Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 12th of October, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start with Psalm 34:19: 

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.”  

Then we go to the New Testament to the Gospel of John 16:33, Jesus said: 

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Oh my dear friend, my heart is heavy when I hear about what is happening in the Middle East. Like never before, you and I need to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). I really want to exhort you to lift up the Middle East and all its peoples. That the Lord would undertake and stop this carnage which is destroying the area. But you and I have got to be an element of peace in this time because people are losing perspective, people are panicking, people are depressed. There is no peace. 

Now, you and I are representing the only true Peacemaker on earth. Yes, I am talking about our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. He said in John 14:27:

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled and neither let it be afraid.”

You and I need to be like lighthouses in a stormy night. We need to be very careful that the ships do not get caught up on the rocks and get broken into pieces. We need to shine brightly, we need people to understand that ultimately, at the end of the day, the Lord is still in control. He is coming back and He is coming back to set the record straight, but in the meantime, you and I need to purvey a spirit, a fragrance of peace wherever we go today. People will be drawn to us like bees are drawn to a honeypot when they sense the real peace of Jesus Christ coming out of each and every one of us. 

Let us keep focus today. Let us keep our eyes on the Master and He will direct our paths and those of the widow and the orphan and the old and the frail. Today, remember that Jesus is still on the throne. 

God bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye. 

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 11th of October, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Isaiah 26:3-4: 

“You will keep him in perfect peace, 
Whose mind is stayed on You, 
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
For in Yah, the Lord is everlasting strength.”

What a beautiful scripture! Then we go to Psalm 18:2:

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; 
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

And then lastly, the Book of Hebrews 2:13: 

“I will put my trust in Him.”

Now, I looked up the Oxford Dictionary to find out the literal meaning of the word “Trust,” it said, “Trust is a firm belief in the truth, reliability or ability of someone or something.” Now, come on, who can we trust today? Very few, we can’t even trust ourselves, can we? Many years ago, I asked a very dear friend of mine, a lawyer, about legal trust. He said a legal contract is not even worth the weight of the paper it is written on because people can change it and abuse it. I said, “What is utmost trust?” and he told me a phrase in Latin, “uberrima fides”, which means “utmost trust.” So, in other words, if a man comes to you and wants to buy something and you give him a gentleman’s agreement, a handshake, assuming that he is a trustworthy, godly man, that handshake is worth more than any piece of paper. 

Now we come to the crunch, and the crunch is this - there is One who will never leave us, He will never forsake us. He has promised us that. He will stand with us when everybody else runs away. He will keep his agreement with us until death do us part. Who is He? Oh, He is the Carpenter’s Son from Nazareth. His name is Jesus, the soon-coming King. 

Have a wonderful day, 
Jesus bless you, and goodbye

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

We start in the Gospel of Matthew 14:31-32: 

“And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.”

Then we go straight to the Book of Hebrews 2:3:

”…how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,…” 

Jesus has made a way of escape from the snare of the fowler. Remember in Psalm 91:3? 

“Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler,…’

The thief is trying to catch you, but he is a liar, a bully, and a coward. We need to trust the Lord today like never before. I can hear somebody saying, “No, no, I can manage it myself.” No, you can’t. Peter thought he could walk on the water and did, but what happened? He took his eyes off Jesus for just a moment, and what happened? He started sinking. There are people listening to this message today who are sinking. The Lord says, “Do not neglect the great salvation, the way out that I made for you.” Turn back to the Lord today and He will see you through. 

I remember like yesterday, my three little girls - I have got two boys and three girls, and they would stand at the edge of the swimming pool when they were about four or five years old, jumping up and down but too scared to jump into the pool. I would be in the swimming pool with my arms out and say, “Jump, I will catch you!” They wanted to jump but they couldn’t because they were scared. I would encourage them, “Come on now, be brave, just jump”. Then, with a big scream, they would close their eyes and jump into what appeared to them to be nothing, and I would catch them in my arms. They would hug me so tightly and they were so excited that they were in the water at last. 

