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.

Jan 03 2026
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Tap into God’s Creativity

By Sodwana Bay

Tap into God’s Creativity Amos 4:13 A well-known minister writes: ‘A while back I bought an interesting torch. Before I decided to buy it I asked the sales lady how long the battery would last. “As long as you do,” she replied. “What do you mean?” I queried. “You are the battery,” she explained. “There’s no battery inside. You have to pump the handle at the bottom of the flashlight to make it light up.” I tried it, and sure enough I generated the power needed to make it light up! As soon as I stopped pumping the light went out… If you make the right commitment to an idea but it seems impossible… pray… and keep pumping. Bright ideas will come your way – ideas that come from God’ (Isaiah 48:17). It’s important that we never stop asking questions, or lose our holy curiosity. ~Albert Einstein God’s Word says He ‘forms the mountains…creates the wind, and reveals His thoughts to man.’ Imagine tapping into the resources of a God Who knows you and can fill your mind with imaginative, inspired, innovative ‘thoughts’. Jesus knows the mind of God, the plans of God, the will of God and the purposes of God because He is God. ‘We understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 2:16). ‘Creativity has been built into every one of us. Each of us lives less of the life God intended when we choose not to release the creative powers we possess.’ ~Ted Engstrom When you tap into God’s creativity, He helps you see things not as they are, but as they can be.   That can change your life!   Soul food: Ps 11 Gen 19-20 Mat 3 Author Unknown – Love to give you credit! Originally posted 2015-02-06 05:26:37.

Jan 01 2026
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Claim it!

By Sodwana Bay

You’re Named in God’s Will Acts 20:32 Linda Knox was in her eighties when she died of malnutrition in her Chicago apartment. Apparently she’d lost her sight and her mind had failed. Among her belongings they found she had an estate worth £492,000 – yet she died alone in poverty. The worst of it is she’d drawn up a will leaving these things to friends and family members. But she never filed it with the courts and it was never executed, so her beneficiaries were unaware of their inheritance. There’s a lesson here for you. When Christ died and went back to heaven, He left a will. And you are named in it! You say, ‘Where can I find a copy?’ In His Word! You’re an ‘[heir] of God and a [co-heir] with Christ’ (Romans 8:17).  Once that truth gets down into your soul, your attitude toward reading the Bible will be revolutionised. You’ll start meditating ‘day and night’ in the Scriptures. As a result, you’ll start to ‘prosper in all that you do’ (Joshua 1:8; Psalms 1:2-3). Now you can understand why David said, ‘I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love. The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver’ (Psalms 119:47, 72). Peter wrote: ‘His divine power has given us everything we need for life.  He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature’ (2 Peter 1:3-4). What more could you ask for? Acts 20:32 Someone’s last will and testament lets you know what you have inherited. In the Old Testament the benefits were rich, but the conditions proved too restrictive. So God gave us a New Testament. But instead of laws that are virtually impossible to keep, this ‘testament’ is based on grace:  Favour you don’t deserve, can’t earn and don’t have to work for because it’s given freely.  When you discover you are personally named in this ‘testament’, reading the Bible becomes a real source of joy.   You start asking, ‘What’s in God’s will for me? What’s my rightful inheritance?’ You realise your salvation, as glorious as it is, is just the starting point. Suddenly the idea of searching the Scriptures, standing on the Scriptures and speaking the Scriptures in every situation no longer feels like a duty, but a delight. When you pray according to Scripture, it’s like going to the bank of heaven and saying, ‘This cheque is made out to me. It’s issued and endorsed by Christ, and I’d like to cash it.’ You have two options: You can live a Christian life and die without ever having accessed your account because you never discovered your inheritance and the benefits of God’s will for you. Or you can pray: ‘Father, Christ’s last will and testament names me personally. It says that all my needs will be met, my steps will be directed, my sicknesses will be healed, and that I don’t have to fear satan because You gave me power over him’ (Luke 10:19). NOW can you see why satan doesn’t want you reading your Bible?! Soul food: Gen 3-6, Eph 2-3, Ps 12 Author Unknown – Love to give you Credit! Originally posted 2015-02-02 09:20:49.

Dec 29 2025
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My Portion

By Sodwana Bay

http://bible.com/1/psa.73.26.kjv My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. Originally posted 2014-10-16 16:03:24.