Scarlet Robe Creations

Fra Angelico - Christ the Judge "Come," He says, and the sheep who have clothed, fed, and given drink, will question the reward. "Come," He says. "When I was hungry, thirsty, and naked, you saw to my needs." And the sheep shall come before the throne. "But what of us?" Ask those on the left. "When did we stand before you? When did we withhold food and drink from you?" "Leave me," He says. "When did you do any of this for a stranger, or a prisoner? When did you do any of this for one less fortunate? For I am the wretched in your midst. I am the hungry. I thirst. I stand before you now, and ask. When?" copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Christ in the Wilderness - painting by Moretto da Brescia I will give you all your heart desires. The tempter waits. He is vigilant in his observance. He waits for you in your wilderness, seeking the moment when you lose sight of the Lamb. He will mock you by offering the objects you yearn for, or the emotions you crave. The tempter waits. He is patient in his action. Soon you will hunger, soon you will thirst, soon you will question faith. The Lamb has gone before you. He has ventured out, as example, knowing the angels will protect Him, lest He dash his foot against a stone. In His weakness the Lamb protects His own. In His weakness there is more strength than earthly kingdoms of gold, or elaborate wealth. I will give you all your heart desires. The tempter waits, for the wilderness to empty you, into its vastness. Without the weakness of the Lamb, to save, you would surely be lost. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Carl Bloch - Healing the Blind Man (1871) "So, I was people watching the other day," she says.  Her name is Julia.  She has graying hair and stubby fingers, which move constantly as she speaks. Her companion, a former co-worker, and now a retiree asks, "Where?" "Wally World." "Wally what?" "You know," Julia replies with a smile, "Walmart.  I was just walking around the store watching people.  Sometimes I go to the casino and do the same.  I see young people with blue hair, young women wearing inappropriate clothing, people who are too over weight for their own good.  I wonder about their lives.  One person seems to walk through life unscathed, another has a difficult time finding solid footing." "You base this on their appearance?" Without answering the question, Julia says, "Where is it that there is a blind beggar named Bartimaeus in the Bible?" "The Gospel of Mark," her companion responds. ...

Hypocrites, do you know you are the rotted tree. You cling fast to a tradition, what clothes to wear, which prayers to speak, but inside, deep in the core of your being, there is nothing but rot. Hypocrites, no tainted tree can produce good fruit. It spawns only what it is. If the tree's nature is vile the efforts of any gardener will offer up nothing but decay. Do not seek grapes among the thorns. Seek them instead, in the vineyard of the Lord. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

You exist on the brink of life. What will become rests on the decision of another. How could one  squander the gift? What is it now, perhaps just a cluster of cells, the world's view, nothing more than an inconvenience? Or maybe a gift offered by the hand of creation. There are excuses, many. Some show where your heart truly lies. Others show the Godly desire to hold the tiny hand of your child in your own. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

This is why. Learning, as an attentive student, to words that offer wisdom, instruction helping you to see, giving you insight and the ability to understand. This is why. That you may be wise in your ventures, moral in your dealings. That you might teach the simple to be shrewd. That you might share the knowledge of your experience, righteous. A wise man will listen. Because he hears, his knowledge will be multiplied. And a man who seeks to know will sit comfortably at the feet of those who instruct. This is why. To obtain discernment of the world's darkness and it's light, and to gain the knowledge of the one who speaks. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

James Tissot - He who is of God hears the word of God He sat with his back to a pillar.  The crowd, previously gathered had dispersed.  A few remained, those of us who would not leave his side, and a few who sought any opening to make a challenge against his teachings. He had only just saved the adulterous woman from the stones of men who believe they do not sin.  He told the throng that the sin was theirs as well as hers.  All should be stoned.  Every stone in every masculine hand was dropped to the ground. He also knew what the Pharisees and scribes had in mind.  In response to words they had yet to utter he turned to us and said that he was the light of the world.  I could tell John was taken by that phrase. Then the teacher continued, while his enemies waited for an opening.  Again, he mentioned his death. "I am going away." We all pondered what this meant, but there was much more that he had to say.  Listening as John listened, one phras...

He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign." Mark 8:12 Anthony Van Dyck - Jesus and the Pharisees Seeking signs, a generation finding faith so abstract, and physical manifestations something to be pondered as of God, or the evil one. If the dead are risen from their eternal rest, will that foster faith? If the lame walk and the blind see, will that melt your heart? The Father asks you to come by faith. Those who need signs will always ask for proof and never believe what they have demanded. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Standing on the shore of Gennesaret, a lake teeming with life. Those who fish are empty, soon their nets  and their souls will be filled. Fishermen on Gennesaret, men who labor to still their hunger. Cast out your nets, tired and laden, one more time. Standing on the shore of Gennesaret, He of who the crowds speak. A miracle is at hand. He stands along the shore, watching. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

We have a choice, do we stand by You, Lord, or do we stand by the religion of the world? What does it offer, the stone and soil I step upon? Does it offer peace or the embrace of love? Does it offer riches that last, or shelter from its many storms? Does the world leave me with a place of rest when my day is done, or does it leave me unfulfilled, desiring what I have not sought? Remind me of these things, when I kneel, or read the Word You've given. Remind me of these things, when I am more willing to listen to the voices of man's faith and not the songs of my God.  copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

The sea lapped against the side of their boats.  The night had been unproductive for both vessels.  Men with muscular builds and hair covered limbs hauled their nets from the water.  Even empty, lifting the nets from the sea was a chore for tired arms. "The catch is barely enough to feed my family." The speaker of the complaint was solidly built.  His clothing had soaked up sea water and sweat.  His day was ending with mounting frustration. "Things will get better, Simon." For a brief moment Simon believed his brother's passive response to their looming starvation, or more urgently, their inability to pay the tax, had some basis in reality. "Once again, Andrew, do I have to listen to your view of our lives, wasted on fish and the call of the sea?" "It would be possible... to be something different." "We have been fishermen all our lives.  You and I know no other trade.  I cannot, overnight, become a carpenter.  Neither can you.  I am not...

