Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 2nd of May, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start off in the Book of Exodus 3:2

”And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.”

An amazing sight, Moses saw that bush burning but it was never consumed. Then we go straight to the Gospel of Luke 5:26:

”And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”

Have you seen any strange things lately? I have and I tell you what, it never ceases to amaze me. I think a couple of years ago, when we were called to go down to Jeffrey’s Bay, we were at a Mighty Men Conference, and we were told that Port Elizabeth was running out of water. There was no water. People couldn’t water their gardens, they had to use water very sparingly and on the Sunday morning, we had a prayer meeting and we said, “We are going to pray for rain, that the Lord will fill the Kouga Dam with water", and folks, I want to tell you as I was finishing off the message, people were pointing up into the sky and I looked up into the sky and I saw the sun. It was close to midday, and the sun was burning brightly, but there was a distinct ring around the sun. I have never seen that before in my life. Indeed, we have seen strange things, and we give all the glory to Jesus Christ. 

I want to say to you today, do not limit God. By the way, that Kouga Dam, to my understanding, is still flowing with water. It filled and it has been running non-stop for the last couple of years. 

Jesus bless you as you open your spiritual eyes and see the strange things which are happening on the earth at the moment. That's nothing to be afraid of. It is something to get very excited about. Jesus Christ is not coming soon, He is on His way I tell you!

God bless you and goodbye.

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

We start in the Book of Malachi 3:16: 

“So a book of remembrance was written before Him
For those who fear the Lord
And who meditate on His name.”

Then we go straight to the Gospel of Mark 16:7:

”But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”  

Jesus remembers your name, my dear friend. It doesn’t matter what you have done or haven’t done, He still knows you by name because He created you in His own image. There is nothing sweeter than to hear the mention of your own name. Come on now, be honest, it is lovely when somebody says, “Hello John, Hello Mary, how are you?” You think to yourself, “he remembered my name”, “she remembered my name”, and Jesus tells us this morning that He has got a book of remembrance. Your name is in that book, the Lamb’s Book of Life - nothing sweeter!

Peter, the big fisherman, was always changing feet. He was like a bull in a china shop. I tend to be a bit like that myself and get into trouble, but the Lord loved Peter so much. Even though Peter dropped the ball, even though Peter denied the Lord three times and he had just said a few hours before, “I will die for You” but he denied Him. He even blasphemed the Bible says, he swore, ‘I don’t even know Him” and yet the Lord Jesus knew that when the disciples were told to go down to Galilee and there Jesus would meet them all, He knew that Peter would not come because he was so broken. He had let the Lord down. “Tell the disciples—and Peter, I will see them in Galilee.” The Lord is saying to you the very same thing. “Tell Joe, tell Barnabas, tell Mark, I will see them in Heaven.” Today is a great day.

Jeremiah 1:5 in the Amplified Bible is even more confirmation:

“Before I formed you in the womb (in other words, before you were conceived in your mother’s womb, Jesus says) I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument], And before you were born I consecrated you [to Myself as My own]; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

That’s how much He loves you. He knows you! Speak to Him today!
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

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

We go to the Gospel of Luke 5:16:

“So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”

Who am I talking about here? I am talking about the Son of God, I am talking about Jesus Christ, I am talking about Immanuel - God with us. Now, if He had to do that, how much more should you and I be doing that? He did it often, not now and again. 

Oh my dear friend, I think this message is aimed more at me than it is at you! Contemplation - when you contemplate something. I looked up the Oxford Dictionary to find out the literal meaning of the word, “contemplate”. It means to look at thoughtfully, to think about, to think deeply and at length. It says that to contemplate is to look at, gaze at, stare at, view, regard, examine, inspect, observe, (are you getting the story?) survey, study. He contemplated. We need to ponder, you and I, how many times are we taking time out to think about the way forward? We don’t, do we? We just go for it, we wing it. It is one of my favourite things and I hate myself for it. There is no time left in the world to wing it. We need to concentrate on something called time management. Remember Jesus was never late, He was never early, He was always spot on time. 

We think about Lazarus, His friend in the grave. “Lord, if You had come, my brother would have lived,” but the Lord commanded him to be raised from the dead. You know, it is first the mountain, and then the ministry, or your work or whatever else. If you don’t spend time up the mountain, not a literal mountain, but time in the morning, praying, reading the word of God, and contemplating about what you are going to do that day, you will make some very poor decisions. Now, let us start to think.

I remember, very clearly, sitting at the banks of the mighty Zambezi River, which separates Zambia from Zimbabwe, about to go across that river on a pontoon with that 20-ton Mercedes Benz truck for six weeks, leaving my young wife and children back on the farm. I was contemplating things very seriously, crying out to God to protect my family and He did. We need to hear from God first before we make any decisions. 

