Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 30th of December, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start with Mark 1:15, Jesus says:

"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

As we are facing the dawn of a new year, we are reminded by our Lord that the time is fulfilled. I don't know how many of us will see the end of 2024 because either the Lord will come or we will meet him. We need to understand one thing - Time is very short! When I was a young man, I never heard many young people talking about being concerned with the coming of the Lord. Older people would talk about time, how its running out, and how they're getting old. Nowadays, I hear young people just as concerned about the urgency of the hour. We must not waste precious time. Benjamin Franklin, former president of the United States of America said: "One today is worth two tomorrows." Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today.

A few years back, a very dear member of our family was quite ill, and we knew that he was going to go home, any day, to be with the Lord, a very strong, mature Christian. One afternoon at about 5 o'clock, I had a very strong sense in my spirit that I needed to get in the pickup, go over, pray with this man, and say goodbye to him. I said to my wife Jill, "I'm going now." She said, "But it's quite late." I said, "I know", and the journey was quite long - About an hour's trip. I said I felt I had to go.

Well, I'll tell you, I drove over to that place, and that elderly gentleman was lying in his bed; his family was around him, and I went and joined them. I prayed with him and asked God to bless him. After I left, I was not halfway home when I got a call to say that he had just gone home to be with Jesus. If I had left that appointment for the next day, I would have missed him. Don't miss it - Make that phone call today! Write that email soon. Settled that difference you've got with someone because time is wasting away!

God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Friday morning, the 29th of December, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start with Matthew 5:37, Jesus says:

"But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."

We need to be more decisive. When we start to hesitate, the devil comes in and unsettles us completely. Ezekiel 18:32, which was one of my first memory verses, the Lord says:

For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord God. "Therefore, turn and live!"

When I first read this scripture, I was a little bit confused - Lord, how can you say you have no pleasure in the death of a dying man? What the Lord said to me was that I have no pleasure in an unbeliever who dies. The man who knows Jesus Christ goes home to heaven when he dies. We need to be decisive.

I want to be quite honest with you, my friend. One of the most tragic things for me to face up to in my life is someone who I have seen or maybe got saved with and grew up with, in the Lord - A man or woman who has walked with Jesus for twenty or thirty or maybe more years and then to hear a report that they have gone back to their old ways. They have denied the Lord. That is tragic for me! It is better to have never known Him than to have known Him and still rejected Him. The Lord cannot handle that. I want to be honest with you; neither can I. It breaks my heart. When you have tasted things of eternity, how can you return to eating the onions, garlic, and melons in Egypt? Please do not do that! We are coming to the end of the year; we are about to face a brand new year - 2024. Let's face it together with Jesus and not without him

God bless you and have a wonderful day. Goodbye

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 27th of December, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start with Proverbs 15:29:

"The Lord is far from the wicked,
But He hears the prayer of the righteous."

Then we go to 2 Kings 5:1

"Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honourable man in the eyes of his master because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valour, but a leper."

Naaman had leprosy. I want to talk to you today about the power of the prayer of faith. Now, Naaman was well-loved by his people. One of the servants working in his home came and said, "There is a man, a prophet, who prays for the sick, and God heals them." So eventually his people persuaded him to go to the little home of Elisha. We go to verse 10:

“And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean."

Now, straight away, Naaman was very insulted because that prophet never came out of his hut to greet the commander of the army of Syria; that was number one. Number two, the prophet sent a message to him to go and wash seven times in the river, and you will be totally healed. He was again very insulted. He said there are much bigger rivers in Syria. Why must I go to wash in this little river? Eventually, he did it, and God healed Him. We need to be very careful with that thing called pride. When somebody wants to pray for you, and you don't feel that they can achieve anything. I'll never turn anyone away who wants to pray for me. Then verse 16:

"But he said, "As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing." And he urged him to take it, but he refused."

Naaman came back after he was healed. He wanted to give Elisha a huge gift. Elisha didn't even come out of his hut. He said I'll receive nothing. It's God who healed you. 

We had a beautiful service on Sunday morning at Shalom. There was a fantastic crowd of people. God laid on my heart to go and speak to a man who had had a stroke. He was walking with the stick. He started in a wheelchair and was now using a stick. I took the stick away from him, took him by the hand, and said: "Stand up in the Name of Jesus and walk." He walked right down to the front of the church; the people were rejoicing. Afterwards, a little girl came to me (makes me want to cry); she said, "Uncle Angus, how long have you been performing miracles?" I said, "Daniela, I can't perform any miracles. Jesus alone is the Miracle Worker." 

Have a wonderful day, and trust God for your miracle. Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 27th of December, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start with James 5:7-8:

“Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

I have been farming for over 50 years and have been an impulsive person by nature. One of the hardest things to learn is to be patient; if you don't believe me, please ask my wife. But the Lord has taught me, through farming, to wait patiently for the crop. We plough the land, prepare the fields, plant the seed, and then wait patiently. As a younger farmer, I would go out after a few days and start digging in the field. So much so that my fingernails would be worn down, looking to see whether the seeds had germinated. The Lord taught me, after many years, to leave it in His Hands. 

