Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 1st of June, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Matthew 12:50:

”For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” 

I want to speak today about family. The first family that ever existed was the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Yes, we’re talking about the Holy Trinity. That is why family is so very important to our Lord Jesus Christ and that is why the devil is hell-bent on destroying families. What do they say? You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family. The hardest place to be a Christian is in the family because they really know you. There are no masks on. It’s the real deal, but seriously, the first family on earth was Adam and Eve and they had two boys. One’s name was Cain and the other was Abel and what happened? Yes, they fought but they didn’t just fight. In fact, Cain killed his brother. Families are not easy places to get on with one another.

Early this morning, I was in a prayer meeting and as I walked into the little chapel where we meet as a family, a men’s prayer meeting, and we’ve become very close to each other over many, many years. One of my brothers was there, a senior man, and I said, ”How are things with the family?” He said, ”My wife has gone up to Pretoria to spend time with my daughter because she has had a little baby and she is helping her with the baby.” I said, ”Are you missing her?” And he looked at me and he smiled. He said, ”Yes.” He said, ”I’m missing the arguing.” He had his tongue in his cheek.

Family is very important. The family that prays together, stays together. We really need to get into the habit of praying as a family. Even this morning after we had met together, there’s over twenty men, we started to sing, we sing before we pray. I want to sing a song for you and I want you to join me because we sang it this morning and it just brings a bonding and a family love.

Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am God

I am the Lord that healeth thee
I am the Lord that healeth thee
I am the Lord that healeth thee

God bless you today and stand strong together as a family,
God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 31st of May, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the first book in the Bible, Genesis 4:9:

“Then the Lord said to Cain “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Then down to verse 12. The Lord says:

”A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

Then we go to the Gospel of John 8:44:

”You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

The devil is a liar.

God asked Cain, ”Where is your brother?” Cain had murdered Abel and Cain told the first lie. He said, ”Am I my brother’s keeper?” He knew exactly what he had done and where he had put the body but he told the Lord he didn’t know. So Cain became a vagabond. I looked up the dictionary. A vagabond is someone who has no settled home. He became a vagabond and a fugitive. A fugitive is a person who lives in hiding. What a way to live! 

My dear friend. Today, you and I need to understand one thing. Lies come from the devil himself. He is the father of all lies. It will not get you out of trouble. It will not help you. It will, in fact, condemn you. We need to tell the truth at all costs.

One of the most tragic stories that I have ever known was when President Richard Nixon, the president of the United States of America, told lies. We are talking about the Watergate scandal, when he said that he didn’t do it when he did. He put his hand on the Bible and swore that he had not told lies, but you see what happens with lies, they always find you out and he was the first and only president that resigned from his office. He had to, because he told one lie on top of another lie, on top of another lie, and it cost him his position.

Today, the Lord is saying to you and to me, tell the truth because if you tell lies you can be sure they will find you out. Today, speak the truth and you will not be a fugitive or a vagabond, but you will be a child of God.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, 
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 30th of May, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of John 3:7. Jesus says,

“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.”

I want to speak to you about starting the journey. The best way to start the journey is with Jesus Christ. He will not allow you to get lost. He will not take you on the wrong road. He will make sure that you get to your destination, and He will, most of all, help you to enjoy the journey. 

I always remember my late mom used to say when we went on holiday, “The best part of the holiday is the journey.” Isn’t that true? Now folks, I want to tell you something. In 2014, CUM Books, which is Christian Art Publishers, Chris Johnson, a very dear brother of mine in Christ, we got together and he said to me, “Angus you are an evangelist. You get out there and preach the Gospel and you show people how to start the journey with Jesus, and we will supply a little book that we will give to every single convert or backslidden Christian as a gift from us." He has held to his promise, I am talking for 11 years! Now, if you are listening to this you probably know we have done some very big events, not just mighty men conferences, not just prayer meetings, but huge events in stadiums and Christian Art Publishers have been so faithful. Every time a person gives their life to Christ, they have an opportunity of getting one of these books for free. These wonderful people pay for the printing of that book.

