Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning. It’s the 10th of November, 2023, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today. 

We start in the book of Hebrews 11:6: 

”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.”

Then we go to Mathew 14:28-29: 

”And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.” 

He is the only human being, apart from Jesus, who has ever walked on the top of water. You see, Jesus honoured the step of faith which Peter took. There were another eleven men in that boat. None of them got out of the boat and walked on the water, only Peter. 

God always honours faith, not presumption, and there’s a big difference here. Presumption means to suppose that something might probably be true. That’s not faith. Faith is when you get a clear word from Jesus. Jesus said to Peter, “Come”, and Peter responded by faith. When you get a word, you act on the word of God, not somebody else’s presumption. It’s not a case of, well, let’s hope for the best. Peter, by faith, responded to Jesus’ word, “Come”.

Sadly, I’ve seen too many folk trying to imitate something God has done in another life. The sad thing is it fails miserably every time. Any act of faith must always glorify God. Faith like potatoes! Oh yes, I acted on the word of God, at King’s Park Rugby Stadium in front of a large crowd. I said,” I’m going back to the farm to plant potatoes.” Why did I say that? Because I had a heart for the rural farmers, who were told not to plant anything because of El Nino. If you remember, I said, “To hell with El Nino. I am going back, and I am planting potatoes!” And I did, and I received a crop of potatoes.

Today, listen to the word of God in your life and act on that and that alone, and He will honour His word every single time.

Have a wonderful day,
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 9th of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Psalms 91:1: 

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

Then we go to Psalm 46:10: 

"Be still, and know that I am God;…" 

Then the last scripture is Luke 21:37-38:  

"And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him."  

First the mountain and then the ministry. You have heard me say that many times - first the mountain and then the ministry. The quiet time before the battle is absolutely critical. The battle is won or lost in that quiet time place. So many well-meaning people offer their advice before the big meeting, but it is vital that we hear from God. John Wesley, the great reformer, said that God would light him up in the vestry, in his quiet time place, and then he would go out, and the people would watch him burn for Christ. It's where the battle is won or lost. 

I want to say to young people, before you have to write that major examination, spend time quietly waiting and hearing from God. Before you have to make a life-defining choice, when the doctor is advising you to have the operation, you need to get aside with the Lord and ask Him, "Do I take the operation or not take the operation?" It is a life-defining choice. You need to be quiet, and you need to hear from God. Next to giving your life to Jesus Christ, the next greatest decision in your life will be the person that you marry because you will be with them until the day they die. You need to spend time in the presence of God before you accept the invitation or not.

You know, many a time before going on to the platform, when I have to speak to a multitude of people, I need to spend time on my own, and there is a major battle that takes place. The devil is trying to rattle me, and the Lord says, "I am going with you." It's an important time to be in the secret place of the Most High. Jesus spent the night in Gethsemane before He went to the Cross. It was such an important decision that He was sweating drops of blood. I believe the victory took place at Gethsemane, not on the Cross. Jesus could have accepted or denied the choice. He accepted it and because of that, you and I are alive today. 

God bless you as you spend time in the secret place of the Most High,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 8th of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start off in the Book of Isaiah 2:17:

 "The loftiness of man shall be bowed down,
And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;
The Lord alone will be exalted in that day,…" 

Very, very powerful words. We need to be careful how we stand lest we fall. Then we go across to the Gospel of John 13:12-14 in the New Testament:

"So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet." 

Wow! A band of feet-washers, that's what we are! And who gave us the example? None other than the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, Emmanuel - God made flesh. The best way to keep humble, and not to become proud and haughty, is to wash someone's feet. You see, you have to get down on your knees to wash someone's feet, you can't do it standing up. John Wesley, the great reformer, went all the way to Germany to learn from Count Zinzendorf, who was responsible for the Moravian church, which really shook the world, and do you know what happened? Count Zinzendorf put him in the garden. He had to look after all the vegetables and the flowers; this man who had a Master's Degree in Theology, was on his knees, tending the garden. That's how he taught him. 