Today, He has got His arms out, and He loves you. I want to pray for you

Father,

I want to pray for my dear friend, listening to this programme at the moment. Lord, they are scared. They are looking around and they are seeing all kinds of things happening in the world - wars, rumours of wars, things happening that they have never seen before but Lord, You are reminding us today to keep our eyes fixed on You and not on the storm, because You have promised that You will never leave us nor forsake us.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

God bless you and goodbye.

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

"The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?"
Psalm 27:1

Then we go to the Book of Hebrews 13:6: 

"The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

Like never before, my dear friend, we must put our total trust in our creator and not so much in His creations. We have an old saying, "We back the jockey more than we back the horse." Yes, I ride horses and I want to tell you that the horse is very important, but I have seen it many times before when we have a trainer who comes over from the United States of America, a real cowboy, and he gets on a troublesome horse. It is quite something to see. It brings a tear to my eye sometimes. A horse that no one else can ride, that rider gets onto that horse, and the horse just quietens down. It's like the horse knows that this rider is not taking any nonsense, and furthermore, he knows exactly what he is doing, and with that, the horse quietens down and conforms to whatever the rider requires. 

You and I need to focus more on the Lord Jesus Christ and less on things which can change in the twinkling of an eye, like the economic situation, the weather pattern, our physical health, our businesses, our employment, our careers, our degrees. If we keep trusting them, we will fail miserably. The situation sobers up very quickly when we don't know what tomorrow holds. We need to put our faith today in the rider, and He is the one who is coming back soon to take you and me to be with Him in Heaven forever. He is riding on a white charger. He is the Commander of the Armies of Heaven. His name is Jesus, and He loves you so dearly. 

Have a good day today as you re-focus and put your trust in your creator. 

God bless you and goodbye.

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

Draw me away!
We will run after you.
The king has brought me into his chambers.
We will be glad and rejoice in you.
We will remember your love more than wine.
Rightly do they love you.
Song of Songs 1:4

The greatest love story ever told. Do you remember the first time that you fell in love? I remember it very well. Jill and I, when we fell in love, we didn't have to be entertained. We would buy an ice cream, sit in the field, eat it together, and talk for hours. We would watch the sunset, holding hands, walking down the farm road. You know, over 50 years later, we're still very much in love.

But I want to tell you about a second love that knocked me head over heels. It took place on the 18th of February 1979 at about 10:00 in the morning in a little Methodist church on the Main Street of our little town, Greytown. I was totally swept off my feet. I had a complete life change. I stopped swearing, and I stopped drinking and fighting. I had a whole new outlook on life. I spent the early morning with Jesus, and I still do before anyone else is awake in the house. But over these past 44 years, there's been good times and there's been hard times in my love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, all the mistakes were on my side, where I have been unfaithful and started to chase other things instead of my Lord. But you know, Jesus brings me to tears, my dear friend, He has never once been unfaithful to me. He has never ever told me a lie. He has never ever forgotten me. Yes, maybe I've got caught up with the project and for a moment I have forgotten Him, but I have come straight back. I have run back and He has always been there like the prodigal son coming home to his father with arms stretched out, running towards me. What a love affair I have had and I'm still having!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

Now you don't have to wait for that relationship to start when you get to heaven, no, it starts right now. It starts today. It starts in your heart. What an incredible love.

Jesus bless you and keep the fire burning.
Goodbye.

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

We start in 1 Corinthians 2:9:  

"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."

What a beautiful scripture! It has touched my heart so deeply this morning. Another translation says, "Things never discovered or heard of before, things beyond our ability to imagine, these are the many things God has in store for all His lovers." Isn't that beautiful? And yet another translation says, "No one has ever seen or heard anything like this, never so much as to imagine anything quite like it, what God has arranged for those who love Him."