Now I picked up one of those books this morning,“Starting the Journey’. It says, “The most important decision that you can ever make”. I made it on 18th February, 1979. Oh, I will never forget it. We are talking on close to 50 years ago. I will never forget that decision. Now this little book will tell you how to start the journey and to go through this life. I would encourage you to get one of these books, but folks, I am going to pray for you because that is the purpose of Thought for the Day. Please pray this prayer after me:

Dear Lord Jesus,

I want to start the journey which will take me to Heaven. I ask you to forgive me for all my sinful ways and from today onwards, I promise to put You first in my life, and I thank You for walking this road, which is quite tough at times, Lord, for walking this road with me.

In Jesus name, Amen.

God bless you and keep on with the journey. Home time is sooner and closer than you think.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 29th of May, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Luke 6:46. Jesus says:

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”

Then we continue with the Book of Luke 19:8:

“Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”

You see, what the Lord is looking for today from you and me is action, not cheap words. Faith is a doing word, it is a verb. It is not a noun, it is an action word. It is not just empty words. You and I have to start becoming more intentional. Zacchaeus was prepared to give back 400% to anyone that he had cheated. Now you see, that is faith in action. That is showing Jesus that he meant what he said, and because of that, you read down further in the scripture, Jesus said, “Salvation has come to this house today.”

You know that old joke about the guy that is always promising to pay his way, and every time it comes to his time to pay, he has short arms and long pockets. You know those guys? Maybe you and I are one of them, just keep saying, “I’ll pay” and you never put your hand in your pocket! Just pay and don’t say anything. That is more honourable. I want to say to you sir, you and I, we must stop telling our wives we are going to change that lightbulb, or we are going to mow the lawn. Just do it and you will show your wife that you really do love her. We need to be doers of God’s word today and not just hearers. 

Today, go out, tell somebody about Jesus Christ. Maybe take your girlfriend and go and buy her an ice cream. Don’t keep telling her you are going to do it, but seriously, maybe you need to spend more time in prayer. Maybe you need to get yourself into physical condition so that you can be more effective for the Gospel of Christ. Maybe you need to be more verbal and not just hopeful, and God is watching you and He is watching me, and He will promote us and He will reward us. 

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 28th of May, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Genesis 4:6:

”So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?”

Then we go to a very special verse in the Bible for me, 1 Timothy 6:6:

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain.” 

Remember the prodigal son? The prodigal son came to his father and said, “I want my inheritance.” His dad gave him all the money that was due to him. He went and spent it foolishly on women, wine and song, and he came back as an absolute tramp. He lost everything. His father was so relieved to see him come back. He had a big party organised. He loved him, but the older son who had been working in the field all day, became jealous. 

Jealousy is a killer. He forgot that his father was going to leave the farm to him (he was the oldest son) and everything that he had, and because his brother was fussed over, he said, “My brother did nothing. He squandered everything we had, and my dad goes and slaughtered the fat ox and has a party, where he won’t even give me a goat that I can have a party with my friends." Jealousy - it is ugly, it’s distasteful. That is what happened with Cain and Abel. Cain became jealous of Abel, and as we know in the story, eventually, he actually killed his brother. Folks, we need to be so careful. The countenance is what he lost. His father could see it because Cain became resentful, he became distrustful, envious and he became suspicious. 

Young lady, if you allow that jealousy to get into you, it will destroy you. You will start thinking things that are not even true. Look what happened with Saul, the first king of Israel. He was a handsome man, head and shoulders above any other man in Israel, and when he saw the young shepherd boy, David, succeed, instead of encouraging him, he actually lost his countenance and became a bitter and resentful man. 