I remember people telling me about the great evangelist Reinhard Bonke, who has been with Jesus now for a couple of years. He took Africa by storm, he preached to millions of people, live. They told me that after a meeting, when he would be exhausted, having prayed for the sick for hours and preaching the Gospel, they would be looking for him and he would be in a caravan with his team, his crew, and what would he be doing? Well, he had the apron on, didn't he? He was cooking supper for them at midnight! That is a mark of humility, a mark of a great man of God.

I will never forget when I went to bonny Scotland, they told me that my dear old father had come over a few years before and had done very well in Africa, he had succeeded and became manager of an engineering company, that blacksmith, and he had his suit on. He was coming to visit some relatives on the small croft, a small farm. As he walked through the front gate, he saw that they had been cutting oats, and the oats were lying in the field. He took his suit jacket off, put it on a post - he was a very strong man, my dad - and started stooking the oats up for drying. They were amazed at his humility.

Today, keep yourself humble and God will raise you up.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 7th of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We go to the Gospel of John 1:41: 

“He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.” 

Andrew is known in the Bible as the introducer. He is the one who introduced Simon Peter to Jesus Christ - “We have found Him!” What a moment. “We have found the Messiah!” Can you imagine jumping up and down, “Peter, leave your nets. We have found Him!” It is what is known as a “eureka moment.” Now, Archimedes was a Greek scholar. He jumped out of his bath and ran naked down the street, shouting, “Eureka, I have found it!” He discovered the principle of buoyancy. In 1895, Albert Einstein’s eureka moment occurred. He was a bored, lazy, indifferent sixteen-year-old schoolboy, and he was also a day-dreamer. One day, during one of his daydreams, he dreamt and wondered what a beam of light would look like if he could run past it, and he was the man who was responsible for splitting the atom. 

I want to tell you today that my eureka moment was on 18th February 1979, when I was introduced to the Son of God, the Messiah, who has become my best friend ever, and people need to know about it today. Have you introduced anybody lately to the King of kings and the Lord of Lords? Have you told them, “I have found Him, we have found Him.”

Everybody ought to know,
Everybody ought to know,
Everybody ought to know who Jesus is!

He’s the Lily of the Valley,
He’s the bright and Morning Star,
He’s the Fairest of ten thousand,
Everybody ought to know!

Go out today and tell somebody that you have had a eureka moment. You have found the Son of God, and do what Andrew did. He introduced them to Jesus.

God bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious Name. It is Monday morning, the 6 of November 2023, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today. We start with Isaiah 2:5:

"O house of Jacob, come and let us walk
In the light of the Lord."

Then we go to Ephesians 5:8

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light."

There are no secrets in the kingdom of God. You and I need to walk in the light with each other. We need to be transparent, no hidden agendas, no dark areas. You know if you look at Numbers 32:23 the word of God says:

"...be sure your sin will find you out."

When we become Christians, there are no more secrets. We walk in the light, and that gives us freedom. I remember many years ago having the privilege to preach in New Zealand to the Maori people - what beautiful, gentle folk. That is until they get on the rugby field - Beautiful people. They invited me to one of their traditional meeting places called a Marae. 

It's made out of wood in an A-frame shape, a beautiful place. The floors are wooden, and you sit on the floors. The Maori folk invited me to come and bring the message of God. It was a great honour for me. As I walked in, I took off my jacket because I cannot preach when I'm wearing a jacket. I always feel constricted. I got my jacket off and put it down, and they looked at me with a big smile on their face - I didn't realise what I had done. Then they said to me what you've done is a very good thing. Traditionally, when you come into a Marae, you show the people that you are not carrying a firearm or any weapon to use against them. You take your jacket off to show them you've got nothing to hide.

Today, let's walk in the light and have no secrets. Let people see that we are children of the light, servants of the Lord Jesus Christ! 

