Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus' precious name. It is Sunday morning, the 13th of August 2023, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today. We start with 1 Timothy 1:19:

"... having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck..."

Do not allow yourself to become shipwrecked through a lack of faith and time spent with God that comes about by being complacent, slack, and not being alert and disciplined in your lifestyle. Proverbs 6:10-11:

“A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler”

You know, many years ago, I stood in the harbour of Belfast, Northern Ireland - a most beautiful place, and I saw the site where they built the most magnificent ship on earth, to that day - the mighty Titanic. The new steel structures on which the massive cranes were fitted to take the materials out to the building of the ship in the harbour are still standing to this day. They are huge; they look like skyscrapers. This gigantic ship, they said, was Indestructible - a very big mistake! On its Maiden voyage to America, the shipbuilders were overconfident; they said the ship could not sink, but they forgot about the power of God's creation. They hit a massive iceberg in the ocean; that ship was opened up like a tin can and sank to the bottom of the ice-cold Atlantic Ocean in a moment.

You and I must watch how we stand lest we become a shipwreck. In the Word of God, 1 Corinthians 10:12, the Lord says:

"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

Spend lots of time with the Lord, have good quiet times, read your Bible, pray, share with fellow Christians and strengthen your inner man - this is a fight we are in, which we will win, but only by discipline and trust in God.

Have a wonderful Sunday; Jesus bless you, goodbye.

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

We start in the Book of Proverbs 31:10-12:

“Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.”

A godly and virtuous wife is a great and wonderful asset, young man, and an absolute gift from God. We must never take our life partner for granted, old man, - yes, I am talking to myself as well. Unfortunately, so often we do, especially with a wonderful, virtuous wife. We don’t do it intentionally, but you know our favourite saying, “Oh no, she will understand…”. She will understand because we are late, she will understand because Friday night is boys’ night out. That is a lot of rubbish I want to tell you, and if I am talking to somebody now, stop it immediately because those days are over. They stopped when you got married! We really need to value and appreciate our wives. 

Next to the Lord Jesus Christ himself, she should be our greatest friend, adviser and lover. Why? We may ask - simply because she has no ulterior motives but wants to see us succeed. There are other people that you are putting trust in and they don’t have your interest at heart. They have another motive. Maybe they want to get a part of the business. Maybe they want to get an inside corner. I want to tell you, your wife doesn’t. She is not a “yes” person and I really mean this, she’s not one of the “yes” people. Don’t have a lot of “yes” people around you, they are dangerous. They’ll agree with anything you say because they want to find favour with you. 

Your wife will tell you,”No, I don’t agree with that.” Because she loves you and she wants to protect you. Proverbs 18:22 says, 

”He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favour from the Lord.”

Therefore, do not abuse your wife, don’t take her for granted but appreciate her as your absolute best friend in this life next to Jesus Himself, and you won’t go wrong. 

Have a wonderful day. Go and spoil her today. 
Goodbye

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

We start in the Gospel of Mark 2:17: 

"When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."
1 Timothy 1:15

What do they say? It takes a thief to catch a thief. It's very important to be able to identify with the people that you are talking to. It is no use going to a group of cowboys standing around with their horses and speaking to them about motorbikes, getting invited to a sportsman's breakfast and then talking about dressmaking. It really doesn't make sense. They are not going to listen to you. If we truly want to see a person put his trust fully in our Lord Jesus, he must, first of all, trust you and me, and then when you have won his confidence, you can speak to him about the One who has changed your life, who has changed my life.

I remember visiting a maximum security prison a few years ago, and I asked the warders if I could put on an inmate's orange uniform. I saw those hardened criminals looking at me, dressed like them, thinking, "What does this clown think he is up to, being dressed like us in this prison garb?" They were sitting there with their arms all folded, some very tough men, let me tell you. They had been through a lot, but when I said to them, "The only difference between you and me is that you got caught and you are serving your sentence. I haven't got caught, and I have to rely on the grace of God. You see, Romans 3:23 says: 

"…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God..." 

When there is acceptance by the crowd, then they are prepared and ready to hear us. Never, ever preach down to people. Always preach up to people and esteem them greatly as God's precious creation, and then you will become a true soul-winner.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.