Oh, my dear friend, I love Him so much! You have got no idea how much I love Him. He's been with me through thick and thin. He has been with me when others have rejected me, when they have castigated me, when they have told lies about me, He has been with me. He has never once left me in over 40 years of ministry. You know, I just want to tell you about one highlight because this morning, this message is particularly for you, Sir, to encourage you that He has not forgotten you and in fact, that He has very special plans for you if you love Him. There is the qualification. 

Many years ago, a very, very dear friend of mine, the CEO of possibly the biggest publishing house in South Africa, came to me and said, "Angus, we are going to do a Bible for you, a Bible print for you." I couldn't believe it. I nearly passed out! You know how much I love the Bible. You will never see a photograph of me without me holding my Bible because the Bible is Jesus Christ in print. He said, "We are going to do a Bible for you, and we are going to put one of your devotionals running right through it from the Book of Genesis to Revelation.

Well, I tell you, I was so overwhelmed - "Eye has not see, ear has not heard…" I held a banquet on the evening that it was printed. For the first time in my life, I went and hired a tuxedo. Can you imagine me in a tuxedo? We had a splendid evening, I invited all my special friends and those who have been involved with this ministry from the start, and we celebrated. I want to tell you, my dear friend, that even to be associated with the word of God blew my mind. I never dreamt in a million years that I would even have my name on the cover of a Bible. Now, I am not being disrespectful, not at all. It's the Bible with Grassroots Reflections. It is one of the dearest gifts the Lord could ever have given me. 

Today, He has plans for you if you love Him,
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 6th of October, 2023 and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Ecclesiastes 1:18:

“For in much wisdom is much grief,
And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”

Then we go straight to the last chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes 12:12: 

“And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.”

Now, these statements were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by the wisest man who ever lived. He was no fool. I am talking about Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, next to Jesus Christ, of course. Basically, I believe the Lord is telling you and me today to keep it simple. You know the old adage, “If you don’t strike oil in 5 minutes, stop boring.” There’s a word there for all of us preachers - get to the point! You have five minutes to capture the crowd; if not, you will lose them all. 

I want to say to you that it is very important that you meet people where they are at, all of us. Keep it simple. Like the story I heard about the intellectual who was giving a talk on agriculture in the field to a group of ordinary, practical farmers. He was getting very involved with everything and there was a tractor parked behind him for his demonstration - but this man who had so many degrees couldn’t start the tractor! Why? Because he didn’t know that you have to put the tractor in neutral before the engine starts as a safety device, and he felt very embarrassed when one of those farm workers had to say, “Sir, please put the tractor into neutral and then you can start the engine.” Don’t become too clever. Let's meet people where they are and we will have much more success. 

One of the saddest cartoons I saw drawn was a picture of a big, stout minister with a big black Bible, preaching down to a little boy who also had a big tummy, but it was not because he had too much food, it was because he was starving. He had a begging bowl in front of him and the caption underneath read, and the little boy said, “And will there be food in Heaven?”

We really need to put our learning into practice. 

God bless you, have a good day and go and bless somebody with the simple news that Jesus is coming back soon.

Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 5th of October, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Job which some say is the oldest book in the Bible, the farmer, Job says in 19:25: 

"For I know that my Redeemer lives and He shall stand at last on the earth;…"  

We need to wait patiently like the good farmer Job did. I don't think a man suffered more in the Old Testament than the farmer Job, yet he could still say, "I know that my Redeemer lives…" You and I need to be prepared to suffer if it will ultimately make us better people. Now, the other person who suffered more than anyone else apart from the Lord Jesus was Paul, the Apostle. He says in Romans 5:3-4: 

"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope."

You see, through suffering, we are moulded into the people that God wants us to be - patient, loving, gentle people. The scars of sorrow make us into men and women of God, and it takes a long time, a lot of blood, sweat and tears, to grow into a child of God. 

