Scarlet Robe Creations

Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die; Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God Proverbs 30:7-9 "I have these needs," she says. "I need an abundance of things.  My closet is full.  My pantry is stocked.  And yet, if I really think about it, I'm not happy.  I've recently discovered this about myself.  I don't know how to change.  I don't know where I should direct my life.  I feel that my world is cluttered... a mess." The listener sits back in her chair.  The woman across the room is crying out for help.  The listener knows she is limited to the wisdom God will pour out.  She prays silently and speaks firmly. "Things. Stuff." The listener begins, "It burdens your soul.  You cannot find happiness when you see...

He mentioned them, flowers, just as he did sparrows and ravens, and I have read these words a hundred times and never gave my life to the truth.   He cares for things which lack importance in my daily quest to establish myself in the world He has promised.   Still, He cares. And He tells me to take note. He instructs me to listen to every lesson He’s taught.   If He cares for Lilies, dresses them in more beauty than any king, if He cares for the sparrow, or the raven, and gives them plenty to eat, will He not care for me, will He not divide bread and fish for me? copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

He sat at the desk and pulled out the top drawer to his right.  Pens, pencils, a stapler and paper clips, a lifetime, twenty-four years, a fellow employee, a friend.  He’d been asked to perform this task because he and Renny Diaz, Renaldo A, had been friends.  Had been.  The thought seemed to set upon the desk top, like a coffee stain that couldn’t be wiped away.  Just last week, Renny was sitting in this very spot, this chair, smiling broadly when Carla talked about her granddaughter.  That same night Renny had a massive heart attack.  Fifty-eight is too young to die. “I see you’ve been given the task.” A voice spoke from behind him.  He knew it was Carla.  “I kinda offered.” “You guys were close… at least here at the office.” He shrugged. Carla pulled out her chair and sat down at her desk.  As was her habit, she logged onto her computer before doing anything else.  There was a coffee pot just outside the cube. ...

Mary, called Magdalene, Joanna the wife of Chuza, and Susanna. It wasn't just men who followed on the dusty roads. It's often we think of the twelve, we know them by name, and forget who gathered with His mother at the foot of the cross. It's often we think of the twelve, their denials and betrayals, and forget who witnessed the empty tomb and the angel. It is often we think of Peter and John running to the tomb, discovering it empty, and doubting what Mary had said. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

…and looking up to heaven He gave thanks... Luke 9:16 Sufficient, and yet more is asked. The blessings for this day are many. He deserves thanks. We bow our heads and ask. Without thanking first, for what has been received. Thank Him for the crumbs of bread, on your plate, before requesting an entire loaf. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

A broken jar, once made of clay, now tiny pieces never to be brought together. The day is coming when the work of the potter will be scattered on the hard ground. A broken jar, empty now, without the essence of faith. It's creed is the world's, and in its state it is no good to the Kingdom. A broken jar, one that the true potter molded, one that sat in the palm of His hand. It sings in worship of a false creator in the valley meant for slaughter. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

A prayer whose true purpose love. A prayer with an outcome unaided by human hands. A prayer asking to count the hairs on the head of someone adored. A prayer with outcome undeserved. A prayer with realization I am unworthy to ask. A prayer that despite my sin His will be done. A prayer an offering repetitive. A prayer when there are no sheep or doves in my temple. A prayer when the only answer is to love. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

A question. A question which can have but one answer. He who asks, has sought an answer, a moment before, to another query.  A question similar.  It's perspective different.  Others in the group of men answered with little hesitation.  Now, this second question is directed at you. The answer is on your tongue.  It tickles your mouth.  You have been with the one asking for a time now.  The answer is the reason you tossed your nets back into the boat, left your family, and stepped where he stepped. The others look at you.  The question they answered was so much easier.  They mimicked the responses of those in the crowds.  Now, your companions, your friends, look to you for an answer, for your answer to the question.  You have always been their rock.  You can hear the youngest among the group, asking to which side of the boat should the nets be thrown.  Often you were right, your instinct was good.  You knew the trade. N...

When daybreak came, He called His disciples to Him, and chose twelve of them,  who He also designated as apostles. Luke 6:13 Vocation of the Apostles - Domenico Ghirlandaio 1481-82 You are the envoys of the word. Selected to walk in the same footsteps as He who brings the light. He commissions, ordains, He instructs you to heal the sick and drive out demons. Soon, He will send you out, as twelve, with a message to preach. His word, not yours, will be spoken from your lips and radiate from your hearts. How will it be, that one will stand at a fire to keep warm and deny knowing a man on trial. How will it be, that another takes a monetary reward to betray blood. We are envoys. Messengers of the truth. We are the chosen, given to faults, given to weaknesses, which lead us down roads where we bring bread, a purse, and an extra tunic. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Decapolis brings a man whose ears are closed. Much has been said about the healer arriving from Tyre. He has drawn demons out of men possessed and sent the evil spirits into pigs, casting them to deep waters. Decapolis brings a man whose speech is garbled. They come as intermediaries, begging the traveler to simply lay His hands on their friend a man unable to ask for himself. Touching the ear, sacred saliva to a frozen tongue, the traveler of whom wonderous things are said, speaks a single word, Ephphatha! And the deaf have gained hearing, the mute can speak. Decapolis has seen a miracle in its streets. The district has been chosen to witness. There is reason to celebrate. But soon miracles are justified by skeptics and gossip puts limits on the love of God. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Jeremiah 1:5 Does this world call life, in the beginning, simply a fetus? Does this hide their guilt? Does this world remove God's blessing from the mother's womb with callousness? Does this world murder what it claims to be nothing but tissue with a beating heart? Does this world call a infant a hindrance, a thing to be disposed of like garbage? Does it even offer so much as a grave, on a lonely hillside, among the weeds, for those it slaughters? Does it take defenseless life and throw it into the world's warped idea of choice? copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain, they teach as doctrine the precepts of men. Mark 7:6-7   There is this human condition, we cling to. It is tradition. Someone long ago said it must be done in a certain way. We labor to do so without knowing why a certain task  is performed. A prophet said, when man's course was still young, that these people would honor with nothing more than their lips. They would speak worn out passages and kiss icons, while standing in the hypocrisy of traditions, and laws of their own design. Their worship is in vain, when molded by man's doctrine. The commandments of God have been overshadowed by the precepts of man. Tradition, a human condition, closing the doors of faith. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author