It is like rust in a motorcar. When rust gets into a vehicle, you take it to a panel beater. He doesn’t put body filler over the top and cover it over and paint it. No, he takes his cutting torch out and cuts out that piece of rust and he puts new plates in, welds it up and then he paints it over and it’s fine. Today, deal with that jealousy in your life. How do we deal with it? By looking to Jesus Christ and He will give you peace.

Count your blessings. Look what you have, and the person you are jealous of, love them and pray for them. God will heal you and set you free.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 27th of May, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for the day.

We go straight to the Gospel of John 15:7:

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”

Wow! Now that’s powerful. Think about that. I looked up the Oxford Dictionary to find out the literal meaning of the word, “abide”. It means to accept or obey a rule or decision. So if you obey the word of God, if you as a believer do what God has called you to do, and when you go out and about, His word remains in your heart during the day, during the night, when you are about to write an examination, when you are going to start a new job, when you are endeavouring to do something you have never done before, if you keep the word of God in your heart, He says what you desire shall be done for you. Now, that is massive.

As I walked into my prayer room early this morning, there was a message for me, and the message came all the way from Northern Ireland, from one of my spiritual sons, and he said, “Dad, Angus, I have just watched the movie, Faith Like Potatoes, and I want to encourage you and thank you for it because of what it means to me.” 

Now, as a young boy, my desire was to get the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the furthest points of Planet Earth, and I want to sit here and tell you in my little prayer room, that that desire of my heart is actually coming to pass in front of my very eyes and I have nothing to do with it. I just asked the Lord, many, many years ago, “Lord, I want you to use me to send the word to the furthest points of the planet Earth, and He is doing it.

Today, if you keep the word of God close to your heart and you stay close to Him, then you are going to ask correctly, and He is going to answer you. 

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 26th of May, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the word of God, to the Book of Isaiah 53:3:

“He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

I want to speak to you this morning about rejection. What is rejection? Well, according to the Oxford Dictionary it is to be shunned, to be cast off, to be turned down, to be snubbed, to become unpopular. Jesus knows exactly how you feel today, my dear friend. If you have been rejected, I know what it means, and I know what it feels like, but Jesus really knows. Not only does He know but He cares. He cares for you and most of all, He understands what you are going through.

The great revivalist, George Whitefield, who lived in the 1770’s said, “If you are going to walk with Jesus Christ, you are going to be opposed. In our days, to be a true Christian is really to become a scandal.” Now that is heavy going. Who is going to make you a scandal? It will probably be nominal christians, christians who say, “Lets live and let live and if that guy wants to live that lifestyle, leave him, and if that woman wants to do that, lets just have peace.” That’s not what God called us to do. He called us to be salty, He called us to be different, He called us to stand up for truth and righteousness and give us a passion for lost people, hurting people, sick people and rejected people! 

DL Moody, another great evangelist said, tongue in cheek, but it is true, ‘If everybody has got something good to say about you, be sure, Jesus has got nothing good to say about you.” It’s true, isn’t it? Because if everybody has got something good to say about you, you are luke-warm, you are like salt that has lost it’s flavour and is only good to be cast out in the street and trampled over. 

So be encouraged today if you are rejected because you are standing up for truth and righteousness, and know that the Lord is very proud of you and when He comes back to take us home with Him, He will recognise you.

God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 25th of May, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Romans 3:23:

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, …”

“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

Why did God send His only Son down to earth to die for your sins and my sins? Do you know why? Because God knew we could never make it to Heaven on our own because there is not one person on this earth, apart from Jesus Christ, who is without sin. It is impossible for a man to work his way to Heaven. Did you hear that? Impossible. Now, I love George Whitefield, the great English evangelist who died in his mid-fifties, but he said something I have never forgotten. I am laughing because I want you to think about this. He said, “It is easier to go to the moon with a rope made of sand than it is to work your way to Heaven.” In other words, it is impossible.

