Scarlet Robe Creations

This picture hung on the side of my parents refrigerator when I was a child.  I was always intrigued by the black and white blotches which did not seem to form anything recognizable.  One day I asked my mother about the photograph.  She said it was the face of Jesus and that if I looked closely I could see Him. I could not for the life of me see our Lord in the meaningless menagerie of spots.  I remember standing at the side of the refrigerator staring at the picture as it hung there almost taunting me. One day, in my teen years, when I wasn't really trying to see the face in the black and white blotches anymore, I saw Him.  Maybe I needed to see the face more, at that age, when I was on the threshold of adulthood then when I was a child.  Now, as the years have passed, I find it difficult not to see Him in the patterns of melting snow on the mountainside. ~ I have a question for you.  When you look at the patterns of melting snow, do yo...

Joel 2:12-13 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord , “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness And relenting of evil. New American Standard Bible (NASB) Tear open the fabric of your heart . Return to that place where your thoughts were pure. Once you wore no scars of infidelity that turned His gaze from you. But you can be clean again. Even now, after all your grumbling, fornicating and kneeling before false gods. Tear open your heart. Rip apart the fabric of your earthly ideals. Let the power of love, without bounds, enter. Return to Him today. You refugees from a barren land. For His forgiveness is abundant. His love will flow over you. 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. ...

Leave me, or at least keep your distance. I have to go about business which shall not be tainted by you. You offer cocktails of doubt, greed and lust, enticing me to forego prayer and words of scripture. Leave me, burn with the rest of your kind. Be like the weeds in the fire, the chaff on the wind. You offer what I don't really need. You mask your gifts with false ideals, doubt appears to be understanding, greed, monetary need, lust, love. Leave me, take your kingdoms, palaces and stones back into the darkness. For His word guides me showing me exactly what you are. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.  “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come...

Christ in the Wilderness - Ivan Kramskoy He went into the desert, led by the Spirit, quietly and alone.  Into the wilderness, the domain of stones and sand, where water is scarce and food is dust.  He would thirst and hunger... And prayer would be on His tongue. He held no roll of papyrus covered with symbols forming the words of His father.  Every thought of the Almighty was engraved on His heart, for His father's thoughts were His thoughts. Listen to His meditation and prayer.  It is all around us, when we allow ourselves to step into the solitude found in the wilderness.  We breathe the air, feel the sun bake our flesh, gaze into an unblemished sky.  In the solitude of the wilderness we feel the touch of God. He conversed with His father and found strength in the conversation. And temptation broke through, forcing its way into the sacred interlude.  Was the temptation doubt?  Was it fueled by hunger and thirst? "Turn these sto...

You who hope in the Lord are like a sapling planted by a running stream of fresh water. Your roots will grow deep. Your branches will gain strength. The moist soil will nourish you. There will be no hunger, nor thirst. You who hope in the Lord will bear fruit in the proper seasons. Your leaves will maintain a deep hue of color. Rays of the sun will shine through your branches, illuminating the ground below with gentle patterns of light. Trust in Him, be not like the chaff blowing in the wind. Hold firm to the promise revealed. Find your delight in what the Lord has said and let evil plot its own demise. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Nails and spikes, a carpenter and for him the forged metal  does his will, splintering the wood. Created are wooden tables and chairs, crosses and sacrifices and a new faith alive  with grace. Nails and spikes, a man of simplicity speaking words  longed for, to ears deaf to the voice of a new covenant. copyright 2017 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Mark 10:13-16 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”   And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. English Standard Version (ESV) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Receive, like a little child with the unscarred innocence of love. Let the children come, He says. He sets them before Him and they listen to His voice, because it is His voice. Let the children come, He says. They are beautiful because they are innocent. They are lambs, in their dependence, not yet grown to be sheep. Let the children come, He says. He tells parables, s...

Isaiah 49:15-16 Can a woman forget her nursing child,   that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget,  yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. English Standard Version (ESV) © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Can you see His palm outstretched, fingers and flesh, as He has become like us? He cradles the essence of all we will become, an etching  that is to be you, another that will be me. He has made us a part of Himself. He has counted all our days and all our nights. How can He forget what is engraved on His palm, carved into the fibers? His wounds of His love scar Him. The names of His children fill each nail hole with their rebellion. My heart and words slander His blood. Even when you are cast aside, by those without compassion, He will no...