Scarlet Robe Creations

He tells us not to concern ourselves with evil. For they will wither like thirsty grass, wilt, like tender shoots. They are the seeds without root, tossed where the soil is dry, empty, faithless. Trust in the Lord for everything. Commit your life to Him. Be still and wait with patience, for the wicked ideals of men will soon turn to dust copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

In the pride of his face, the wicked does not seek him, all his thoughts are, there is no God. Psalm 10:4 How can one seek if self is the focus? How can one even acknowledge a creator when one denies any existence of one greater than one's self? Why would one seek, when one's worship is of one's own face? Why would one so much as stand before the cross of one's salvation if one believes not in one's sin? Sin, you have laid claim to the children, who pride themselves on embracing you, and shunning love. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Be patient when you witness the world's glorification of evil. Do not be concerned. Do not envy their place, nor their prideful dance. They are grass. They are weeds. Soon they will wither and be cut down for the furnace. Take refuge in the Lord. Prosper in the ways of His words. That which celebrates wickedness will see its day as nothing more than dust. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

A yearning, in the depths of the created. Calling out into the vastness, one soul, seeking one God. In the psalm it might be a deer, seeking a stream with clear water. It might be a soul, seeking a union meant to purify. A longing, a cry for intimacy. A lyric sung by a voice from the deepness of one realm to another. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Sing a song, which speaks to the Lord of His wonderous deeds. He has gained victory by His right hand and His holy arm. Sing a song, which speaks of salvation, bringing His word to the nations, telling of His love and His faithfulness. Sing a song, which can be heard from above. A song bringing forth joy. For each day He is worthy of your praise, and mine. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

By the Waters of Babylon , painting by  Arthur Hacker , c.  1888 Loss and hope, we sit here and weep, remembering what we had. The good days have faded, those we took for granted. The world says be joyful for what we have accomplished, I am sad for what we've lost. I hang my harp in the willow. I will not sing for your cause, nor will I dance. How can I say, this life, the one the world adores, Is better than any other. Loss and hope, the waters of Babylon flow by. This world seems foreign. The songs sung here are in languages I cannot understand. For on one day they burnt the holy city. On the next they crucified love. copyright 2023 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Christ the Saviour - Byzantine Icon Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.   Psalm 119:135   Look upon me, for in Your sight I am refreshed. In You darkness has no stronghold. You are light and Your gaze is lovely.   I stand enthralled in the glory of Your majesty. I am but a single pebble in the sand, yet You know me and have shaped me.   Your words, Your decrees, I long to learn, that only Your light, divine, will shine upon my face, casting out every shadow.   Lord, teach me to stand upright, when my enemies wage war and You are my hope, first and last, forever in victory. copyright 2023 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

In that time alone when my heart wishes for another voice, when I seek the desolate country-side, looking for my shepherd, will I be close,  or far. Sometimes I feel the touch, but I long for the embrace. Is it I who refuse to wrap my arms around my heart's deepest desire? In that time alone when my heart wishes to be carried, when I seek sand and find only stone, my struggling faith designing my house, to crumble. You are with me, rod and staff, even when I cling to the world. You are with me, leading to green pastures, when I have cast my soul upon the pavement. copyright 2023 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

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

Hear me Lord, I meditate, I pray. Ponder the supplications of my heart. Listen to the words of my plea. You are my King, my God. You are the aching in my soul. I will direct my prayer to You, my God who has no pleasure in wickedness, holy is Your dwelling. Lead me in the path of Your righteousness. Show my eyes Your ways and protect me with Your shield. copyright 2018 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Happy are those whose sins are forgiven,      whose wrongs are pardoned. Psalm 32:1    Happiness, for sins forgiven, a pardon from my Lord. I shout with praise. He does not accuse me of that which I have confessed. When I lived in my shame I was separate from my soul. Drained of my tears and strength my joy was nothing more than embers fading in the shadows. Then I knelt before God. I confessed the darkness He refused to see. For it is my soul laboring in sin not the sight of the Lord. Happiness, for my sins are forgiven. I will follow Him where paths are straight, fields are plowed and the harvest is rich. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, H e refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me;  Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

The Lord said unto my Lord,  “Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. Psalm 110 Thus says the Father, to the Son who witnessed creation, to be born of the great king's lineage, Sit here at my right hand. The human messiah, one of flesh and bone, expected to be man and not God. The divine one asking the blind to open their eyes and see. Whose Son is He? An incomplete answer lingers on the lips of some. Is He a prophet? Is He a great teacher? Or is He the messiah, the Christ, the Son of God? The Lord said to my Lord. The Spirit moves a great king, who realizes he is the servant of his promised offspring. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us,  thou hast been displeased;  O turn thyself to us again.   Thou hast made the earth to tremble;  thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.   Thou hast shewed thy people hard things:  thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. Psalm 60:1-3 You have cast us off, scattered us over the land. We have been displeasing to Your sight. Turn toward us again. You have shaken the earth, made it tremble on its foundation. We have struggled because of our lack of You and our fullness of self. Denominations split. Your word divides us, because of our fault, not Yours. Bring us together like wheat to bread and grapes to wine. I have been cast off, turned my back from Your gaze, although, You never stop watching me, waiting for my return. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

You fill the furrows of the field with water      so that their ridges overflow. You soften them with rain showers;      their sprouts you have blessed. Psalm 65:10 (ISV) You drench the earth that life might spring forth from its soil. You fill the furrows and quench the thirst of a land once dry. You till the ground so it might be receptive to Your nourishment. You bless all that comes forth from the pastures of love. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

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 https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

This is the cornerstone, the one tossed from the pile, considered rubble. This is the most valuable aspect, of all possible foundations faith should be built upon. This is the chosen piece of rock, rough at the edges and not perfectly square. The builder sees its lack of value, blindness hinders the sighted, innocence gives you vision. This is My rock, a voice filling the ages, a song known in deep recesses. This is the cornerstone, viewed by men as flawed, seen by God as perfect. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

O Lord , how many are my foes!  They rise up against me; Psalm 3:1    They challenge Your promise, saying You cannot protect me from their desire to cause me harm, but when their threats mount You shield me. You show me the path to victory. I lie in the fields at night, like a shepherd with his sheep. I rest soundly, knowing You stand beside me Lord, protecting me from my enemies assault. I am not afraid, although I am one and they are many. For You hear my prayer of submission, trusting, You will save Your beloved. Lord, bless the people You call Your own, bring them victory when defeat stalks them, bring them peace when their enemy brings war. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? Psalm 2:1 Why do we wage war, laying out plans to take from one another. Kings, dictators and governors of state plot their revolts against their creator. They shout, let us be free, let us throw off the cloak of our ruler. They mock the Lord and maim His people with spears and arrows. Kings, dictators and governors of state, you are not as strong or wise as you believe. You are pawns in your own game. The one God laughs at your feeble efforts to dethrone His chosen. He warns them, like the children they are, still they step out with weapons of hate and wage their wars. Your nails will wound Him. Your thorns will scar His brow. But the cross of splintering wood will stand as a victory until He rules again. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually,  "Where is your God?"  Psalm 42:1-3 (NRS)       I need You like the deer longs for a stream. I thirst for you, every day and every night. When will my sight be filled with Your face? My tears nourish me, in my despair. Bread and water are but dust. Where is your God the unbelievers recite? They accuse You of failing to embrace Your child. ...