Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 30th of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of James 2:23, in the New Testament:

“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.” 

You want to be called a friend of God; I am sure you do; everybody does. No one wants to be an enemy of God. God has never lost a fight in His life.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” 
Hebrews 11:6

We cannot please God by good works. He is not interested in our good works. He says they are like filthy rags. He wants us to trust Him. He wants us to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). You see, the reason God loved Abraham so much is because Abraham obeyed whatever God told him to do. Abraham waited for his promise, a son. God gave him a son, a beautiful son, named Isaac. At the age of about 13 years old, God tested Abraham and said, “I want him back now.” Abraham never hesitated. He took his son up to the top of Mount Moriah and was prepared to offer him up as a living sacrifice. God was so moved by that act of faith that he said, “Stop, stop, stop Abraham. There is a little ram caught in the thicket. Use that for a sacrifice.” That is why He loved Abraham. Abraham is known as the father of faith.

George Müller is one of my heroes. George Müller started a children’s home in Bristol in England. Something like 10,000 children went through that home, something like 60 million rand by today’s reckoning, went through his hands. He never asked for one cent; he prayed for everything and trusted God. At the end of his life, people said, “You must have had such a love for children.” He said, “Yes indeed, a great love for children, but the reason why I did it wasn’t even for the children. I wanted to show the world what God will do if we put our trust in Him.” 

Today, I want to encourage you. Put your faith in Jesus Christ. Don’t tempt Him, but you can test Him, and I want to tell you, He will never, ever let you down. He is a good God, He is for you and He is for me and He is not against us, so He wants us to attempt great things for Him and expect great things from Him.

Have a wonderful day,

Jesus bless you,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 29th of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in that beautiful book, Isaiah 9:6: 

“For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Then confirmation of that is Matthew 28:18: 

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” 

Wow, folks, we are talking about a government that shall never fail, and as we enter the Christmas season, we remember the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to tell you that the government which the Master, Himself, will head up will be a government that will remain honest. It will deliver everything that it has promised. Everything He said, He shall do, and He has already done. Every promise He has made, He shall keep. The only thing left now is the great day of inauguration, the induction, and I tell you what, I cannot wait! Oh, when we look around, we see the world governments falling apart, making false promises, telling lies to the people, sometimes trying to bribe them to vote for them, and yet the Prince of Peace is coming back soon.  

Do you remember that old song?

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government shall be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
The Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace is He.

Father, 

I pray for my friends today, that they will lift up their heads and they will see that there is a government coming into this world, and the leader is Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

Lord, we have nothing to fear. I pray for my friends that they will keep focused today on the soon-coming King,

In Jesus Name,
Amen.

Have a wonderful day,
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 28th of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Ephesians 5:8: 

"Walk as children of light…" 

What an opportunity for you and I to shine for Jesus in this very dark, old world we live in. We don't always feel victorious, do we? We don't always feel like shining, do we? No, but there is a deep knowing in our hearts that Jesus walks with us, irrespective of how we feel.

"…He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."  
1 John 4:4

You see, it's that knowledge alone - that He is sufficient for us, that keeps our light shining, sometimes ever so small, just a little flicker, but it keeps shining. The people in the world want to see how we handle our circumstances when everything around us is dead dark and jet-black. It's easy to shine when things are going well, isn't it? But the test comes. Are we going to shine when things are not going well for us? The greatest example of that in the Bible is Job, the farmer. He said in the Book of Job 13:15: 

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." 

Remember the devil said, "Ja, Your servant, Job, serves You because he is so prosperous (I think he was the wealthiest man in the Middle East), he has got a big family, everything is going well. Take it away from him and let's see what he can do. Of course, the Lord said, "Okay, but don't touch his life." Right to the end, Job's light was shining. I want to say to you today, like never before, the world is watching us. Now remember, the darker it gets, the brighter the light shines. You strike that little match in a dark room, what happens? Yes, the darkness has to leave. 

