inevitable
With every gifted breath

I want to make the most of Now
To tune its push and pull
With intent not to miss the wow
That makes it wonder-full

I want to be committed to
The season I am in
Always humbly aware of Who
Allots its woven skin

I want to wear the kind of face
That time cannot defile
To speak in tongues of every race
The language of a smile

I want to learn to bite my tongue
When spite's counterblows burn
I want to remember the young
-sters and how swift they learn

I want to often stand agape
By mercies great and small
By greeting’s glistening landscape
Where farewell’s shadows fall

I want to keep in careful check
The beckoning of want
For soon my dust-to-dust will deck
What none can see beyond

I want to navigate life’s curves
With reverent reply
For Death with constant rigor serves
Raw reminders of why

I want, above all else to hear
When my last breath is drawn
Faith's goal fulfilled by words so dear
Well done, My child, well done

© Janet Martin

His gift (not works) makes possible for all
Heaven's goal, if we repent of our sins and believe!

May this beautiful hymn below be each of our heart's joyful cry
as the sands of time expire...  






VERSE 1
The sands of time are sinking,
The dawn of Heaven breaks;
The summer morn I’ve sighed for,
The fair, sweet morn awakes;
Dark, dark hath been the midnight,
But dayspring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.

VERSE 2
The King there in His beauty,
Without a veil is seen;
It were a well spent journey,
Though sev’n deaths lay between;
The Lamb with His fair army
Doth on Mount Zion stand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.

VERSE 3
O Christ, He is the fountain,
The deep, deep well of love;
The streams on earth I’ve tasted,
More deep I’ll drink above;
There to an ocean fullness
His mercy doth expand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.

VERSE 4
With mercy and with judgment
My web of time He wove;
And always dews of sorrow
Were lustered with His love;
I’ll bless the hand that guided,
I’ll bless the heart that planned,
When throned where glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.

VERSE 5
Oh! I am my Beloved’s
And my Beloved’s mine!
He brings a poor, vile sinner
Into His “house of wine;”
I stand upon His merit,
I know no other stand,
Not e’en where glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.

VERSE 6
The bride eyes not her garments,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory
But on my King of grace;
Not at the crown He giveth,
But on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel’s land.

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Of Highs and Lows (aka as Life's Arpeggio)


Life is full of highs and lows...
High; a wonderful time at a ladies Christmas brunch on Saturday morning


Low; extremely high winds on Saturday afternoon destroyed our play-center/swing-set


this loss is small in scale compared to the destruction of the tornadoes in Kentucky
but its disappointing all the same!

Another glorious sunrise!

'The highs and lows of life compose a soulful melody
The deeps that spawn lavender dawn are steeped in mystery'

The highs and lows of life compose a soulful melody
The deeps that spawn lavender dawn are steeped in mystery
Life’s gain and loss an albatross of mingled joy and strife
As seasons surge and moments merge into a song of life

The stroke is swift that snuffs the gift from morning’s gleaming wick
The string that tunes spring afternoons is soon cut to the quick
And a new page becomes the stage for faith’s arpeggio
Where He who grants its song and dance will never let us go

Look up; the cup that overflows with highs and lows is held
With utter care and God knows where and how each drop will meld
Like notes, into the rush and woo of holding and release
Each rise and fall and beck and call part of life's Masterpiece


© Janet Martin

...and in our lows we are reminded in Luke 12:22-31
Do Not Worry
22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, 
what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 
23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 
24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn;
 yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 
25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life[b]?
 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

27 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. 
Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 
28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, 
and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
 how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 
29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 
30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, 
and your Father knows that you need them. 
31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

tots looking at the birds...
'They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn;
 yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! '

Have a wonder-full day!






Saturday, October 23, 2021

Of Blue on Blue


One of the moms I do childcare for lost both her grandparents within two weeks. 
Her Grandma's funeral is today.
Lloyd and Shirley were married for 63 years 
and raised their large family in this community
They were well known and loved and will be missed by many!.
Death has a way of kindling the flame of awareness within us!
Awareness of the brevity of life even if lived to a ripe old age!
Awareness of the preciousness 
of what may appear commonplace
until it is no more!

So let's linger longer


... over supper,


on garden benches

lets dance in the rain,

delight in the sunrise,

...and such, 
Before what may seem commonplace
slips from our touch

Where yester-twilight’s countryside
Was veiled with deeper blue on blue
Soft pink, the ink of morning-tide
Seeps through the heavens far and wide
To melt the mantle twixt the view
And toll the bell of life-to-do

How faithfully new morning breaks
Through bars to hold the stars at bay
While we tend to soon-morrow’s wakes
Of toil and trust’s relentless stakes
While seasons subtly ebb away
The gap twixt grace and Judgement Day

A sense of something more endears
Us to the precious peal of grace
For with life’s gathered, dwindling years
That like a little mist appears
And soon no fingertip can trace
We cherish more, the commonplace

Of smiles to wear and help to lend
Of gratitude for mercies new
While moments fall and seasons wend
Their way from beginning to end
Where, who knows who will next pass through
The veil that deepens, blue on blue

Each day on earth, a gift of grace
Time like an easel, splashed with pleas
Lord, teach us to treasure each face
Of loved ones still in our embrace
Before A Final Brushstroke frees
A Masterpiece of memories

We tread the sacred breadth of Now
Absorbed by little life-to-do
As breath-by-breath winnows the bough
Of blooms we often miss somehow
Until Death lowers blue on blue
And draws another face from view

© Janet Martin


James 4:14-15
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.
What is your life?
You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Instead, you ought to say,
“If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”









Monday, October 4, 2021

From Green Leaf to Silver Sheaf



This life we live is lent
Green leaf to silver sage
A perpetual annulment 
Of scenes, once center stage

Four-season circuits gleam
Where dream and wanderlust
Soon clash with the more brash Regime
Of ash and mist and dust

Where, from green leaf to sheaves
With measure, always lent
Tumbles the filigree that weaves
The way a life is spent

…aware or unaware
From Whence lent moments brim
Yet all weaving the Thoroughfare
That draws us back to Him

© Janet Martin

It feels like we went from spring....


to summer...


to fall...