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

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

We start in the Book of Malachi 3:3, the last book in the Old Testament:

“He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the Lord
An offering in righteousness.”

Then we go straight to 1 Corinthians 10:13, Paul says:

“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.” 

Are you going through a rough time today? Are you saying, ”Angus, I can’t take this anymore. I have come to the end of my tether.” Well, you are not alone. The Lord tells us very clearly that this has happened to all of God’s people who have gone before us and who are walking on this very road with us at present. 

I looked up the refiner’s fire. Do you know how hot that fire is? I have been in many bushfires, and the heat sometimes is incredible, almost unbearable, but in order to make glass, you use sand as one of your main ingredients, and they melt that sand to 1,500 degrees centigrade, and then it becomes molten glass. Now, the Lord is doing that very thing with you and me. He is perfecting us for the great day when Jesus will take us home so we must put our trust in the Lord, and we must understand, He will take all the impurities, the sin, out of our lives through fiery trials so that we will be pure before the Lord on that great day. But the scripture I love so much is that He says He will not allow you to take more than you can handle. He knows how much you can take.

Trust Him, He is your creator, and out of this testing time that you are going through at the moment, you will be surprised how beautiful it will be when you come out of that testing. So today, trust Him and He will see you through.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

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

We go straight to the Book of Isaiah 63:9:

”In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old.”

Then we go to Hebrews 13:5, where the Lord says:

”I will never leave you or forsake you.” 

He says, ”I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you.” I want to read a little story to you that you know very well, but I think it’s worth listening to again because maybe I’m talking to somebody who says, “Lord, where are you? You promised me, Lord, You promised me that You would never leave me, You would never forsake me, but I am going through my deepest time of testing and I need Your help.” It is called Footprints In The Sand:

“One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each, I noticed footprints in the sand, sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was only one.

During the low periods of my life I could see only one set of footprints, so I said, ‘Lord, You promised me that You would walk with me always. Why then when I have needed You the most, You have not been there for me?

The Lord replied, “The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried You."

Father God,

I want to pray for my dear friend listening to this message that they will realise that today you have promised us that You will carry us on Your shoulders when we can’t walk any longer, and You will strengthen us and You will ensure that we get to our destination which is ultimately to be with You in Heaven, forever and ever, amen.

God bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

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

We start in the Book of Luke 5:10:

“And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 

What a beautiful scripture! The Lord wants to make you and I fishers of men. Then we go to the Gospel of Mark 16:15:

“And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

The Lord is calling you and I today to be fishers of men, not just fishers of fish but men. Peter was a fisherman. He used all his secular skills to win souls for Christ once the Lord had called him into full-time service. I want to speak to young people this morning. A lot of young people are getting ready to write their final exams and then go into the world. I want to say one thing to you, get qualified! Get qualified. If you are qualified, you will be of more use to the Lord in the mission field than in anything else. The Lord is looking for doctors, nurses, engineers, farmers. He wants to teach people how to fish.

Now, I remember clearly as a young boy, maybe 16 years old, I read about an organisation called VSO, Voluntary Service Overseas, and I wrote to them and I said I want to offer myself to help the poor in foreign nations, and I never even got a response. I was so disappointed but you know, they were quite correct. I had nothing to offer. We don’t want to go to some underprivileged country and eat the food from poor people, and we have absolutely nothing to offer in return. Let us get qualified. If you want to be a motor mechanic, then be the best one for Jesus. If you want to be a farmer, then produce food for Jesus, and that will give you a passport into any nation on earth. When people know that you are qualified as a doctor, an engineer, and as a farmer and let us shine for the Lord so we will be fishers of men. And once we do that, people will ask us to please help them, pray for them and lead them to Christ.

Have a wonderful day as a fisher of men,
Goodbye.

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

We go straight to 2 Corinthians 6:2:

“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 

Every day is a special day for you and me. When we wake up in the morning, we should rejoice, “Lord, we have been given the privilege of living one more day on this earth for you”, but we take it for granted, don’t we? We must stop doing that. I read an article written by Ann Wells from the Los Angeles Times. She tells the story of a friend who was packing up all the clothes and personal possessions from a relative, and just the importance of using what we have. Today is a very special day for you and for me. God has given us the privilege to live it. 

Let’s not waste this opportunity, let’s not save that special dress for a special occasion. Put it on today, and you will look beautiful in it. That tool you have got in your toolbox, sir, that you are waiting to use on a special day - today is the day. Use it! Drive that motorbike, get in that car and go for a ride, take your wife out and buy her a special meal today, not tomorrow, because we only have today. Let us redeem the time. Then she finishes up by saying, “Everyday is that special day you have been waiting for. Seize it! Carpé Diem, seize the day!” 

