Thought For Today

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

We start in 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.” 

What a beautiful, reassuring scripture that is. I want to read a little story to you today which was told by Charles Francis Richardson. It goes like this: 

“Paganini, the great Italian violinist, once stepped on stage only to discover something wrong with his violin. Just as the audience was ending their applause, he looked at the instrument for a moment and suddenly realised it was not his best and most valuable one. In fact, the violin was not his at all. Momentarily, he felt paralysed but he quickly turned to his audience, telling them there had been some mistake and he did not have his own violin. He stepped back behind the curtain, thinking he must have left it backstage but discovered that someone had stolen his and left the inferior one in it’s place. After remaining behind the curtain for a moment, Paganini stepped on stage again to speak to the audience. He said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I will now demonstrate to you that the music is not in the instrument but in the soul.” Then he played as never before and beautiful music flowed from that inferior instrument until the audience was so enraptured that their enthusiastic applause nearly lifted the ceiling of the concert hall. He had indeed revealed to them that the music was not in his instrument but in his own soul.” 

Be a tested and tried believer. It is your mission to walk onto the stage of this world to reveal to all Heaven and earth, that the music of life lies not in your circumstances or external things but in your soul.

Today, go out and be Jesus to a dying world. 
God bless you and goodbye.

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

We start in the Book of Ecclesiastes 11:1 in the Old Testament,

“Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.”  

Then we go straight to the New Testament to the Gospel of Matthew 10:42: 

“And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” 

The Lord is saying to us that we are to bless those who cannot return the blessing. We have to invest in those who cannot repay us. This is what truly moves the heart of God when there is nothing in it for you or me directly. You know the story of Elijah, the mighty prophet of God? You can look it up after this message. You will find it in 1 Kings 17:9 onwards. The Lord told Elijah to go to the house of the widow. When he arrived there, she was collecting sticks to make a little fire for the last meal that she and her little boy were going to eat and then they were going to go and sit down and die. The prophet arrived and said, “Can you give me something to drink?” She gave him water, and he said, “I also need something to eat.” She said, “But I have nothing left. There is only enough oatmeal to make one cake for me and my little boy and then we are going to die of starvation.” He said, “Give me some of that cake to eat.” Quite something, isn’t it? So the woman obeyed the prophet of God. She went into her larder and scraped together the last bit of oatmeal she could find. She went to the jar where she kept her olive oil. She poured out just enough oil to make one cake. She cooked that cake with loving-kindness and gave it to the prophet, he ate it and then departed. Then she said to her little boy, “Now, we are going to sit down, and we are going to die because we have nothing else to eat.” But she went back to the larder just once more and miraculously, when she opened the lid there was enough oatmeal to make one more cake. She went to the jar where she kept her olive oil. There was just enough oil left to bake that cake. She baked a beautiful big oatcake with loving-kindness. They sat down under the tree and ate it and were full. Then next morning she went to the larder and there was just enough oatmeal left to make one cake, and there was just enough olive oil to bake it, and she did that for many, many days. She never went hungry. Cast your bread upon the waters and in due time it will come back to you. 

Cast your burden onto Jesus
Because He cares for you!
Cast your burdens onto Jesus
Because He cares for you!

Oh Higher, higher, 
Higher, higher, higher,
Oh higher, higher,
Lift Jesus higher!

Oh Higher, higher, 
Higher, higher, higher,
Oh higher, higher,
Lift Jesus higher!

Jesus bless you, 
Have a lovely day,
Goodbye.

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

We start in the Gospel of Luke 24:38-39:

And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." 

Holes in His hands - that's our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you suffering this morning? Are you crying out, "Lord, where are You? I need help." I want to say to you, no pain, no gain. We learn from the experiences we go through. One man of God said once, I will never forget it. He said, "If there is no crucifixion, there can be no resurrection."