We must also be patient for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ because He is coming. We need to wait and be prepared for His soon coming. He says, patiently wait and establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. It could be today; it could be tomorrow. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming back on a beautiful White Horse. He's coming in the clouds - That's why I'm a cloud watcher! Every morning when I wake up, Lord, could it be today that you're coming back to take us home? I want to tell you even as a farmer sees those beautiful little plants push through the ground miraculously one morning. After about three weeks after being planted and a beautiful shower of rain has fallen in the night before, you see those green lines of maize coming through the ground. It brings joy to your heart; it is a miracle! That's what will happen when the Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time! So let's be patient and wait for He is coming in indeed.

Jesus bless you. Have a lovely day goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 26th of December, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go straight to the book of James 4:7-8:

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."

Today, we are faced with choices. Are we going to persist and listen to the lies of the devil, or are we going to believe the promises of God spoken over us? The devil says: "You'll never make it. He says, "You are the same as your father. He was an alcoholic, and you'll be one as well." The devil says: "There's no hope for you. People have said you're a waster, and that's what you are." That's how the devil talks, but Jesus says: "You are more than a conqueror." Jesus says, "You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you." Philippians 4:13 

The devil tells you that you'll never shake that habit. Jesus says: 

"... if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17 

We need to resist the devil. We can't say, "Well, that's just how it is..." It's not folks! We weren't born like that; all of us were born the same. We need to start to draw near to God. He has promised He will draw near to us. 

I heard a story about that old plumber from Yorkshire, Smith Wigglesworth - He was visiting a farm in South Africa in the old days. In the middle of the night, he heard a groaning in the corner of his bedroom. He reached out for a candle, struck it, and held it out. There, he saw the most grotesque picture of a growling demon. He looked at the demon and said: "Oh, it's only you!" He blew the candle out and went back to sleep!

You can deal with the devil - he is a liar, a thief and a bully. There's nothing good in him. By the way, he is a coward, so the Lord says, resist him, and he will flee from you! 

Have a wonderful day. God bless you, and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Monday morning, the 25th of December, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. I want to start by wishing you a very blessed, happy and peaceful Christmas day. I also want to thank you on behalf of my family and our team for being such good friends to us for almost four years now - can you believe it? Where is the time going? Happy, blessed Christmas to you!

We start with the book of Matthew 1:23:

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

 It's called Christmas that's right! What a miracle Luke 1:37:

“For with God, nothing will be impossible."

I'm praying for you, over this Christmas period, that you will rest with your loved ones, but most of all, that you will spend time with Emmanuel - God with us. What a miracle to think that the Lord Jesus Christ could come down from Heaven to Earth as a baby. Not only that but to be born through the womb of a woman who has never known a man, talk about miracles! Any gynaecologist will tell you it's impossible, but it happened. Remember, God does not tell lies. 

"God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

You'll find that in Numbers 23:19. I want to say to you today: believe God for your miracle, whatever it might be. If you are trusting to go to university and they've closed the doors - You need to pray according and trust the Lord that the door will be opened. If you are trusting the Lord that this coming year you're going to find your husband or wife. You want to get married and you've been waiting for a long time - Trust God for your miracle. Emmanuel, for with God, nothing will be impossible. Maybe you want to launch a brand new business. This is the time to talk about it - Tell your loved ones. 

It's a time to be happy. Why? Because God came down from Heaven to Earth, in the form of a baby, and He's with us today through the power of His Holy Spirit. Now remember that beautiful scripture in Romans 8:11:

"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies..."

Today, trust God for your miracle, and have a very happy and blessed Christmas. To you and your loved ones: Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 24th of December, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start with James 5:17-18:

"Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit."

I love that this scripture stresses that Elijah was an ordinary man, just like you and me. Let's go to Mark 11:24:

"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."

That's Jesus speaking. I want to say to you that God honours the prayer of faith. God doesn't honour prayer; He honours the prayer of faith. There's no good praying a prayer and then doubting whether it will happen - "Well, I'm gonna pray this prayer, and I hope something comes of it." No, by faith, we've got to find out the will of God in that situation, and then we must pray accordingly, with faith, and God will do the rest. "When men work, they work, but when men pray, God works." We need to pray the prayer of faith!

Do you know the story of the old lady who was just about to go to bed? She looked out the window, and there was a big mountain in front of her little house. She prayed, "Lord, I'm praying that when I wake up tomorrow morning, the mountain will be gone." She drew the curtains, got into her bed and went sound asleep. The next morning, she woke up early, opened the curtains, and the mountain still stood there. Her remark was, "Oh ya, I thought so..." No faith in that prayer. I want to tell you I don't know how many times, mainly through desperation, I have prayed: "Jesus, please send the rain!" or "Jesus, please stop the rain!" Floods and droughts, and I've seen the Lord answer my prayers too many times to believe it is just a coincidence. God honours the prayer of faith. 