Go out today and spoil somebody, go out today and give somebody that thing that you have been saving up to give them at Christmas. Do it today because we might be in Heaven by Christmas. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day. Use it! 

God bless you and goodbye.

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

We start in the Book of Malachi 2:7:

“For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge,
And people should seek the law from his mouth;
For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.”

Then we go to the Book of Galatians 4:14 in the New Testament:

“And my trial (this is Paul speaking) which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.” 

Do you know the power there is in a spoken word, positive or even negative? If you go into the jungle and find a shaman, a witch doctor, and if he speaks a curse over the people, over a particular person, that man will go and sit under a tree and literally die because a curse has been spoken over his life, that is if he does not know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour.

We need to be so careful what we say. You and I are representing the risen Lord Jesus Christ, therefore our opinion does not count, the only thing that counts when you are giving somebody advice, is what the Word of God says about the situation. I have just read a letter which concerned me a lot, written by a final year student, studying for a B.Com Degree. She told me in the letter, that she has been diagnosed with some medical condition which is hampering her studies, and I could hear that she was very stressed out. I want to tell you, that letter was so beautifully written and I could hear that it was written by an extremely intelligent young lady. But the diagnosis she got was that basically she was not going to make it. I spoke against it, I have prayed against it, and I have told her that I am looking forward to when she receives her degree. I will not listen to the lies, negative words of the devil, spoken over people, and you shouldn’t either. 

We need to encourage people always in love but they need to hear the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Today, let your words be very carefully spoken and make sure that you are only talking things that the Lord, Himself, would say. Paul said to the people, “You treat me even like an angel or like the Lord Jesus, Himself“, and we need to do exactly the same.

Jesus bless you and go and speak life over people, not death,
Goodbye.

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

We start in the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi 2:6:

“And turned many away from iniquity.” 

Then we go straight to the New Testament to the Book of James 5:20:

”…he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of visiting an older gentleman who was well into his nineties, a very fine older man. I went to have a cup of tea with him. His daughter was there as well and his daughter was concerned about his salvation. We sat and had a cup of tea and started to talk to him (he originated in bonny Scotland) and spoke to him about the old country, as it were, and we talked about lots of different things. Then slowly but surely I started to speak to him about his salvation, about the fact that Jesus loves sinners, about the fact that we need to put our trust and hope in Him. I was praying all the time in my heart, “Please Lord, open this man’s heart to you” and I asked the old gentleman, “Sir, do you mind if we pray together?” He was actually quite open to it, together, we prayed the prayer of faith. That gentleman went to be with Jesus just a week or two ago. 

I want to say to you that when you go to speak to someone about his salvation, especially a man who is a proud man, a good man, but he has never made a commitment to Christ, you need to be gentle. You need to be forthright but you need to be gentle. You need to speak to that older gentleman, or that older lady, or that young person about something they are interested in and get their trust first and then once you have done that you broach the subject and you pray with them the Sinner’s Prayer. Very rarely have I had anyone who refused to pray that prayer with me.

I want to pray for you today. Maybe you have never actually made a public confession of your faith. Why don’t you do it now? Pray this prayer after me please:

Dear Lord Jesus,

I acknowledge I am a sinner and I am in need of a saviour, please help me to put my trust in You completely.
I will serve no other gods but You.
I thank You for dying for me, a sinner,
In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.

Have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

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

We start in the Gospel of Luke 4:28-30:

“So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ told the people in the synagogue, that “this Scripture has come to pass”, where He said He would set the captives free, heal the broken-hearted and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Then we go straight to the Gospel of Matthew 5:9: 

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

I want to say to you today that we must move on. Sometimes we continue to ask people to forgive us, and they will not do it. Eventually, Jesus moved on. He went down to Galilee to Capernaum and performed many, many miracles there. We need to move on with our lives. You cannot keep holding back because people do not want to forgive you, they will not release you. 

Remember the prodigal son, what happened to him? He told his father he wanted all his inheritance, went off, and blew the whole lot. His father didn’t run after him and say, “Come back son, let’s talk about this.” He left him, and when he was completely at his wit’s end, he came back to his dad. His dad loved him, forgave him and restored him. 

Today I might be speaking to someone who is dealing with that very issue. I have to move on, there is no change, they will not forgive me, they want to continue to persecute me. I am moving on with my life. The Lord says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” not “blessed are the peace-lovers." Sometimes, in order for reconciliation, there needs to be a time of moving on, and if that person wants to sincerely forgive you, they can come and visit you and forgive you, but in the meantime, you have got to get on with the calling on your life. 

Now, today move on just like Jesus did and leave that person whoever it might be. Maybe it is a member of your family, a loved one, or a workmate. Leave them in God’s hands and He will deal with them in due course. 

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.