Jan 22 2026
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A Submissive Love

By Sodwana Bay

A SUBMISSIVE LOVE “He went away a second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.’” (Matthew 26:42)   Dread. Do you know what complete dread feels like? Ever been in circumstances that filled your soul with such anxiety that it felt like you’d collapse under the weight of it? Our Savior knows this feeling all too well. Here is another assurance that Jesus experienced the full depth of human emotion and can fully relate to us in our deepest suffering. He says to His disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” These are the words of a man seized by dread. Yet in the face of inescapable, pressing trouble, Jesus exercises a submissive love toward His Father in heaven. Matthew’s account records that Jesus returns to pray at least three times to passionately plead for the same thing: some other way, an alternate plan. All the while He recognizes that the Father’s will is paramount and unshakably trustworthy. There is no submission without trust. Jesus submitted to the Father’s will out of the depths of His love, and now we have received His gift of salvation. We’ve nothing to dread! Source: Anchor Devotional – A Submissive Love Originally posted 2015-07-13 09:47:11.

Jan 20 2026
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An Unabashed Love

By Sodwana Bay

ANCHOR DEVOTIONAL – AN UNABASHED LOVE”When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is – that she is a sinner.’” (Luke 7:39)   In this beautiful story we have Jesus accepting an invitation (which is almost certainly a trap) to dine with Simon the Pharisee. That’s one display of Jesus’ unabashed love: He goes where He’s invited regardless of the sketchy motivations behind the invitation. Enter… the woman “who had lived a sinful life” and who begins weeping on His feet, wiping them with her hair, kissing them, and pouring perfume on them. She’s making quite a scene! Can you imagine something similar in today’s context? It’s easy to paint Simon as the “bad guy,” and yet I’m convicted thinking how I would respond if Jesus were my guest for Thanksgiving when a prostitute right off the street crashed the party.Jesus handles her with deep grace and no shame. He doesn’t seem the least bit thrown off by the production she is making. He does not treat her as a distraction to the party. Instead, He shows that perhaps she’s the very reason He is there. “Your faith has saved you; go in peace,” He tells her, and another soul is restored and set free. Source: Anchor Devotional – An Unabashed Love Originally posted 2015-07-12 18:55:54.

Jan 19 2026
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Anchor Devotional – An Accountable Love

By Sodwana Bay

ANCHOR DEVOTIONAL – AN ACCOUNTABLE LOVE”He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.’” (Luke 19:26) The Parable of the Ten Minas has often left me scratching my head, feeling perhaps a bit like the disciples who frequently found Jesus’ stories puzzling. There is apparently a very real accounting coming for how we have stewarded the gifts God has given us. Those who have stewarded well will be given even more. Those who have stewarded poorly will be stripped of what little they have. It’s a sobering thought as we consider our own lives. What did the third servant do wrong? Doesn’t it seem that keeping the mina safe and sound, returning it exactly as it was given, is at the very least a conservative move? He even wrapped it in a cloth to keep it clean! This parable seems to convey that God not only takes very seriously the stewardship of what was given, but that He also has no place for the gift being “tucked away” rather than invested. Jesus repeatedly chides those of “little faith,” instructing them and us centuries later to not hide away our greatest gift: the good news of salvation. Proclaim it wherever you go! Source: Anchor Devotional – An Accountable Love Originally posted 2015-07-09 07:52:32.

Jan 18 2026
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Anchor Devotional – An Empathetic Love

By Sodwana Bay

ANCHOR DEVOTIONAL – AN EMPATHETIC LOVE “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” (John 11:33)   Jesus and Lazarus were good friends. Jesus must have been very sad at the thought of Lazarus’ death. But it does not appear to be the death of His friend that moved Jesus to tears. It was witnessing the sorrow of Lazarus’ sisters and friends. He could have snapped His fingers and raised Lazarus, instantly turning all of that sorrow into amazement and celebration. But He didn’t. Instead, He entered their pain, felt it along with them. One of the most famous verses in the Bible appears here. Verse 35, “Jesus wept”, is notable not only because of its brevity, but it also is enormously powerful because of what it conveys in just two words. Jesus empathetically feels what we feel. God sent Jesus to earth to reveal to mankind who He is. He is not a cold, uncaring, distant God. He is intimately knowledgeable of all our ways and feels our pain even more deeply than we do ourselves. Out of the agony of His heart over sin which separates us from Him, He laid down His life that we – His friends – might be raised again with Him! Source: Anchor Devotional – An Empathetic Love Originally posted 2015-07-07 17:11:30.

Jan 05 2026
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Be encouraged; in God’s kingdom brokenness is the path to blessing!!!!

By Sodwana Bay

Brokenness Luke 22:42 If your goal is to be used by God, don’t be surprised when He permits seasons of adversity and brokenness. Jesus experienced it, and He said, ‘A servant is not greater than his master’ (John 15:20). ‘God’s intent is not to hurt us, but to expand our capacity to carry His love to a world in need of compassion.  Sorrow clarifies our thinking. In the school of Christ, brokenness is a good thing. It’s impossible to become intimate with God unless we’re broken of independence, pride and our insistence that our way is better than God’s. Brokenness is the last stop before we finally confess, “I can’t; God can.” It’s Paul confessing, “What a wretched man I am. Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). It’s the Prodigal fighting with the pigs over food (Luke 15:11-32). It’s Joseph, still in prison, forgotten by the cup bearer (Genesis 40:23). It’s Jonah in the whale’s belly confessing the consequences of running from God (Jonah 2:1-9). It’s Peter weeping bitterly outside Jesus’ trial (Luke 22:62). It’s Jesus abandoning everything to God, praying, “Father…not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). God in His ruthless, loving pursuit will break us of pride, sin, folly and independence (Matthew 21:44). Like Jesus serving bread at the Last Supper, God takes us, breaks us, blesses us and uses us.’ Are you going through a season of brokenness? ‘To have God do His own work through us, even once, is better than a lifetime of human striving.’ Be encouraged; in God’s kingdom brokenness is the path to blessing!!!! Soul food: 1 John 2 2 Chron. 35 Psalm 89:38-52 Author: Unknown – Love to give u credit! Originally posted 2015-02-11 04:45:12.

Jan 04 2026
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You can always go back…

By Sodwana Bay

Luke 15:12-16, 20-32 MSG Then he said, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’ “So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. “That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father. “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’ “But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time. “All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day’s work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.’ “The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I’ve stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!’ “His father said, ‘Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he’s alive! He was lost, and he’s found!’” Cloud VPS Solutions – Powered UP cPanel Solutions Originally posted 2015-02-06 19:56:22.