As we look forward to Christmas day tomorrow, I want to wish you a very peaceful and joyful Christmas Eve, and I want you to start to pray, like I'm going to, more often and, most of all, begin praying the prayer of faith. Jesus bless you, and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 23rd of December, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start with Proverbs 28:20:

"A faithful man will abound with blessings..."

Then we go straight to Ephesians 1:3:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ..."

My wife Jill heard a little quotation from some anonymous person: "If you want pleasant thoughts, count your blessing, not your cash."

I want to read you a prayer that was re-written as a song by Jim Reeves, the Farmer and the Lord:

While resting the other evening by the side of the road
I saw an old farmer in the field that he just sowed
His face was all brown and wrinkled from the sun and the wind
And he was talking to the Lord just like he'd be talking to a friend

Well sir, he said with his voice calm and quiet
Them corn tassels need stackin' I got no strenght to tie it
Had no rain in so long that the fields are mighty dusty
And it's been so unbearable hot that the kids were even gettin' fussy

Now that grass down and the pasture it should be knee high
If we could just have a little shower Lord
It might keep the calf from going dry
Oh but listen to me talking you'd think I wasn't grateful
Why if you didn't know me so well Lord
You'd think I was down right hateful

You'd think I frogot about that new calf that you sent
And the money in the mail that took care of the rent
Mama's cold better and Johnny's home from the navy
And that good Sunday dinner of chicken and dumplings and gravy

And that new preacher you sent us Lord he's sure a fine young man
Why he's just convertin' them sinners to beat the band
Well guess I'll mosey on home now Lord
I won't take no more your time

Guess there's plenty folks here about waitin' to ring your line
Evening to you Lord and watch us over tonight
And don't you worry about us now Lord
'Cause everything is gonna be all right

Jesus bless you, and have a lovely day. Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Friday morning, the 22nd of December, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to Proverbs 18:24:

"A man who has friends [a]must himself be friendly,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

As I send this message to you, it is still very dark outside. I'm about to leave to visit an old friend who lives about an hour-and-a-half drive away from here. I'm talking about Simeon Bhengu, the man that started farming with me over 40 years ago! 

Quite a few years ago, he decided to move to be closer to his extended family; I'm so excited to see him again. He's expecting me, and we will sit down and talk about things we have been through together. About the fires on the farm that we fought, about the droughts that we went through together - The floods that just about washed the farm away and about personal tragedies in our lives where we lost family members. Friendships are built over many, many years. They are built through trust, love and hardship. They are very precious. Please do not neglect old friendships. This is the time of the year to pick up that phone and speak to your friend - Just say: "I just wanted to tell you I love you, and I appreciate you." 

I'll tell you one little story about Simeon. He looked after the farm for me when I was away on a campaign, preaching the gospel. I came back expecting to find the tractors planting the maize crop, but nothing was happening in the shed. The tractors were standing still, silent. Dust was blowing across the field, and there was no rain. He came into the office early in the morning, like you always did before the staff arrived, and I was very bleak. I said: "Simeon, where's the rain?" He said, "It's coming." I said, "But Simeon, all I see out there is just dust." He said, "You've just come back from a campaign..." I said, "Yes, we had an amazing time. We saw people give their lives to Jesus, broken hearts mended, marriages restored, and healings taking place..." He stopped me in my tracks, "So you had faith to go and pray for all those people in the campaign but you don't have faith to trust God for the rain?" I repented in front of him straight away and said, "Simeon, you are so right. Get the tractors out, get the planters hitched up, let's go. Let's plant the crop!" We planted, literally, in the dust. The rain did come, and we had an excellent crop.

Spend time with your friend today; by the way, His Name is Jesus Christ. He's the friend that sticks closer than any brother. Have a good chat with Him today; He wants to hear from you. 

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 21st of December, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start with Hebrews 13:8:

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

Isn't that so reassuring? In a time when things are so uncertain, Jesus never changes. Then we go to Philippians 1:21, Paul says:

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

We always say: "You can't frighten a Christian with Heaven!" Can you? If we live, we live for Christ, and if we die, we go home to be with Him in heaven forever. Jesus tells us clearly in Luke 12:29 not to worry and not to be anxious. The very thing that we are worried about may never happen anyway. Carpe Diem - It's one of the few Latin sayings I know. It means to make the most of the present time. Start to enjoy the life God is giving you. Stop worrying about something that may never happen.

I remember reading a story about a man who was told by a doctor that he had a heart problem and that he would die within the next 12 months or so. So he thought to himself, I've got nothing to lose, I'm going to die anyway - He loved climbing mountains. He came out to South Africa and started climbing the peaks of the mighty Drakensberg mountains. I think he even conquered a few of them. He lived to be over 80 years old! We need to make the most of the present time. We need to capitalise on what God has given us. Jesus says in Matthew 6:33:

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Today, have a day of enjoyment. Enjoy your day, your family, and your situation because maybe tomorrow Jesus will come, and then there'll be no more problems. God bless you and have a wonderful day. Goodbye.