Many, many years ago, I worked in that beautiful country, Swaziland. I worked in the south, where it is extremely warm. I worked on a huge sugarcane plantation, and that sugarcane used to be irrigated. I am talking about thousands of hectares of sugarcane. The sugarcane grew literally like weeds and we could cut it at 11 months. Then I moved to South Africa, I have neighbours that grow sugarcane, but that sugarcane takes 23 months to grow because of the frost, the cold and the hardship. But you see, the sucrose is what you get paid for, and the sucrose in the sugarcane that is 23 months old far exceeds the sucrose that they take out of the sugarcane which grows very quickly in a short time. 

I want to say to you today, do not despair if you are going through hardship. Do not be concerned if you say, "Well, I am just going through so many tough times, I just don't know how I am going to cope." You will cope, and not only will you cope, you will grow through it in stature and become like Job, who could say, 

"Though He slay me, yet will I (still) trust Him."
Job 13:15

Have a wonderful day today.
Jesus bless you richly,
Goodbye

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

We start in the New Testament in the Book of Philemon 1:14-15. Paul says: 

"But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntarily."

We serve Jesus not because we have to but because we want to. In the Israeli army, they have to do their national service in the forces, and I have been told that they volunteer before they are even called up, not just the young men, the young women too, because they have such a love for their country. As much as you desire your loved one to come to Jesus, you cannot force them to come. It just does not work, does it? No, we have to pray that they will come to Christ voluntarily. I have a horse and you know him well, his name is Snowy. I can take Snowy to the water, but I can't make Snowy drink. 

If we look at the Gospel of Matthew 9:9, we will see that the Lord called Matthew, the tax collector, to follow Him, but He called him freely and Matthew followed Him freely. 

"As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him." 

Immediately, he left his money on that table and walked away because he found life. He found Jesus. I don't know if you remember that beautiful old song, its very old but its very beautiful. Freely you have received, freely give. Why don't you sing this song with me?

God forgave my sin in Jesus' name
I've been born again in Jesus' name
And in Jesus' name I come to you
To share His love as He told me to
He said, "Freely, freely you have received
Freely, freely give
Go in My Name, and because you believe
Others will know that I live"

God bless you and have a wonderful day. Go and tell somebody that Jesus loves them,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 3rd of October, 2023 and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Ecclesiastes 11:4:

“He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.” 

What a very powerful scripture, not only for farmers but for every single one of us.

I remember like it was yesterday, one of my sons came back from university for a ten-day break. He saw that his mom and dad were extremely tired and also pretty disillusioned. We were going through another drought and the maize plants were withering and dying. He said, “Mom, dad, go away and have a weekend away and I will look after the farm” - which he very kindly did. When we got back, he related this story to us. He said, “Early one morning, I went out in the pick-up and parked in the middle of the maize fields. The maize looked so sorry for itself and I cried to God, “Lord, please send rain. You know, Mom and Dad are totally dedicated to preaching the Gospel for You. Please help them.” Then he said big clouds came up, big, dark, black clouds. He was so excited; he knew they were full of rain, and as the clouds came over the farm - big drops of rain started falling on the totally dry maize plants. And then an east wind came up - can you believe it? - and it split the clouds into two, the one half of the storm went up into the mountains, the other half of the storm went into the valley, and the maize had no rain at all. He was devastated to say the least. He got into our pick-up and went back to the farm office where he was having his quiet time, and opened the Bible and right there, in front of him, was this scripture. 

“He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.” 
Ecclesiastes 11:4

He repented before the Lord and said, “Lord, I am so sorry. I am looking to my own means to try and save this crop, and with that, that evening, he went to sleep and in the middle of the night, he heard, “Drip - drop, drip, drip, drip…” on the tin roof. A gentle rain fell on the farm, and the maize crop was completely irrigated with gentle, soaking, continuous rain. 

Today, remember, the Lord has got your back. Just call on Him, spend time in prayer and He will undertake for you.

Jesus bless you and have a lovely day,
Goodbye.