One of my heroes was a Scottish minister named Peter Marshall. In fact, he was the one who said you must have faith like potatoes. He was coming home one night, and it was so dark, he couldn't even see his hand in front of him, and he decided to take a shortcut but what he didn't realise was as he was walking down the path, there was a voice that called out to him. He remembered it clearly, "Peter!" Then he stopped, and then he went on a little bit slower, and the voice said "Peter!" again, and he dropped to his knees, and as he dropped to his knees he stretched forward and there was nothing in front of him. He was on the edge of a precipice, on the edge of a huge, stone quarry. There was a hole in the ground. I don't know how deep it was, but it would have killed him if he had carried on walking. That was the change in his life.

People need the Lord. People are walking in darkness. You and I need to be a light shining in the darkness for them today.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious Name! It is Monday morning, the 27th of November, 2023, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today. We start with Isaiah 8:10:

"For God is with us."

I read that slowly because we all need to remember that God is with us. The proof of that is found one page before in Isaiah 7:14:

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel."

Which translated means God with us. If we go to Romans 8:31, a scripture which I have got many, many times - basically, it confirms the scriptures which I have just read to you.

"If God is for us, who can be against us?"

That's why we are entering into the Christmas season. That's why we celebrate Christmas - God came down from Heaven, in the form of a defenceless baby, to be with us so that we will not be lonely anymore; so that will not be fearful anymore - Now that is worth celebrating!

If Jesus is on our side, as the tennis players say, it is 'game, set and match'. What do we have to do from our side? Well, that's a good question - Simply believe! Sadly, Moses and Aaron did not believe, so they could not take the children of Israel across the river Jordan and into the land of milk and honey. You'll find that in Numbers 28:12. How do we get that kind of faith? Well, that's a good question. Romans 10:17 says:

“So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”

By spending time with the Lord! Do you know that little picture of a little lion cub walking down the road with the caption: "When you know who is behind you, the fear of what's in front disappears." 

As long as you know God is for you, who is against you doesn't matter anymore because behind that little lion cub walking down the main road is its huge doting mother. I want to tell you God is right with you today, and you have nothing to fear.

Jesus bless you, and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious Name. It is Sunday morning the 26th of November 2023, and this is your friend Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We started in Exodus 24:17:

"The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel."

Then we go straight to Hebrews 12:29

"For our god is a consuming fire." 

He's not a God to be trifled with. He is not a God to play the fool with - we are talking about a God who is a consuming fire. That's what the Bible tells us. We need to be ready to meet the coming of the Lord.

Now, I can relate to this so much. You know, we live in the beautiful green hills of Natal, and Shalom Farm is situated right in the middle of many, many forests. We have pine plantations, eucalyptus and wattle plantations - beautiful trees, 30 years old and more before they get felled. But we have to be ready in the event of a forest fire. It is a terrible thing to be part of - when that fire gets going. The signs are always there. It's normally in the middle of Winter. There is a blowing wind, and there's been no moisture for weeks. People are ready; it's going to come. The foresters literally sleep next to their radios, waiting for the fire tower to make that call - fire! The game is on. By that time, we should have all our fire breaks in position. We should have all our water carts full, hitched up to our tractors - all our fire fighting equipment should be ready for action. We have to do it beforehand if we want to stand a chance in saving our homes and our farms.

The question I want to ask you today, and the question God is asking us this morning is: "Are you ready for the coming of the Lord? When the Lord comes He will come like a consuming fire. It says, in Joel 2:11

"The Lord gives voice before His army,
For His camp is very great;
For strong is the One who executes His word.
For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible;
Who can endure it?"

I want to plead with you today to make sure that your house is in order. Make sure that your life is in order. That your children, your dependents know who Jesus Christ is because when that fire starts it is too late to try and get things in order. Do it today.Don't be caught out.