I remember many, many years ago, I had the privilege of ministering at a funeral. The gentleman that had died was a very good friend, and he had a very checkered background, he had made some mistakes in his life. He had done some things that he regretted, but one thing I did know about him is that he loved Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour, and he was born again. I said at the funeral, ‘I know this man is with Jesus, not because he was a good man but because he was a believer.” And at the end of the service, a neighbour came up to me and he was furious. He said, “How can you say that good people don’t go to Heaven?” I said, “Good people cannot go to Heaven, only believers can go to Heaven.” He was not very happy, but you know, before that man died, his son had led him to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today, do not fool people and try and tell them that because they are good people they are going to Heaven. That is not the truth. It is only believers in Jesus Christ that will go to Heaven.

Have a wonderful day,
God bless you and goodbye. 

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 24th of May, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Book of Matthew 7:17. Jesus says,

“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.”

Then if we go onto verse 20, the Lord says:

“Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

Then we go to James 2:18:

”…and I will show you my faith by my works.”  

Folks, remember that our words must match our lifestyle. You can get a fancy qualification through bribery, cheating and corruption. That’s maybe the easy part, but then when you get into the world to get a job and the employer employs you and tells you to get into the workshop and fix that tractor, fix that motorcar, and you can’t do it, straight away you are in big trouble and you will not last there very long at all. Your words must match up to your lifestyle. What you say, you must be able to deliver. 

I remember hearing a story of a man that was having a party with all his friends and the conversation got onto a certain sport. This man said, “Yes, I played for that team. I was in the first team at university and I got my full colours for my sporting abilities,” and another man standing next to him said, “What team did you play for?”  And he told him, “The first team.”  “What university did you go to?” He told him the name of the university.” And what year did you play?” He told him the year and he said, “That is very strange because I played for the same team, at the same year and I played in the first team and I don’t remember you at all!” Do you know how embarrassing that can be? Don’t do that. 

I want to say to the young lady who is listening to this message, be sure that that young man you are going out with can deliver what he says. Words are very cheap and they are easy to say, but I want to tell you, there must be fruit. If he is continually late when he fetches you for an invitation that he has invited you to, there is a note there. If he is always spending time with other girls but tells you that he loves you, there is another problem coming that side. You know, when somebody falls in love with you, he will be there on time, in fact even earlier, because the fruit of what he is producing is love, and he loves you and respects you. Check the fruit and you will see that a fig does not come from a thorn tree.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 23rd of May, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Luke 6:42:

”…how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”

I am laughing because that applies to every single one of us, especially you, sir! You know folks, I love Jesus so much and His teachings are so simple and yet so profound. Remember, people who live in glass houses don’t throw stones. Do not criticise, sort your own situation out before you start to criticise and become a hypocrite. Now, I looked up the Oxford Dictionary to find out the literal meaning of the word, “hypocrite”. It means “a person who pretends to have higher standards than they really have,” and that is you and I, isn’t it? Let’s be honest. 

I have one of my sons who is a very accomplished rugby coach. He has his full colours for Kwazulu-Natal for teaching schoolboys how to play rugby, and often he comes up and visits us on the farm (he is living down in Durban), and we have a little chuckle together. He says to me, “Dad, the main problem I have coaching rugby is not the little boys I have to teach. No, it’s their mothers.” That’s what he told me! 

He didn’t say so much about the dads. Mom, you must listen up today. He said they stand on the sidelines, and they are telling their little boy that they must kick the ball, or pass the ball or that he must tackle, or that he is messing up the game plan. He said it gets so bad that he has told the little boys - by the way, it is not their fault - ”If you listen to your mother shouting from the sideline, I am going to substitute you for somebody else." That is harsh, hey? But that is what he has to do because otherwise the kids are listening to their parents who have never played rugby, and this young son of mine has got his full colours as a rugby coach! And of course, the little boys listen to the rugby coach and that is why he is so successful.

Today, please let us, all of us, take the plank out of our own eyes before we start to tell other people how to live. Let’s start doing what Jesus says and not what we think. 

Have a wonderful day,
God bless you and goodbye.