Do you see the beauty in the deciduous tree, stripped of its garments, branches bracing the chill, ready to embrace the spirit of new birth?   Do you see the beauty of emptiness, the earthen vessel, the clay pot, emptied of all it once contained, to be filled to the brim with grace?   Do you see the cross members, rough-hewn beams, bound for humiliation, tools of Roman execution, planted on a hillside, overlooking the Holy City without a trace of indignity? copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

First Speaker:   What do you think... about... what they say? Second Speaker:  They? First Speaker:   You know... those lunatics... that's what everyone is calling them. Second Speaker:   By everyone, you mean the authorities? First Speaker:   Yes. Second Speaker:  Why would I pay any attention to some lunatics? First Speaker:  I mean, think about it... that boulder... how could it be moved? Second Speaker:   A group of men, strong men, lunatics. First Speaker:   There were guards. Second Speaker:  Probably drunk.  Maybe they abandoned their post. First Speaker:  Maybe. Second Speaker:   You probably shouldn't say too much about all that. First Speaker:   Why? Second Speaker:   The authorities.  They were getting tired of the antics.  They're still looking for the others. First Speaker:   They don't scare me. Second Speaker:   Suit yourself. First Speaker:   He forgave them you know....

They called out from a distance, following.   They were outcasts, lepers.   “Jesus, have mercy.”   The teacher brought us to a stop.   They kept their distance, not allowing the sickness to enter into our presence.   Open sores and decayed flesh, ten men with little hope for anything more than death.   “Jesus have mercy.”   And He did, but not without instruction.   It is said that along the way they were healed.   Their open wounds closed.   Their flesh cleared.   The law instructed them to show their bodies to the priests, to put the miracle on display.   And nine followed the law.   “But were there not ten?”   The one prostrates at the feet of Jesus, a Samaritan by birth, not subject to the law.   “Where are the others?”   A man of another land has returned to offer praise to a homeless traveler who gave instructions.   There is no law, chiseled into his he...

Who is wise and understanding among you? James 3:13 Wisdom, earthly, is of a boastful nature, it tastes of bitterness, it speaks with the tainted soul  of pride, Wisdom, Godly, it's free of hypocrisy, it benefits ones understanding of faith, it brings peace as the fruit  of its harvest. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Return of the Prodigal Son - Pompeo Batoni - 1773 Thank you for standing in the field with arms opened wide, when I return from my rebellion.   Thank you for the embrace I do not deserve and Your willingness to see beyond my protests.   I tend to think, at times, that I can walk this path alone. So, I take a few steps closer to the edge before realizing my trail leads to folly.   Thank you for loving me with a love I cannot comprehend. Thank you for calling me Your son, or Your daughter, when I am no more than a slave. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Embattled denominations, tearing apart the precious body of our savior. Laws of man, apart from God's word, twisted by politics and the quest for filled pews. One phrase, one word, and one religion is saved, while another is doomed. Jesus taught to seek Him, not the laws of men, the glory of modern Pharisees, or the virtue of politics. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

The Dream of Solomon - Luca Giordano The way, the path you have been shown. The route, rough at times, has lingered by a sea with fishermen, it has crossed the barrenness of the countryside and delivered us to the Holy city. The way, the journey of uprightness embraces all if they but seek comfort. You will not stumble along this path, each stride will have purpose. The way, a proverb, from Father to Son, and then to the adopted. Instruction given from a bush, burning, from a small rise in a meadow, and from the wooden beams of new life. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

This story is a prequel to the novel 'Afternoons with Mister D'   An early October day.  The leaves were changing.  A maple, marking the location they arrived at, had turned golden a few weeks ago.  Already it had dumped nearly all of its ornamentation.  Two young men, friends since the days of grammar school, stood beside a rectangular boundary of light green grass, planted at the end of summer. "I'm joining the seminary," One of them said.  His name was Jimmy Klein.  He'd graduated high school a little less than a year and a half ago.  He delayed going to college.  His friend, the one beside him, Nicolas, was beginning his second year at a state college. "You talked about taking that road when we were Freshmen in high school," Nicolas said. "Yeah... then second year came... Cross Country..." "I remember." Nicolas scuffed the grass with the soul of his shoe.  To everyone around him, he was known as Nick, or Nicolas D.  No one eve...

I’m waiting for You. It would take a miracle, I know. But You are prone to such things, even though I am not deserving.   Know that I ask this, not for myself, but for those who might not know to ask.   I’m waiting for You, knowing it will all be in Your time, not mine. Still, You know of my impatience.   Consider the little ones, those who matter most. But in suggesting that You don’t hear them, have I myself become deaf?   I’m waiting for You, counting the moments of each day and taking note of lilies in the field. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author