Jesus bless you, and have a wonderful Sunday. Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Saturday morning, it is the 25th of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We go straight to Hebrews 12:15 in the New Testament  

"…looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;…"  

We need to be so careful that we do not allow a root of bitterness which can cause trouble in a person's life and even sickness. Don't let it grow in your heart. Confess it, pull it out by the roots so that it can have no hold over your life. I remember like yesterday, many, many years ago, after preaching, asking people who are sick in their bodies to come forward for healing. I will never forget this old lady who came forward, and she looked so down and depressed. She knelt at the altar rail and said, "I need prayer for healing".  
I said, "What is the problem?"  
She said, "I suffer from migraine headaches terribly, have done for years." 
I looked at her, and I felt the Holy Spirit say to me, "Don't pray for healing for the headaches. There is unforgiveness in her heart." 
I said, "Do you have bitterness against someone who has maybe hurt you or disappointed you in the past?"  
She was very angry with me. She said, "Young man, I did not come here to confess my sins. I came here to be healed from my migraine headaches." 
Then she just broke down and wept and she said, "Yes, I have. I have had issues of bitterness against someone for years."  
So, the two of us prayed together. She confessed her sin and she left. I didn't even pray for healing.
The next Sunday she came to church. She was a different woman. She was so happy and totally at peace. I said, "And how are you feeling?" She said, "I haven't had one migraine headache since we prayed together last week." Totally healed by Jesus!

I would like to pray for you right now. Maybe you are suffering, and there is something in your life you just cannot lay down, that person has hurt you, you have been disappointed at work, and it is forming a root of bitterness. Let's deal with it now and carry on with our lives. Pray this prayer after me please:

Dear Lord Jesus,
I am convicted today that I have unforgiveness and bitterness in my heart. I forgive that person for hurting me, for disappointing me and today, Lord, I tear out that bitterness by the root that it will have no more part of my life.
In Jesus name, Amen!

God bless you and have a wonderful Saturday,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Friday morning, the 24th of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Gospel of Matthew 16:24: 

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." 

Then we want to go to the Gospel of John 15:13:

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." 

Following after Jesus is a costly business. Sometimes we lose our friends when we get serious for the Lord. We are not so popular anymore and it can be quite painful, especially if you are a young person. People are going out, partying, sleeping around, drugging, drinking, and you say, "No more for me." You will be surprised at how quickly you will lose your friends. I remember when I gave my life to the Lord as a young man. I said to the men who were following me up, I said, "There is one thing I don't want to do - I don't want to lose my old friends." They smiled and said, "Don't worry about that, Angus. You won't have to lose them, they will lose you." You see, we cannot have anything to do with darkness when we are walking in the light. It can be quite painful when people mock us for our stand for Christ. 

Gypsy Smith, that old Romany Gypsy who used to preach off the back of his painted wagon to crowds of up to 10,000 people at a time, said, "It takes a dead fish to flow with the current, but it takes a live one to swim against it." Remember, if your faith is costing you nothing, well then, it is worth nothing. It cost Jesus His life, didn't it? He died for you and for me. Sometimes I despair when I see how little you and I are prepared to sacrifice to stand up for our Lord. I remember a beautiful story told many years ago. A big sailing ship was sailing with people down to the South Sea Islands, and there was a lovely young family who had left their safe haven, their home, and they were on their way to one of these islands where there were cannibals. As the captain docked the ship, just off the coast, and lowered a little lifeboat for them to row to the shore, he pleaded with the family, "Don't go there because they are going to kill you." The man said to the captain, "Sir, we died before we left home." I want to tell you today, let's have a good look at our own lives and really see if we are making a difference for the Gospel and helping the lost.

Have a wonderful day, 
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 23rd of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Nehemiah 8:10: 

"…for the joy of the Lord is your strength." 

Then we go to the New Testament, to the First Book of Timothy 6:6: 

"Now godliness with contentment is great gain."

I have just been to a men's prayer meeting. We meet at 5 a.m. at the little chapel on the farm, Shalom, and while we were praying, one of our men prayed a very touching prayer. He said, "Lord, two teams came back from the World Cup. One team have become the world champions, and the other just missed the world championship by two matches; one point separated success from apparent failure, one point. You and I cannot live like that. We cannot put all our hope, all our trust in one single game—the only difference between joy and sorrow, success and supposed failure - one point. 