I remember it like yesterday, the 2009 Mighty Men Conference. It was the highlight of my life up until then, on the platform, preaching my heart out and what happened? I collapsed. I had two heart attacks, one under the platform and one in my little house. I lay on the lawn while the 911 helicopter came to collect me to take me to the hospital, and I was saying, "Lord, what is happening? This is the finest moment in my life. There are thousands upon thousands of men, waiting to hear the word." They had to cut the fence in my garden to get me out. It was a very traumatic time in my life but you see, those men prayed for me. I will never forget the helicopter circling the men, thousands of hands in the air, but Jesus healed me within 15 minutes. 

I want to say to you today, do not despair. The Lord will never leave you nor forsake you. He never promised you a rose garden, did He? But He did promise that He would walk with you and me through the fire like He did with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Have a look at it in Daniel 3:25. Oh, but I want to tell you the good news! The good news was and is that there was a fourth man in the fire and He had a likeness unto the Son of God. My dear friend, Jesus is walking with you today through your fiery trial. Rest in Him and He will bring you through. He will not disappoint you. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says very clearly: 

"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." 

Jesus bless you and goodbye. 

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

We start in the Book of Colossians 1:27, which says simply, 

“…Christ in you, the hope of glory.” 

Then we go to the First Book of Corinthians 6:15 and 17: 

“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” 

“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”  

Now, if you and I love Jesus Christ and we have asked Him to be our Lord and Saviour, then we have the Holy Spirit resident within our bodies. That is a very powerful thought and statement and that is what Christ said. Now, I don’t know why I am just feeling this morning that I need to pray for people who are sick - physically sick, mentally sick and spiritually sick. James 5:16 says: 

“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man (or woman) avails much.” 

The Bible tells us to call the elders. I am an elder, I am definitely not young, and I love Jesus, and He uses me in this particular area. You know the tools of the evangelist are signs and wonders and miracles. I have prayed for so many people to be healed. I have prayed for women who can’t have babies. I have prayed for people who can’t walk, I have seen people get out of wheelchairs. I have prayed for the Holy Spirit to fill people and this morning I want to pray for you. Please believe that it is Christ in you and in me that will do the healing. Now, the only thing that will hold us back is our lack of faith. It is the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man that avails much. 

So Father, I want to pray for my friends today:

Lord, I really pray - there are many people listening to this message right now who are not well, Lord, and I am asking You, Holy Spirit, to touch them in a very real way. I want to ask you to put your hand on that part of your body where you are sick, whether it be a back problem, whether it be sugar diabetes, blood pressure, whether it be migraine headaches, whether it be eyes or ears. Put your hand on that part of your body. Now, Lord, as my dear friend is putting their hand on that part of their body, they heart, maybe it is a liver problem, cancer, in Jesus name, I pray the prayer of faith over them and I thank you for a miracle today in their bodies. Be healed in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth! Amen.

God bless you and have a wonderful day and I look forward to hearing the good news.  

Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 27th of September, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Old Testament, in the Book of Ecclesiastes 10:8:

”He who digs a pit will fall into it,…” 

Then we go to Psalm 7:15: 

“He made a pit and dug it out, And has fallen into the ditch which he made.”

We need to be very careful how we walk in this life and how we live. You know, revenge might sound sweet at the time, but it can be very costly. You can actually fall into the very hole that you are digging for someone else to fall into. Be careful that pit does not catch you out yourself. Remember the story of Queen Esther and Haman? Haman was determined to annihilate the Jewish nation. You can read it in Esther 9:25, but it ended up that Queen Esther went to the king because she was Jewish, told him the story, and he wrote out papers for Haman to be hung on the very gallows that he had built to annihilate the Jewish people. “Do not bite off your nose to spite your face”, as the saying goes. 

I want to tell you a very sad story that happened many years ago. There was a couple who decided they wanted to get divorced, which is so sad. God hates divorce. Instead of doing it out of court in an amiable way, setting their goods and separating what the one had and then the other, they decided to go to court. They went to the lawyers and got them involved. You see, they wanted revenge on each other and eventually they lost their property, they lost their home, they lost their money and they walked away with nothing but bitterness in their heart. Don’t do that, don’t dig that pit, because you will fall into it yourself. In Matthew 5:25, Jesus says to sort out your differences before you go to court, lest the judge end up sending you to jail. Please folks, let retribution and revenge be sorted out by the Lord. The Lord is fair. He will not let people go away un-judged. You say, “But Angus, it is not fair.” There are a lot of things in this life that are not fair but remember the end has not come yet. Jesus is the ultimate Judge. 

God bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 26th of September, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Proverbs 15:1: 

“A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.” 

Then we go straight to the New Testament, to the Gospel of Matthew 5:9. Jesus says: 

“Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.”

I want to say to you today that it’s a soft answer that stops an argument, and even as I am speaking to you now, I am totally convicted that it is not good enough anymore to say, “I have my rights.” When you become a follower of Jesus Christ, you have to, as they say, put your guns down, and you have to deny yourself. You have to prefer your fellowman, whether it be your wife, your husband, or your children. You need to become a peacemaker, with a gentle answer. Like never before, people are under tremendous stress and strain at the moment. You know the old saying, “Count to ten before you say something you wish you had never said before” - because by the time you get to ten, you probably won’t say it. Start becoming a peacemaker. The Lord Jesus says that you will be called a son, a daughter of God. Peacemakers are few and far between and I want to tell you it takes more courage to become a person who brings a soft answer than someone who continues to pound the table and insist on their rights. 

Today, when you go out, remember, the Lord has called you and I to bring reconciliation amongst our fellowmen. Just settle down. Don’t shout the odds too quickly. Now, why am I saying this to you? Because I am a chief culprit. I speak too fast and I listen too little. God gave us two ears and one mouth. He wants us to listen twice as much as He wants us to speak. As I am getting older I am asking the Lord to give me more grace, more loving kindness, because you know something? The older you get, the less you want to fight, and half the time, it is not even an argument, it is a misunderstanding. The person didn’t understand what you meant and now you are arguing over something and the devil is climbing in, boots and all. 

Today, make a decision - "Lord, I am really going to wait on you before I speak and if I have nothing good to say about someone, I am making a decision today to say nothing." Rather pray for them.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus precious name. It is Monday morning, it’s the 25th of September, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan with a thought for today. 

We start in the book of John 12:24, a scripture verse that you and I are very familiar with,

”Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”

We must die in order to live. What a great paradox that is. If you take that seed, and by the way, I’m a farmer, I know what I’m talking about. I have been planting seeds for over 40 years. You put that seed in a safe place, keep it dry, free from any insect damage and at a constant temperature, you will preserve that seed for many, many years, but unfortunately it will produce nothing for you. Take that same seed and put it into lovely moist, fertile soil, and that seed will die but within a couple of weeks, the good news is it will produce new life, a new plant and a new crop. 

I’ve just returned from Israel. I had one of the greatest privileges of my life to be able to baptise many, many people in the Jordan river at the exact same spot that John the baptist, baptised our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. It was one of the highlights of my life. The old man goes down under the water and all those sins, habits, fears and anxieties go down as well and the new man comes up out of the water. It is a beautiful sight to behold. I saw people who were guilty, who had lost hope, people who had made mistakes, people who had no hope in the future, go down into that beautiful river and come out with joy. Some were weeping with joy, some had such beautiful smiles on their face. New life and a new beginning. Listen to this - do we call it dying when a seed germinates into a plant? Of course not. 

Today remember, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day. 
Goodbye.

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

We start in Philippians 1 and I'm reading verse 23-24. Paul says:

"For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you." 

Then we go straight to the Second book of Timothy 4:8 and Paul says:

"Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing."

We are sojourners in a foreign world. This world is not our home; our home is in heaven and maybe that's why you can't understand why you don't feel comfortable in this world because you're not from this world. The Lord Jesus Christ has promised that He will take us home to be with Him in heaven one of these fine days, but in the meantime, we need to work hard. We need to tell people about eternal life. We need to give them an opportunity to accept Him as Lord and Saviour.

Maybe there's a young man or a young woman, who says, "You know, I feel so uncomfortable in this world. I feel like that fish that is swimming up against the current all the time and all the rest of the fish are flowing downstream with the current." Well, I want to tell you something, Gypsy Smith, that old Romany evangelist who used to preach off the back of his painted wagon, said, "It takes a dead fish to flow with the current, but it takes a live fish to swim against the current." Today, don't be disheartened if you feel you are swimming against the current. There's nothing wrong with that. You and I have got our eyes fixed on heaven. Jesus Christ and heaven is our eternal home. We are just doing the work of the Lord here on earth and as Paul said, "… as soon as it's done, I'm going home."

Have a wonderful day and keep standing up for Jesus. 
God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus precious name. It is Saturday morning, it’s the 23rd of September, the year 2023 and this is your friend, Angus Buchan with a thought for today.

We start in the book of Ecclesiastes, in the Old Testament chapter 9 and I’m reading verse 16:

Then I said: “Wisdom is better than strength…”

Wisdom is better than strength. Then we go straight to the Gospel of Mark 6:2: 

…where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!”

That’s right. Jesus went up to the synagogue He started to preach in Nazareth. The people were astonished. They said, ”Where did this wisdom come from? We know who this man is. His father is Joseph, the carpenter. We know his brothers and sisters, we go to school with them. Where did this come from.” I want to say to you that the Lord Jesus Christ has given to each one of us the same brain power, the same opportunities to do great things for Him, but the question is, 

my dear friends, are we prepared to use what God has given us? Are we prepared to get up in the morning out of our beds and spend time with Him? Are we prepared to learn to discipline ourselves because every single one of us has been given the same brainpower and the same opportunity to receive wisdom from God.

I don’t know if you’ve heard of a doctor by the name of Dr. Ben Carson. He is an Afro-American from the USA. He is one of the top neurosurgeons in the whole world. He’s the man that can separate Siamese twins that are joined together at the head. He has done it more than once. Very few surgeons have ever done that in the world, but he didn’t start off that way. He came from an extremely poor family. His mother was a single parent. She raised him and his brother on her own. These two brothers used to sit at home and watch TV all day when they were young. He got poor marks at school and the teacher had given up on him. One day, his mother came in and said, ”Turn that TV off, and from now on, I want you to read two books a week, and I want you to give me a summary of the books you read.” They couldn’t believe it. Well, they started, and you know his mother used to read the summary. They didn’t realise it, but the poor woman was totally illiterate. She couldn’t even read. She made out that she did and she persevered and believed in her sons, eventually he became top of the class. Then he became one of the top neurosurgeons on earth. 

We’ve all got the same opportunity. Let’s knuckle down. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to give us strength and wisdom to work for Him and let’s make a difference in this poor old world of ours.

Have a wonderful day. 
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

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

We start in the Book of Isaiah 64 and I am reading verse 4: 

“For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.”

Then we go to 1 Corinthians 2:9-10: 

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.
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”

This morning, we need to start to think out of the box. Write that down somewhere. We need to stop limiting God. You see, the Lord has many things planned for you and me, my dear friend, but the problem is, we do not give Him an opportunity to show us what He has planned for us. You know, we read that first scripture:

“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.”  

We quote that quickly, and we don’t always quote verse 10. You see, the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us our game plan. Now, in order for Him to give us our game plan, we need to set ourselves apart so that He can speak to us. I want to tell you that every time the Lord has used me in any area which is much bigger than me (which is most times - I would never attempt such things in my own strength!) it has been when I have been fasting and praying.

I remember going to a lake not far from our farm, Shalom, with a bucket of water and a one-man tent and I stayed there for a number of days until God spoke to me through His Spirit, and I clearly heard, “Go to the rugby stadium at Kings Park in Durban and book it for an event.” I was petrified but it was so clear. He never spoke to me audibly, I have never had that privilege, but He spoke clearly in my heart and through the scriptures, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, lift up your eyes. Today, expect great things from God, attempt great things for God, as William Carey said, and you will be surprised, very pleasantly surprised, at what the Lord has in store for you.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.