Scarlet Robe Creations

James Tissot - Jesus and the Tempest Who is this man that the wind and the waves obey Him? Be still. Be Quiet. He has shut the seas behind barriers. He has made the clouds the storm's garment. He sets limits on the water's encroachment, instructing the proud waves to come no farther. Who is this man? He has taught crowds who would listen, turned away Pharisees and whatever they offered. He has shunned Hems and Tassels and embraced fishermen, tax collectors and prostitutes. Who is this man that the most fierce aspects of nature listen to Him and bow down at the sound of his voice. All havoc is silenced, the seas are calmed. There is quiet. There is stillness. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

James Tissot -The Pilgrims of Emmaus on the Road -1886-1894 It's just a road, like any road, dirt, stone, dust. It leads us to a place. It could have been any place. We were two, unimportant, except for this one scene, this one moment.  There were other travelers. Most were burdened, as we. Most were shocked by the cruelty of man, upon man. Some had been hopeful. Some had doubts. He could have stepped up beside any others. His shawl keeping the dust from his eyes. A traveler like us, no different, except for what he lacked. How is it, you do not know. How is it you are unaware. It is as if the sun has set on us, and refused to rise. This one gave us hope. This one spoke of things differently than any of the others. How is it, you do not know. It's just a road, like any road, dirt, stone, dust. It leads us to a place. It could have been any place. We were two, unimportant, except for this one scene, this one moment. We are two, joined by one who didn't seem to know. copyrigh...

Christ Among the Parisees - Jacob Jordaens (1593 - 1678) Are they hypocrites, not belonging to the father, weeds, not wheat? Scholars seeking only to destroy the Word threatening their authority. The Word was not spoken of itself. He was made flesh by the one with whom the hypocrites claim intimacy. Hypocrites. Weeds in the field. White washed bones in a parched desert. Hypocrites criticizing the Word spoken, sinning against the Spirit. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

He was a burning and shining lamp and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light John 5:35 I tell you something greater. It is wise if you take heed. You are told this for your own good. You should still yourself and listen. There is much to accomplish. The ministry will be but a moment. The affect will be eternal. The joy will be everlasting. For a while you were content to simply listen to the baptizer. For a short time you sat on the shore, and you rejoiced in the burning light of his lamp. The preacher, who told you he could not fasten the sandals of He who was to follow, has pointed out the way to you. He has shown you something greater. He has shown you a brighter light. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

The Sermon on the Mount 1873 - Woodcut - Author Unknown Have you not listened? You seemed to have turned away. You look at wars and long for peace. Your news media divides you, regardless of what you believe. Those who speak for you, speak only for themselves. Some hunger for bread when there is plenty. Some wish for comfort, when they have a pillow. Some long for Camelot, but that was long ago. Have you not listened? Your culture claims to have no need of ears. You seek sameness when you are made with uniqueness. You seek a moral high ground you cannot bear. You embrace twisted ideologies that thrive in no garden. Money is your god. Power is your love. Pride is your death. From Eden to the Temple, from the manger to the cross, sonnets of the truth are spoken. Have you listened?  Have you not listened, without twisting what you hear? You seem to have dug your graves in sand. Wars will always be, for not all children seek peace. Division stands in its strength, as long as you are it...

Bernardino Mei 1655 What sign can you show that gives you authority. How can we believe if there is no sign? You are full of zeal, but many before you have read the psalms. They too could say they were consumed. You claim this to be a marketplace of our making, but holy men have stood where you stand and they have not condemned our transactions. You say that if we tear down this temple, a structure that has taken decades to raise, you will build it back brick by brick in three days. Will you dance for us as well, prophet, king, fool. We are the disbelievers. We are the hypocrites. We are the ones gathered in a den of thieves. And we are those who will forever ask for a sign of your authority. copyright 2023 -Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

I've seen these three words. I've read them. I've written about them. I know that before they are spoken there are storm clouds and the sea is in turmoil. How firm will your trust be if those three words are spoken into the wind, into the choppy waves? Will you watch the lightning that precedes? Will you shelter yourself from the torrent? Will you hide your face from the dark clouds? Or will you hear those three words, Quiet, be still, and still be afraid? copyright 2023 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Ordination' by Nicolas Poussin, 1630s They came from various walks of life. They followed. There were eight, nine, ten, and then there were twelve. "Did you hear him?" Asked one bystander. "Did you listen?" Asked another. "He speaks of wheat and weeds," said a third. They move from town to town, the eight, nine, ten, and twelve. They draw others to them always to follow, as they follow. "I ate fish," said one who dined. "There was plenty," said another. "It might have been a miracle," said a third. Some rebuke, those with power to lose. They criticize the one who stands as a shepherd before the eight, nine, ten, and twelve. The one says He is good. He says His flesh is bread. He says He will spill out His wine. He carries a beam of wood without followers. Yesterday there were twelve, ten, nine, eight. Now there is one, and His mother. "I heard he raised up a dead friend," said one with a sword. "He made clai...