You may be sitting and waiting for your university results to come in, and maybe you are going to make it by one point, or you are going to miss it by one point. You cannot put your whole life's expectancy on one point. Maybe you are a young farmer and you are trusting God for a good crop. You have put all your effort into that crop, just like you do every other year. The only difference between a good crop and a bad crop is whether it rains or whether it doesn't rain.  

Maybe you have beautiful animals for sale - beef cattle, sheep, lambs - but because of the economy, there is one point between failure and success. We can't live like that. The Lord tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength. That's not a funny ha-ha joy. That is a deep knowing that if you love Jesus Christ, your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and when you leave this world, you are going straight home to Heaven to be with the Lord forever and ever. It brings a measure of contentment that this world cannot give. We must keep focused on the Lord Jesus Christ and His promises over our lives, which will bring us peace, joy and purpose for living.

Today, go out and look forward to an incredible life because when you are a believer, it is a win-win situation. If we die, we go straight home to Heaven, and if we live, we live for Christ.

God bless you and goodbye. 

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 22nd of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Isaiah 35:3-4:

“Strengthen the weak hands,
And make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are fearful-hearted,
“Be strong, do not fear!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
With the recompense of God;
He will come and save you.”

Then we go to the Book of Hebrews 12:12-13: 

‘Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.’

You and I need to walk on straight paths. We must stop making things even harder for ourselves in a world that seems to have gone mad at the moment. Keep on the main road. There are no shortcuts on our way to Heaven. Every time I take a shortcut, I normally get stuck in the mud and have to walk home and get the tractor to come and pull me out! The Bible says we need to strengthen our hands and weak knees so that they will not be dislocated but rather heal. 

You know, many times I read in the New Testament that Jesus told His disciples to come aside and rest awhile because they didn’t even have time to eat. I had an old friend who used to farm next door to me. Alan was a wonderful man, he has gone to be with Jesus now, and we used to meet across the fence early in the morning when we started farming with our staff, and he often used to say to me, “Angus, you need to take time out to smell the roses.” What does that mean? It means to take time to rest to strengthen your hands and your knees for the long road ahead. 

William Carey, that great man of God who translated the Bible from English into many different Indian languages, had a rose garden. He would often go into his rose garden that was walled up and be quiet on his own, and that would strengthen him. I have a beautiful hobby: I am a bee-keeper, and sometimes, when the going gets too tough, I just want to go and sit with my bees and not even take the honey out sometimes. I just sit there and watch them working tirelessly and just be in the presence of God.

Today, take time out to smell the roses,
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 21st of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We go to Hebrews 12:5-6: 

"My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives."

The word "chasten" means to discipline someone. You know, for me, it is very embarrassing to go to a party or a meeting or a public gathering and to see a very badly behaved little child throwing their toys, literally. I don't feel sorry for the red-faced parent who is trying to control the child, I feel terribly sorry for the undisciplined child who has to face life and walk a very hard road. Mom, Dad, if you love your child, you must discipline them for their sake, not yours, just like Jesus disciplines you and me to make us better citizens and stronger people. If Jesus disciplines us because He loves us, we must do the same. 

My son has got a gift for sorting out problem horses. People bring their horses to him, and he sorts out that problem. If a horse has a bad habit of kicking out at people or has a very hard mouth and will not listen, he can discipline that horse and make it rideable. You know, the amazing thing is that the horses with the most natural talent often need the most disciplining and then turn out to be amazing riding horses. The word "discipline" means the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour.  

I know a little boy's story, and it is such a sad story that I am telling you. He was big for his age, very strong, and got his own way at home. His mom and dad didn't discipline him, but eventually, the big day came, and he had to go to school. Mom and Dad dropped him off at school, and of course, in the class, he picked on the weakest little boy there and started to push him around. But you see, that boy didn't realise that that small boy had two big brothers in the grade ahead and of course, at break, the big boys would tackle this youngster and really make things very unpleasant for him, so much so that he didn't want to go to school anymore, in fact, he was starting to wet his pants and became a major problem to his mother and father. That is because Mom and Dad didn't discipline him when he was small. Please discipline your loved one if you want them to have an easy walk in life.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.