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

I greet you in Jesus' precious name. It is Sunday morning, the 5th of November 2023, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for the day. We start with 1 Corinthians 2:9:

But as it is written:
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

Oh, that is good news, the best news I've heard today. I want you to visualise a little street urchin selling newspapers on a busy street corner in a big city like London or New York. He's trying to sell these newspapers, and to get rid of them, he needs to be convinced to convince other people to buy them. He is full of excitement and vitality. He's got a bundle of newspapers under his arm and one shaking up and down and saying to everyone walking past going to work, have you heard the good news? We've got the scoop. This is the good news. Hear ye, hear ye, the good news. The good news is a baby has been born in a village called Bethlehem in the country of Israel in the Middle East. His name is Emmanuel, God with us. 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."

You need to buy this newspaper today. Do you know that His father is country Carpenter? His mother, a beautiful young virgin who has never known a man - it's miraculous! Have you heard the good news? You know what's happened? He's grown into a very strong young man and they say that he is healing the sick. He's setting the captives free. He is actually raising the dead. Crowds are flocking towards Him to hear and see what He's doing. They say He is the son of God, but you know the best news of all? He's coming back again! Buy this newspaper, read it and then tell everybody the good news.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful Sunday and tell somebody the good news. Goodbye

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 4th of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Hebrews 10:23: 

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." 

Our faith is not in ourselves, but it is in the Faithful One. It is in the name of Jesus. You see, the farmer, Job knew that very well, and he said in the Book of Job 13:15: 

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

It's not in ourselves but in Christ alone that we put our trust. It is not in public opinion - no, we must stand strong on the hope of our confession. That is what the scripture is saying. You see, Jesus asked Peter, 

"But who do you say that I am?"
Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ."
Mark 8:29

Oh, my dear friend, He is not the man upstairs, He is not our mate, He is not the big boss, He is the Son of the Living God. You know, that name is so powerful and so controversial that by simply confessing that Jesus is Lord, 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians lost their lives, they were martyred, their heads were cut off - just by that statement! - 21 Coptic Christians and one Ghanaian Christian, but they are sitting around the throne of Jesus today. They are martyrs, indeed. We have seen miracles take place. I have seen when the name of Jesus is spoken in hope, that blind eyes have opened, deaf ears have been un-stopped, and people have been delivered from darkness and evil. You see, 1 John 4:4 says greater is He who is within us than he who is in the world. He who is within us is the Holy Spirit, he who is in the world is the devil and he has no power over that Name.  

Please use that name more often. Use it when you have need of help, when you are lonely, when you are afraid, use that name. The power is in the confession of the name.

Have a beautiful day today, 
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Friday morning, the 3rd of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

I want to speak to you this morning about probably the greatest and the most powerful weapon every Christian has at their disposal. We go to James 5:16: 

"The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." 

You know, they asked Dr Billy Graham, probably the greatest of all modern-day evangelists, what was the secret of his success? He said words to the effect, "First, it was prayer, secondly, it was prayer, and thirdly, it was prayer." Oh, my friend, why do we always leave it to the last before we pray? We try everything else, don't we? Then, when it doesn't work we say, "Well, let's pray." I want to tell you that prayer is a supernatural weapon against the powers of darkness, sickness and disease.  

Prayer means so much to me that if there is no prayer cover at a meeting where I am invited to speak, I will decline the invitation. "God is not looking for great people but for people who will dare to prove the greatness of their God." A.W. Simpson said that. You see, it is the prayer of faith which moves the hand of God, not prayer, the prayer of faith. Jesus Himself, prayed more than He spoke. He taught His disciples in Matthew 6 how to pray. Prayer must become a lifestyle, my friend. It's not just spending a few minutes in prayer; you pray all day, and you pray in every situation. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing.  

Now, remember that great Christian writer, C.S. Lewis? He wrote a book called, "The Screwtape Letters"? It's a fictitious story about Screwtape, an experienced devil, teaching his young nephew, Wormwood, an effective way to turn people away from God. In a nutshell, he said, "Stop them from praying, distract them from praying. Let them do everything else. They can praise God, they can go to church, but don't let them pray." Why? Because when we pray we move the hand of God, and also don't limit God with prayers of unbelief. Be prepared to pray for great impossibilities. Luke 1:37: 

"For with God nothing will be impossible."

