Scarlet Robe Creations

Christ and the Woman from Canaan - Pieter Lastman The master had shared some harsh words with a group of Pharisees.  His words centered around the essence of ancient teachings, those which had been handed down by our ancestors.  We stood by, watched, listened.  The Pharisees were belligerent.  Jesus tired of their hypocrisy.  He told the crowds that nothing that went into a man's mouth could make him unclean, rather, what comes out, the vile, the disgusting, the impious.  He called out to the few leaders who lingered behind.  He labeled them as he saw them, blind guides who did nothing but lead their followers into the pit. Then Peter asked him to explain. The master seemed to be amazed at our lack of understanding, so he laid out his teaching in great detail, before leaving that place with an air of frustration.  We mumbled amongst ourselves about the old laws, and whether Jesus' teachings abolished them. Matthew seemed to have understood the tea...

Jesus Appears to His Disciples - William Hole She touched the hem of his garment. He believed his daughter would be cured. - She knew the master gave table scraps to the dogs. He wanted to see. - She entered a gathering without belonging, to cry on his feet. He returned in thanksgiving, one of ten, healed of his soars. - She wiped his face. He helped with a beam of wood. - She stood beside the grieving mother. He took Mary into his home. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

"This is where I will build it," the tall, slender man said to the seller of the parcel. "Twenty five acres of God's beautiful creation.  It's breathtaking.  Don't you think?" "A chapel," the seller replied. "You said something about a chapel." "A barn, a stable, a place where Jesus will feel welcome." "Like a church?" "Not at all.  The building I will construct on this land will be nothing like a church.  It will not be labeled by denomination.  It will be labeled by faith.  That faith will be this, that you believe that he came as a child.  He fulfilled ancient scripture.  He walked among the people.  He taught them about His father.  He was nailed to a crude cross, because His father willed it.  He was laid in a tomb with a boulder rolled in front of the entrance, and He rose on the third day.  There will be no room for egos in this church.  No dark corners where piousness can thrive." "But don...

Deeper, where the fish are abundant. He tells you to row out with faith and not any doubt. Deeper, to where the fluid runs dark, and the sun fails to pierce the darkness. Deeper, where faith is most challenged, in depths seen as vile by those staking claim to the light. Deeper, where your faith will flourish, with every net thrown out over the sea. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

How do you see us now? Are we rebellious children who ate a fruit you commanded us to leave alone? Are we those who lacked faith in what could not be seen and bowed before a golden calf? Are we a people who grumbled and thus wandered the wilderness without a home? Are we the multitudes that pray for miracles and use coincidence to explain the occurrence? Are we bystanders who mock the innocent when they drag their burdens through the street? Are we the ones who condemned the son of the vineyard owner when he came before us? Are we those who stand up for anything but faith and embrace pride as a blessing? Are we the many who seek wealth rather than the grace of knowing you? Are we the children you breathed life into who've turned away from your face? How do you see us now, Lord? copyright 2025 -Donald P James Jr. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

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

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

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. ...

The shock hadn’t settled in yet.   A deep numbness took hold of every fiber in her body.   She walked aimlessly down the hospital’s corridor, not looking at any of those who passed by her, heading in the opposite direction.   The pale gray walls and the single gurney barely registered.   She turned a corner and stood frozen for a long moment as she stared down the lonely corridor. She was alone. The last few hours had been a blur.   Her mother was found, by a neighbor, unresponsive on the floor of her apartment.   The siren of the ambulance wailed all the way to the nearest hospital.   Doctors probed her mother’s unconscious body and seemed to speak in a foreign language. Aneurysm. Cerebral. Slowly, back against the wall, she slid to the linoleum floor, wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in the crevice between her knees.   Her mother was dying.   The God she’d given up on in college was allowing it to happen. ...

Radio Host:         “So today on our morning show, we have the great pleasure of speaking with Connor Hope, head football coach of the Saint Michael’s Spartans.   I am especially honored since I played middle linebacker and special teams on the 2005 state championship squad. “Welcome coach, I’ve really been looking forward to having this sit down.   This sort of marks your fifth annual visit to the station to share your thoughts of the previous season.”   Coach Hope:       “Always glad to sit down with you Jon and discuss insights about the past season and those in the future.”   Radio Host:        “So first off, disappointed with the season’s final outcome?”   Coach Hope:      “We won eight games, schedule was tough, had a few key injuries.   This was a fabulous team.   Five or six of the seniors will be playing division two or three ball in...

Vincent van Gogh - Old Man in Sorrow Sorrow to eat, bread of tears. We accuse You of laying upon us every act of suffering we endure, when we alone are the cause of our demise. We beg You to save us from Your wrath, when it is our own foolishness we need rescue from. We ask You to give example, to show us Your strength. Where is our faith? Embers of a trust we have placed conditions upon. Lord, if You do give us sorrow and tears, give us also joy when we step into the light of salvation. copyright 2018 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

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/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author From the Collection;  Pictures of the Messiah