What do you stand by? Do you stand by a feeling, one that fills you with elation and self worth? Do you stand by the sermon of a priest or minister, who preaches the words you desire to hear? Do you stand by government, paying homage to the power it has given itself? Do you stand by the news anchor  who supports the view of your political idols? Do you stand by the words of entertainers, who insist that your values be like theirs? Or, is it possible that you stand by a statement given over two thousand years ago? A statement spoken on a dark night, one man to another, a Pharisee and a teacher. A statement spoken by creator to created and written on parchment by the hand of the disciple He loved. copyright 2023 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Enrique Simonet - 1892 Good news! Perhaps you have heard. Not on your nightly news. They would much rather speak of society's ills. But there is good news. You need to seek it, to find it. You need to kneel and not stand. You need to praise and not criticize. Good news! Perhaps you have listened. There are voices that speak with purity. Those with no agenda other than to share the news. Those who are not afraid to stand up for one name. Those who are not afraid to stand up for the words written in one book. Good news! Perhaps you have understood. If so, have you taken care to nourish the seed? Have you fertilized the soil? Has it born good fruit where you dwell? Has it been shared with those who need to hear the most? Good news! Perhaps you have heard. The sonnet is spoken by the preacher in the street. The words are whispered by a friend at your bedside. Tune out the syllables of hate. Turn away from that which divides. You have been told to not be of this world. Perhaps you haven...

James Tissot (French, 1836-1902).  The Lord's Prayer  It is written. (Matthew 4:4)   Prophets shared the message given to them in dreams.   They put to writing songs sung through the breeze, or fanfares brought forth by magnificent storms.   As bread sustains the moment, Scripture fulfills your life.   The word of God has promised offspring to Abraham, freedom to Moses and forgiveness to all of the twelve tribes… and the gentiles.   It is written.   Absorb the flavor of each word.   Do not just know that the words exist… live them.   Feel the love of the covenant, given by pure love as an act of love.     The time has come. (Mark 1:15)   And thus it has.   He stands here now.   You can seek Him out, in the Jordan, in the desert, on the shore of the lake, on the mount where He preaches, or in the temple.   Soon He will enter the Holy City triumphantly.   You will see Him on a donkey. ...

Does our law allow these things? And with the question He points back to scripture. "Have you not read". All the answers are right there. But you have to have eyes to see and ears to hear. Why then... and but...? Because you are dense, hard to teach. Two shall unite, man and woman, as in the days of creation. No man may separate or redefine. They ask a question, specific, and the Lord's answer encompasses so much more. They question divorce and He defines marriage. Does His law allow these things? copyright 2018 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Are we the generation, spoken of by Matthew and Mark, who honor the Father in word only, while their hearts are lost. We read, study and think, only the Pharisees are guilt ridden by the referenced sin. It is they, and not us, who worship such rules, made by man. Where is the command spoken by God, claiming the burden on a man's shoulders, the rule without foundation, brings our heart closer to His. Are we the people, sometimes called hypocrites, who stand chastised by Isaiah's word spoken from the Messiah's tongue, bound to the law of the mind and not the truth of the heart. copyright 2018 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Do you know where you stand, goats or sheep? Do you know the shepherd, have you submitted to His guidance? Are you certain you will stand to the right and not the left? Will you know you have served, fully aware of your deeds, or will you have loved from a heart born of compassion? Have you stayed unstained when He needed your hands in the soil? Do not say, "Lord, I never saw you hungry," when He is in our midst everyday. Do not say, "Lord, when were you a prisoner," when our old wait for Him in loneliness. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Speak His name. Call out from the summit of every height, the name above all names. Tell them all that He is the Word of God, He is the bread, the light. He is the one who spits in clay and gives you sight. Speak His name, where His name is ridiculed. In every dark corner abandoned by hope, utter His praise. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author