We went down to the Kouga Dam Wall, and we went down to Jeffries Bay in the Eastern Cape. They had no water, nothing at all, and we prayed. Many of us, thousands of us prayed the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man, and the Eastern Cape has got plenty water and the Kouga Dam is overflowing for the first time in many years. 

Let's continue to pray together today,
God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 2nd of November, 2023 and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Hebrews 9:16-17, in the New Testament:

“For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.”  

What an incredible promise from God and so exciting. You know, when I read this scripture, it was like the Lord opened something very special for me. A testament is a will, and a will is drawn up by a parent for their child, for example, while the parent is alive, the will is actually of no benefit to the child, but when the parent dies, the child receives the benefit of the will. The will comes alive, in other words. Before that, it was just a piece of paper in the lawyer’s office. You can do nothing with it, but once the person who made the will dies, the will becomes alive, and the child receives the benefit, for example, a farm, a large sum of money, a house, a motor car, whatever it might be. 

Now, that is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you and me. When He died on the cross for all of our sins, our inheritance came into being. What do we need to do? We need to accept it, to believe it, and we also need to be eternally grateful and thankful for the tremendous price the Lord has paid for your sins and my sins. We can’t earn our way to Heaven, no way. When we stand before the Lord one day, all we are going to say is, “Lord, we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,” and of course, we have to live the life, but that is the fulfilment of the testament, the will that the Lord Jesus Christ left for you and me. 

Now today, let us go out and let us be a blessing to those who do not know Jesus and let us tell them that unless they are born again, unless they have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, they cannot be part of the will, the testament that Jesus left for us when He died on the Cross of Calvary. 

Have a wonderful day.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 1st of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Gospel of Mark 9:5:

“Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

You can’t live on top of the mountain. You see, when Peter, James and John experienced the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to His Heavenly Father and the visitation of Elijah and Moses, they were so overwhelmed. They didn’t want to go back down into the valley where all the day-to-day issues and problems faced them. They wanted to stay on the mountain, and you and I need to be very careful about that as well. We need to meet the people where they are at. You know the old saying, “Don’t become so heavenly-minded that you and I are no earthly use.” We need to touch base with the man in the street.

Do you know, they asked Martin Luther, the great reformer, “What would you do if you knew that the Lord was coming back tomorrow?” He said, “I would plant an apple tree today.” You see, in Germany, there are lots of apple orchards. They asked John Wesley, “If you knew that the Lord Jesus Christ was coming back tomorrow, what would you do today?” He said, “Well, it is 9 a.m., I have got a Bible study meeting in this village, and then I am going to get on my horse, Dobbin, and I am going to ride to the next village, and I am having lunch with a group of people there, then I will preach the Gospel in the evening…” In other words, what these two giants of the faith were saying was that we carry on living day to day.

God uses ordinary people. Look at the track record in the Bible. God used fishermen, shepherds, tent-makers, and He even used tax-collectors. Don’t lose touch with the man in the street. You know, I have just returned from a wonderful weekend as a speaker at a Mighty Men Conference in the central part of our beloved nation, South Africa. What wonderful people! Farmers and miners, just ordinary working folk like me. These people love Jesus in a simple yet profound way. It was so refreshing for me not to try to solve all the problems of the whole world, which we can’t do anyway, can we? Not so caught up with doctorates, theology - I mean, I can’t even spell the word - which have no bearing on living from day to day, putting bread on the table, finding employment, or working through marriage issues.

You know that after we had finished preaching on Saturday night, a group of us got together and watched the World Cup Rugby Final on television. What an experience! We were laughing, we were trying to tell the referee what to do, we were crying with joy and pain! Don’t lose touch with reality, even though we are passing through this world, even though we don’t belong here. That was the secret of the Master’s touch. That was Jesus’ touch, meeting with all people!

Have a wonderful day,
Jesus bless you and goodbye.