Scarlet Robe Creations

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.   But understand this:  If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming,  he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. Matthew 24:42-43    Keep watch , be vigilant about your ways. There are those, in these days and those to come, who will point to disasters and calendar dates, making claim that the end is ordained. I don't understand, did we not comprehend His words. "You do not know", spoken to men who witnessed every footstep of our Lord's ministry. Does pride invade our hearts , telling us  we have more knowledge of Him than those who stood in the midst of the teacher. There will be floods, there will be wars, there will be earthquakes. Understand the times, but do not feel you can count the days. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr 

O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us,  thou hast been displeased;  O turn thyself to us again.   Thou hast made the earth to tremble;  thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.   Thou hast shewed thy people hard things:  thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. Psalm 60:1-3 You have cast us off, scattered us over the land. We have been displeasing to Your sight. Turn toward us again. You have shaken the earth, made it tremble on its foundation. We have struggled because of our lack of You and our fullness of self. Denominations split. Your word divides us, because of our fault, not Yours. Bring us together like wheat to bread and grapes to wine. I have been cast off, turned my back from Your gaze, although, You never stop watching me, waiting for my return. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr 

The ethics I find difficult to apply to my life, I apply to my neighbors a hundred fold. I speak slander with my tongue against another's adherence to the law and I condemn my soul to the same judgement. How foolish I can be, rationalizing my guilt, while asking that my debts be wiped clean. All the while having not cleansed my heart of the trespasses against me. I ask the Father to forgive in the same fashion I forgive, as unforgiving as I can be. I have much work to do. My heart can be like stone, when it should be of flesh and emblazoned with forgiveness. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKXXYK9

Awake, O sleeper,      and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Ephesians 5:14 The night of darkness is past. Rise up from the shadows, fold your mats and face the light. You are no longer a victim of eternal death. Sleep no more, the light bathes your face. The scent of a new morning fills your lungs. You have followed the course, without hope, of your ancestors, returning always to darkness. The word is spoken. He begs for your ear. Hear Him now while His voice calls to you. Feel the warmth of His gaze as His eyes settle on your brow. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr

  This is a true saying. I want you to give special emphasis to these matters, so that those who believe in God may be concerned with giving their time to doing good deeds, which are good and useful for everyone.  But avoid stupid arguments, long lists of ancestors, quarrels, and fights about the Law. They are useless and worthless.  Give at least two warnings to those who cause divisions, and then have nothing more to do with them.  You know that such people are corrupt, and their sins prove that they are wrong. Titus 3:8-11 Warnings, twice to those who divide the intention of the Word. Do not break down the law of love with arguments and quarrels. Corruption and sin are ever present. Give yourself to unity. Bring together what has been separated, as the Lord brought the fisherman to the tax collector. Warnings, twice and you have made the effort. Nurture the wheat and have nothing to do with the weeds. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr  

Worry not. Sometimes I need to listen to the gentle voice, speaking to me, calming every tension in my soul. You are so much more than the birds or the flowers growing wild in the fields. Why worry about clothing, the bread on your table, the money in your accounts? I read these words and know that I stumble. I hear quotes and sonnets meant to remind and comfort me. Still I give way to anxiety and unease. Tomorrow will have enough worries of its own. Do not add them to the concerns of the day present. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKXXYK9

Command me to come on the water. One step before the other, without sinking. Strengthen my faith, that the undertows do not pull me under. Lord, bid me the courage to see beyond the storms, to ignore the dark clouds building against the horizon. And yet, if after all Your words have been spent on me, still stretch out Your hand to pull me up when I am of little faith. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr

He will take from the crest of the cedar, from its topmost branches, tear off a tender shoot and plant it high on a lofty mountain. It shall put forth branches and bear good fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will dwell beneath it. Every winged thing will rest in the shade its boughs and all the trees of the field shall know. That the Lord will bring low the high tree. That the Lord will lift high the low tree. That the Lord will wither the green tree and make the withered tree bloom copyright 2012 - Donald P James Jr 

He has been broken, left to be adopted by others. Sing out with gratitude, crumbs from the table of the children have been offered to the dogs. Gentiles, those of the rebel tribes who never stood in the temple. The unworthy sinners who have hidden themselves from God. How can this be? Hands raised in the air by the pious are ignored by the One Most Holy. The prostitutes gather, the tax collectors and those with unpayable debts. They cry out  asking forgiveness and they are heard. He has been broken and is adopted by others, not those who felt a right to claim Him, but the sinners who knew they had no right. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr