Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 19th of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Deuteronomy 10:22:

”Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude.”

Then we go to Zachariah 4:10:

“For who has despised the day of small things?” 

I want to speak to you today about small beginnings. Seventy people went down to Egypt, and God has multiplied that little band of people into a mighty nation. He delights in small things. Remember the little boy with the two sardines and the five barley loaves of bread? The Lord Jesus took them, prayed over them, multiplied them and fed five thousand men, not including women and children, and that is why I love Him so much!

Today, I don’t know what you are going through. Maybe your business is taking major strain. Maybe your degree is getting too much for you and you don’t think that you will ever complete it at university. Maybe you have just started a new venture and it’s just not going so well. What must you do? You must continue to trust the Lord. The Lord has not forgotten you. I can only share with you a personal story.

I came back from bonny Scotland in 1993. I’d been preaching over there. I sat down in my little house, one that we made out of wattle and mud, and I felt the Lord Jesus tell me to write my story. Now, as you know, I don’t have much education, and I started to write a little book which became a movie, which has just been resigned for a further fifteen years with Sony. What is the name of that movie? It is called “Faith like Potatoes” and all the glory this morning to our Lord Jesus Christ! Do not despise small beginnings. That movie and book are in seventeen different languages throughout the world.

You might ask a question, why does God do that? I believe one of the main reasons is because He will share His glory with no man. When you do something for the Lord and it is something which is unbelievable, people will say that man didn’t do that, that was God who did that. 

So today, do not despise small beginnings.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 18th of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Luke 17:5-6:

“And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith. So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

I am talking this morning about faith.

“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

As I was meditating on this scripture early this morning in my quiet time room, the Lord brought to memory what took place in my life on the 17th of November, 1989, a long time ago. I was sitting having my quiet time. I had been reading a book written by John Wimber, called Evangelism Explosion. In the back of that book, there were a whole lot of anecdotes and little cameos of mighty men and women of God who dared to believe God and to trust God by faith, and how the Lord had used them. Very few of them were qualified. They were ordinary working people just like you and I, and I got so excited. I got on my phone. In those days, we had the old phone, you had to crank it up, and I got hold of my pastor in Grey Town and I said to him, “Gavin, the Lord has revealed something to me today and I have to share it with you.” And he said, “What is it?” I said, “I have just been reading a book about men and women of God who have been used mightily by the Lord, and there is a golden thread that goes through each one of their stories, and it is one word, 'faith', having faith the size of a mustard seed."

He got so excited, he turned around and took his ball-point pen, and wrote on the wall of his office, and the office had just recently been painted, and he wrote, “17th November ’89” and he put my name there, and it stayed there until that church got repainted. Well, I want to tell you, that was the beginning. From there, I took that seed of faith and I went to a nearby town called Ladysmith, and I booked the town hall, the first thing I had ever done in my life, and that was the beginning of what the Lord has done, by faith, nothing to do with me.

Today, I challenge you to trust the Lord for that thing that you are believing for, but it must be so big that if it is not of God, it is going to fail. Why? Because when it works, God gets all the glory. 

Jesus bless you walk by faith and not by sight.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 17th of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Book of Romans 4:17:

“God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;…” 

Then of course we have got to go to the Book of James 2:23:

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

There are not many places in the Bible where God calls any man His friend. Everybody wants to be God’s friend. The Bible tells us that God looked down from Heaven, He saw that farmer, Abraham, because Abraham believed Him, and He called Abraham His friend.

I got a beautiful message all the way from the Outback of Australia, where the tough men farm, where sometimes it doesn’t rain for maybe up to 7 years, and these men, by faith, plant their crops every year, trusting by faith that God will honour them. He sent me this little quotation and I think it is priceless, and I want to share it with you. He says, “What’s going on around you is only limited by what’s going on in you.” Don’t you think it is special? I really have sat and thought about this saying. It is so deep. “What’s going on around you is only limited by what’s going on in you.”

Abraham was 100 years old. His wife was in her 90’s. God said, “You are going to be the father of many nations. You are going to have a son and you will name him Isaac, and Isaac will be the father of many nations.” If you love Jesus Christ today, my dear friend, and you are a follower of Christ, you are a son or a daughter of Abraham by faith. What you say is what you get. 

When I was farming as a young man and I had come to know Christ as my Saviour, we had no irrigation on this farm, nothing, and when things got dry, I got on my knees, and I started to pray the prayer of faith, calling those things that aren’t as if they were, getting in my pick-up every morning and driving around the crop as the maize was starting to die, and saying, “Lord, I believe in the promises of God. Lord, you said it, I believe it and that settles it.” And that is exactly what happened.

Today, start to call those things that aren’t as if they were by faith and trust the love of Christ to bring them into being. 

Have a wonderful day,
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 16th of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Book of Galatians 3:2-3. The Lord says:

“This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” 

Jesus Christ is our only source of salvation. We have got to stop striving and trying to earn God's favour. You can't work your way to Heaven. It is for free. His love and His favour are free. Free means gratis, for nothing - not for nothing, it cost Jesus Christ His life, so that your sins and my sins could be washed away. You see, you can't pay for it, you can't work for it, and you can't earn it! You have just got to believe it.

That beautiful scripture in Ephesians 2:8:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,…” 

What a beautiful scripture, and we thank the Lord for it, because that is where you and I can put our trust and hope in. We only have to believe. Now let's finish this race, you and I, the way we started, by just saying thank you to the Lord. He paid for it all. Remember that little song? We have sung it before. It goes like this:

He paid a debt He did not owe
I owed a debt I could not pay
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And now I sing a brand new song
Amazing grace
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay!

I am going to sing it again because I want you to hear these words. I am listening to them myself. It is good news, my friend. It's wonderful!

He paid a debt He did not owe
I owed a debt I could not pay
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And now I sing a brand new song
Amazing grace
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay!

Father, 

I pray for my friend listening to this message, that he or she will understand one thing today - our way to Heaven is not by good works. It is by believing that Jesus Christ died for all of my sins.

God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 15th of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Luke 16:11-12:

”Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?” 

Those are strong words spoken by the Master Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ. Because we are Christians, that does not give us an excuse to be second-rate, to be slack, to be lazy, or not to do our best at work.

If we are to be ambassadors of Jesus Christ in the workplace, then we need to do it as if we were doing it to God Himself. We need to operate in our God-given gift. I don’t know how many young men and women I meet sometimes, ”I just want to serve the Lord.” Well, serve Him in the business field first, before you want to go out and preach to others. Now the Lord Jesus is talking about a man who is shrewd. “Shrewd” means having or showing sharp powers of judgement, being an astute operator or businessman. We need to work hard in the business field, not only for ourselves, but for our fellowman, but mainly for the Lord. Do it well, not for personal gain but as a witness for Jesus. Be the best farmer you can be. Be the best professional sportsman or woman you can be. Be a good teacher, an artist, a doctor, a truck driver as unto the Lord. 

I read something very encouraging and it goes like this: Individuals who integrate their Christian faith into their business practices and leadership, that’s what God is looking for - integrity, honesty, service, impacting communities especially in the workplace, living out their faith in the marketplace.

I looked up John D Rockefeller, an American businessman. He was in the oil business. They say that he was the most successful businessman of his era. He reminds me of Joseph. You know that Pharaoh made Joseph his prime minister. He was the second most powerful man on earth. Remember, he was a slave, sold into slavery, he made an impact, he saved a nation.

Today, use your God-given gifts for the glory of God and enjoy what you’re doing.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, 
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 14th of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Luke 15:31:

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.” 

That was the response of the father when the prodigal son had come home after wasting all his money, and his father was so pleased to see him come back that he killed the fatted ox, and he had a party for his young son. The older son had been working all day in the fields. He came home and saw what his father had done for his brother and he was plain jealous. Another word for jealousy is resentment, bitterness, holding a grudge. Now I can hear somebody saying, “But I would be the same as the older son! I mean that young boy demanded his inheritance. He went and blew it on wine, women and song, lost everything, cost his dad and his older brother a lot more blood, sweat and tears, then he comes home and his dad treats him like a prince.” 

We need to be so careful that we do not lose our focus. His dad said, ”Son, I have given you everything I’ve got, you are going to inherit this farm. Why are you so upset?” We need to be so careful that we don’t forget what God has given to us. Like you get a man who has been in the far country, he’s been a reveller, a drinker, a fighter, a thief, then he comes to Christ and his sins are forgiven. They’ve been washed away. He is a brand new man in Christ.

” …if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away…” 
2 Corinthians 5:17

Now, when you see that, and you’ve been serving the Lord for maybe 20 - 30 years, and this new boy on the block, he seems to be getting all the accolades, all the privileges and everybody’s excited about him, but I want to say to you that the Lord loves you. He loves your faithfulness, He loves your hard work, He loves the fact that you have not dropped the ball, you have never let the Lord down, and there is a great reward waiting for you and me when we get to heaven. Remember, this is not the end of the road. This is only the beginning of the road! 

So have mercy on the person who has made a big mistake, but who has come home. Give them grace, give them love, let them get excited. Don’t correct them all the time because they are so full of joy, their sins have been forgiven. Just remember that there is a great reward waiting in heaven for your obedience, your faithfulness, not falling by the way, but keeping on for the Lord.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 13th August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in Psalm 20:7:

”Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” 

Our faithful God who keeps His promises! Then we go to Genesis 40:23. Remember, Joseph had interpreted the dreams of the butler and yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph but forgot him. Joseph said to him,

“When you meet with Pharaoh and you find favour with Pharaoh, don’t forget to put in a good word for me.” And he forgot. How often have we been in that situation? Who do you and I put our trust in? Who can you trust today? You can’t even trust yourself, can you? We need to remember to keep our promises.

I want to start with a Marriage Covenant. Husbands, you made a promise on the day that you got married that you would be faithful to your wife, and I want to say to that young lady, you made a promise on the day of your wedding that you would remain faithful to your husband. It is a Marriage Covenant. We need to keep it.

What about appointments? You know, some people make a joke of it. They say, ”Oh, he’s always late.” I want to say to you it’s just as easy to be early as it is to be late. In fact, when you are late, you are showing that person you don’t really value them, otherwise you would be on time. You see, the Master was never early, He was never late, He was always on time.

If you go to the Gospel of John 11:32, you see Mary was so upset because her brother had died, and they had waited for Jesus to come and He came four days later. She said in verse 32:

“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

But of course we know the end story. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

Please today, if you make your child a promise - you say, ”Son, I’m coming to watch you play your sports match today,” you better be there. “No, but maybe there’ll be something else.” If you made the promise, keep it, because If you let him down, you let her down, they won’t forget that in a hurry. If you are trying to influence a young lady, young man, don’t be late for your appointment. Be early, and don’t forget to bring a bunch of roses with you when you take her out.

Jesus bless you and keep your promise, 
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 12th of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Genesis 39:3:

”And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.”

Then we go straight to 1 Corinthians 10:12:

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

What had happened was Joseph had found favour with Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer.

The Bible tells us that Joseph was a very handsome young man and everything he did, he succeeded in and Potiphar gave him control over his whole household, but there was problem. There was Potiphar’s wife who looked at Joseph and wanted to sleep with Joseph. Joseph did not yield to the temptation, but it got him into big trouble.

I want to say to you today, be careful how you stand lest you fall - that’s what the Lord says! You know, the most dangerous place to be is really in a place where you are succeeding. When you are taking strain and you’re down on you knees, you can’t fall any further, can you? But when you succeed the devil will try everything to tempt you to fall. When your business is going well and you, all of a sudden, start throwing caution to the wind, as they say. You start taking chances because you think you can’t fail and that is when you overstep your mark and you end up getting into big financial trouble. We really need to be careful.

You know, I heard a very sad story about a young golf professional. He was a rookie, he had just started. A very big club employed him, the people loved him, he was a good looking man, he was a very good golfer. He had great prospects, and after he had played his 18 holes, the older guys in the club would invite him up to come and have a drink with them. He said, ”Sir, I don’t drink, but thank you for the kind offer.” But they persisted. You see, just like Potiphar’s wife persisted with Joseph, but unlike Joseph, this young man eventually said he would go up to the club and have a few drinks. Of course, he continued to do that and eventually he started to have a drinking problem. 

The tragedy is, the very same men who persuaded him to come and have a drink with them said, “Let’s get this youngster out of the club because he’s become a drunkard and he’s an embarrassment to us.” The very same people!

Be careful how you stand today, lest you fall. Do not let success cause you to be tempted to compromise your stand for God.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 11th of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to Psalms 62:5:

”My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.”

Then out of the Message translation, it says: God, the one and only—I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him, so why not?”

Then the last one is from the Passion translation. It says:

”I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the one I love. Waiting as long as it takes for Him to rescue me. Only God is my saviour and He will not fail me.” 

Who do you have your expectation in today? Is it the Government? No, you say you’re very disappointed. Is it maybe your favourite sports team that has let you down again and you’re feeling so despondent today? Is it maybe more personal? Is it at work? Has your employer disappointed you? What about at home? How is it with your wife? How is it with your husband? Have they disappointed you? What about your children? Are they just not performing at school or university? It’s costing you an arm and a leg and they just don’t seem to be trying their best?

You see, the problem is not with all of those things. The problem is with us, with you and me. Our expectation is in the wrong place. Our expectation needs to be in God alone!

One of my favourite scriptures is found in Hebrews 13:6:

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

If Jesus Christ is Lord of your life this morning, you have nothing to be afraid of. You will not be disappointed and He will not fail you.

Do you know that beautiful chorus, He is Lord? Maybe you and I today need to sing it. Maybe we haven’t sung it for a long time. Please join me:

For He is Lord, He is Lord,
He has risen from the dead, and He is Lord.
Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord!

Go out today and let your expectation be in Christ alone, and you will have a beautiful day!

God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 10th of August, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to 2 Corinthians 9:7:

”So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” 

I want to say to you today that I read a beautiful article written by an elderly pastor from America, a man who I respect greatly, and I’m just going to read it to you. This is what it says:

”Are you aware of what waiters and waitresses say about the Christians they serve? Do you have any idea how much they dread waiting on our tables in restaurants after church on Sundays or any other day, when we go in groups with big Bibles under our arms? We gobble up the food asking for this favour and that favour, seldom pausing long enough to smile or say, “Thank you”. That’s bad enough, but when we leave a tip, that is more of an insult than a generous expression of gratitude! Just last week a waiter informed me that the place where he works has the toughest time getting a full crew of waiters who wait on tables on Sundays. “We’d all rather work late on Friday and Saturday nights, week after week, than work Sunday afternoons,” He said. When I asked, ”Why?” He told me, ”Because Christians are usually loud. They often lack good table manners, and they are stingy with the tips.” The waiter who spoke to me is a Christian. He’s on our side and he’s embarrassed! He says that he has a rough time talking to the crew about Christ after the place closes at night. They give him the cynical, ”You’ve got to be kidding!” response, that comes after six or eight Christ followers walk away, leaving a Christian tract or a one-dollar bill or maybe just the tract. Sometimes neither at all!

If you’re among the thoughtful, the gracious, the kind who leave a full 15% or more, keep it up, may your tribe increase, but if you’re the type who falls into the tightfisted and less than thoughtful category, how about thinking of your witness as something more than a Bible in your pocket and words out of your mouth. Sometimes it’s what comes out of your pocket after something has gone into your mouth, and I’m not referring to a tract. Listen, it’s possible to give away and become richer. It is possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything. Yes, the liberal man shall be rich by watering others he waters himself. (Proverbs 11:24-25). Come on Christian, loosen up! If you can afford to eat out, you can also handle a healthy tip. Maybe all you needed was a shot in the arm.”

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day and don’t forget to tip generously,
Goodbye.