...in next to time at all!




Friday, August 6, 2021

A Poem For Trailblazers of a New Day


(sometimes  doggy is just too much! What a lot of laughter she has brought to our lives)

Whether in the lightness that laughter brings
or not, we are cupped in the Hands
of He with whom nothing is impossible


There is nothing new in this poem, 
but somehow even the things we know
need repeating and reminding now and then. 
Wishing you a glorious day!







The dawn of new day flickers where the wick of morn is lit
Where Mercy’s fount is quickened and faith rejoices in it
Where Time plants feet on virgin soil and draws ajar a door
Where none, with lofty dreams or toil has ever been before
Where age-old passions wait to try and disappointment hails
And God still cares for you and I with love that never fails

The birth of what is waiting breaks through gates no latchkey locks
It shimmers on a million lakes and highlights hollyhocks
It glistens in rhinestones of rain and diamonds made of dew
And pours in glorious ‘try again’ to tots like me and you
Where by the good old golden rule we meet our fellowman
And *vow to keep our cool when things don’t go the way we plan

This day the Lord sets free is like a gift to one and all
That grants us opportunity to heed His tender call
Where none have seen or been, therefore nobody can foretell
What good or ill will spill before eventide tolls its bell
But come-what-may of joy or strife, this Truth abides, dear friend
The God who grants this day, this life, is faithful to the end

© Janet Martin

*This fresh morning has already produced a few stresses
(click link for reason for this potential
because we have a niece getting married today!)😅


...but I am as ready as I can be to help in the
seemingly inevitable mad dash preceding the delight
of planting my derierre on a chair
 and breathing 'we made it, thank-you Lord'!

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, 
 mind is stayed on thee: 
because he trusteth in thee.
Isa.26:3

Thursday, July 8, 2021

Of This


Love enjoys and endures life's utter contrasts;
 utter joy and wonder
utter chaos and care...


The end will come of This;
This gift and groan of prayer
Love’s laughter and the traitor’s kiss
Will fade into thin air

This leap of live and learn
This thud of high to low
This day-by-daily no-return
Of grace whereby we go

This cross of loss and gain
This toss twixt dust-to-dust
This awesome albatross of pain
And pleasure, fear and trust

This sacred metronome
Of ever-dwindling day
This happy-sad of home-sweet-home
This brunt of gold-blue-gray

This innocence soon lost
Where time does not stand still
As hope begins to count the cost
Of growing older till...

The end will come of This;
This on and upward climb
This test of love and faithfulness
Till God replaces Time

© Janet Martin

Be very careful, then, how you live—
not as unwise but as wise,
Eph.5:15




Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Lyric About Life

 

Happy Birthday, Emily💗
Twenty-nine years ago you made your dad and I parents!
Thank-you for its journey of joy, 
however unconventional joy's footpaths may be!😉😊

Last week as I chatted with a young mom she asked how it was
to have our second daughter home for a while
(she moved back to the city a week ago)
'It's so great' I replied.
 'While they grow up the focus is on parenting, training, etc.
With adult children it's friendship/relationship.
They know what we believe and support and what we don't.
(of course, it will always be friendship
under a mother's watchful eye and words of caution etc.
and a ton of prayers; those seem to increase, not decrease with the years)
but what a precious privilege to relate to our children,
adult to adult and stand with them
through life's highs and lows
by the grace of God.

Dear Emily,
God bless you on your special day
even though your son wailed and wailed last night,
begging you to skip your birthday because he doesn't want you to change😂
Unfortunately he is wishing for the impossible!
I pray for you, God's guidance through 
all the challenges and changes life is bound to bring!




Life leads us by the hand sometimes
In flowered nooks it bids us sit
A gladsome thing that makes us sing
And dance for the sheer joy of it

Life grabs us by the scruff sometimes
And sets us firmly in God’s grace
A heavy hand of reprimand
To remind us of our place

Life takes us in its arms sometimes
In kind, parental sympathy
To dry our tears and calm our fears
As we rest in God's sovereignty

Life is a teacher all the time
We never grow too old to learn
As highs and lows and joys and woes
Fill Bygone’s sheaf of no return

Life makes us older day by day
Pray that it makes us kinder too
As we embrace the Hand of grace
That every moment-gem runs through

…to forge the weight of wisdom’s crown
Then pray as yester-years increase
Beauty unveils what never fails
Love’s holy, humble Masterpiece

Life takes us by surprise sometimes
In spite of its muddle and mess
It fills the heart with life’s best part
Wild, unorthodox *thankfulness

© Janet Martin

* I first used the word 'happiness' instead of thankfulness
but changed it because without genuine thankfulness
genuine happiness is impossible!

“this is my prayer: 
that your love may abound more and more 
in knowledge and depth of insight, 
so that you may be able to discern what is best 
and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 
filled with the fruit of righteousness 
that comes through Jesus Christ
—to the glory and praise of God.”