Scarlet Robe Creations

I tire of watered down scripture, preached from pulpits reducing the word of God, lessening the impact of disobedience. Yesterday what was sinful is now blessed, what was detested in God's sight is now celebrated. God's word, the road-map for my life is twisted by the faithful and unbelievers. Jesus never said that following Him would be easy. There is much we need to leave behind before entering the Kingdom. If we claim we want to follow the Lord and place our sins in our pockets, disguising them as acceptable, are we only fooling ourselves? copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr

Leave your trinkets, your gold, your silver. Leave the copper coins without offering them in the houses of worship. First go to the one who rightfully holds an action against you and then, with the aura of forgiveness, return to the altar. Do not murder, do not strike out with your fists, do not hate, or spread gossip. The one true judge will record the etchings on your heart, your loves and your hatreds, not as the world adjudicates, but as He commands. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr

I place my trust in You Lord despite the insistence of other voices that I should flee. I am instructed to take wing, like a bird, and fly off into the mountains where I shall find safety. For my enemy has aimed his bow in my direction. His arrows fill the sky and a new assault is prepared. Lord, if my weakness overcomes and I cry out from destruction, be my security. I place my trust in You Lord, not mountains or fortresses. I will glorify You when darkness fills the valley. I will sing praise to You when my enemy calls for my surrender. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr  

Unity as God's people, a melody delightful to the ear of He who listens. But there are those, who by choice, have no knowledge of Him. They claim a fable speaks His name and not history. And there are those who claim intimacy, knowing only violence and intolerance. They say God is on their side while seething with hatred. Unity as God's people. We gather and we pray for those who cause division among us. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr

Christ Instructing Nicodemus Crijn Hendricksz, 1604 I came to you in the shadows of night. I wore the darkness like a cloak, shielding and protecting me, from those with whom I associate. You speak to my heart and I am drawn to your voice. But there are those on the council who wish you did not speak with authority. You are not of the Sanhedrin, nor are you a scribe. But your words, with deeper roots than the prophets, are from God. Not from man. And that frightens the core of my being. You tell me that if I am born again, I will envision the kingdom of God. You explain that I must be birthed of water and spirit. I am deeply troubled by your words and the timing of your presence. Few of the wise will listen to you. They will wish to keep you silent When your voice is what we most need to hear. I leave you, wondering where I will stand, when next I hear your voice speak as the Son of God, having come to us...

Days of gray have been somber. My prayer has struggled for a voice. The storms rage trying to weaken my foundation. My tears have become a dry river bed. My thoughts are held  in the grip of the world, twisted by the complacency of a sinful nature. Days of darkness, days of bitter wine and dense shadows are not without value when the eastern sky glows and the Lord calls me into the light. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr

I was at a funeral service this weekend  for an individual who believed that death was nothing more than death.   The lack of God in life, the lack of God in the afterlife.   It's impossible for me to relate to that way of existence ,   to believe we are nothing more than the foundations we have built on this soil. Salt without flavor, the spiritually lost, standing only on the ground where you toil, without faith, without the embrace of eternal love. Can salt regain its taste after being trampled underfoot in littered streets? Is death simply death without being preserved by salt? You are the salt on the earth. Your desire to believe makes you vibrant, a great joy in the eye of the Lord. Go out and enhance the faith of other, but do not lose your knowledge of God, setting your foundations on things of the soil and not Heaven. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr

He stands in the room where we have hidden ourselves, fearing for our lives. He is risen. His hands and side declare the wounds of His suffering. Peace, He offers to us. And a fresh breath of life fills my lungs. His peace washes over my guilt. His peace calms my fear. How blessed we are to stand here in His presence. How blessed those will be who do not stand in this room and still come to believe. copyright 2016 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MY4T1NH

I dug back in some very ancient archives for this short poem. This is from a collection of poems written in '75 & '76 This unpublished collection of work was titled "Eighteen and Nineteen". Sometimes I like looking back at these writings, seeing not only how I've grown as an individual, but how my writing has developed. I come to You when I have nowhere else to turn, when everyone has left me alone. When all my friends have wandered new courses and I struggle with old loves. Do You ever grow tired of these moments, when I arrive at Your doorstep with a sack full of sins. copyright 1976 - Donald P James Jr