Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 25th of August, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the New Testament, Romans 13:1:

”Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.”

Then we go back to Matthew 22:20-21:

”And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?'” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 

We have to obey the authorities. I can hear somebody right now getting very hassled, ”How can I obey a corrupt situation?” Well, when the Pharisees confronted Jesus about this very thing, the Romans were oppressing the Jews at that very time and yet Jesus said we must obey the law.

I remember many years ago, I was down in the Eastern Cape. I had been invited to speak on a panel to farmers. There were a number of us. I don’t like panels, by the way, because you get put on the spot in front of everybody, and often you don’t even have time to think about it. There were five or six of us on this panel, and there was a group of farmers, and one farmer got up, he was quite upset. He said, ”How can I pay taxes to a corrupt governing authority?” And he aimed the question straight at me. For a moment, I didn’t know what to say because it is a very difficult question, and God is speaking to somebody right now. You are trying to justify why you are not paying your income tax. My friend, don’t do that because Jesus said, ”You must give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.” Anyway, I said to that upset farmer who stood up in front of everybody, I said, ”Do you have a ten rand note in your pocket?” He said, ”Yes.”  I said, ”Can you bring it to me, please?” And I took the ten rand note and I said, ”Whose name is on that note?” He said, ”It’s the name of the government.” I said, ”Well, give to the government what is due to the government and give to God what is due to God.” And that was the end of the story.

I want to say to you, there are a lot of things in this world that are not fair, but I want to tell you that if you start doing your own thing, there will be chaos when everybody does their own thing. We have to obey the authorities, and we have to pray that God will convict them if there is dishonesty and unfair governance.

Let us concentrate today on what God has told us to do, and He will see to it that we, in the end, are justified.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 24th of August 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Joshua 14:2:

“Their inheritance was by lot, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses,…”

Then we go straight to the Book of Romans 2:11:

“For there is no partiality with God.”  

Isn’t that wonderful? God has got no favourites. No, no teacher’s pets! And I am so happy about that because I didn’t feature too well at school. I can tell you right now, He has no favourites. That is why I love Jesus Christ so much. He chose me with all my imperfections, and He loves you just as much.

They used to draw straws, that is what drawing a lot is. So there would be 4 or 5 straws. The one who chooses the shortest straw is the one who gets the position. There can be no favourites. It has nothing to do with size, it has nothing to do with intellect, it has nothing to do with roots, where your family came from, what part of the railway line you grew up on, the good side or the poor side. It is purely because the Lord loves you and He loves me.

I used to say to my mother, “Mom, did you give my brother more food than me when we were small?” (Because my brother is 6 ft 3” and I am 5 ft 8.5”). My brother was a professional sportsman all his life. I could barely hit a golf ball, let alone make a score. Folks, I want to say to you - it’s good news today - maybe you are feeling like you have been left out, that God has forgotten you. No, no, no, no! God has not forgotten you. He loves you so much that He even gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for your salvation. I want to pray for you.

Lord, I pray for my dear friends today, that they would understand clearly that You have no favourites, and that from the day we were born, You have loved us unconditionally, whether we have made it or we haven’t made it according to the world’s standard.

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

John 15:13 - and that is exactly what You did for us, and we love You for it, Lord.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

God bless you and remember - you are special in the sight of God. Have a wonderful day!
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 23rd of August, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for the day. We start in the Book of Exodus 20:3:

“You shall have no other gods before Me.”

Then we go to Matthew 19:22:

”But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

Nothing must come before the sovereignty of God, Jesus first all the time! A man by the name of Guthrie wrote something which I thought was quite challenging. He says, ”If you find yourself beginning to love any pleasure better than your prayers, any book better than your Bible, any house better than God’s house, any table better than the Lord’s table, any person better than your Saviour, anyone better than your soul, a present indulgence better than the hope of Heaven, take alarm.” Folks, that really, really rocked me. 

Now you see the rich young ruler said to Jesus, "I obey all the commandments, right from when I was a young boy.” But Jesus said to him, "Give away all your riches and come and follow after Me.” The Bible says he couldn’t do it, he walked away because his riches, his possessions, were worth more to him than following Jesus.

I remember a minister telling me many years ago that he believed that Jesus was standing, looking at him, with tears running down His face because that young man was on his way to hell. I also believe, and so did that minister, that if he had said, ”Lord, I will follow You,” the Lord would have given him back all his riches. The Lord doesn’t need your riches, my friend. He doesn’t need my riches. He doesn’t need your reputation, He doesn’t need my reputation. He needs us, and today let us take note of anything in our lives. The Lord says in Matthew 6:33:

”But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” 

He doesn’t want to spoil your life. No, He wants to give you life abundantly. That’s what He said in John 10:10. Today, let’s put Jesus first and then He will ensure that we get the rest.

God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 22nd of August, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

Psalm 23:1: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Then we go straight to Romans 12:12:

“…rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer…”

This morning we want to speak about memory verses. As a brand-new Christian, I started to memorise scriptures. The first one I memorised was, of course, John 3:16:

”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.” 

The second one: 1 John 1:9:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

These are scriptures that have kept me going for close on 50 years. I want to encourage that young child, driving to school with mom at the moment, listening to this, to start to memorise Scripture because when you get into a tough spot in life, and you don’t have access to your Bible, you can remember the word of God. It will keep you going.

Now, let’s look at Romans 12:12: 

Number one: Rejoicing in hope - so we get excited. We hope that the Lord will bless us with a good crop of maize this coming season. We are hoping, by the grace of God, that we will pass our exam at school and that this business venture will not fail. We are hoping that we will meet the right man who will become our husband, rejoicing in hope!

Then the second one: Patient in tribulation - when the going gets tough, you have to hang in there and trust God and not panic. Whether it is a financial decision, or you have been to the doctor and he says you are very sick, there is not much hope for you. Patient in tribulation: “Lord, I am trusting You. You are my Healer.” Patient when things are going very tough, patient because they are going to come right!

And then, listen to this: Continuing steadfastly in prayer - You pray in the morning, you pray in the evening, you pray at lunchtime, you pray while you are walking, you pray while you are running, you pray while you are cycling, pray while you are riding your horse. Prayer must become a lifestyle. Then you will find things will change.

There is an older lady listening to this programme right now. She says, “My memory is very poor. I can’t remember things, Angus.” Well, I am going to give you one verse to start with. Mark 11:22:

“Have faith in God.”

That’s it. Let’s memorise that one first. Have a wonderful day!

Jesus bless you and goodbye!

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 21st of August, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Exodus 24:13:

”So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God.”

Then we go straight to the Gospel of Matthew 4:19:

”Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 

What are we talking about this morning? We’re talking about legacy. What are you going to leave behind when you go home to be with the Lord? What are you going to leave your family? What are you going to leave your relations and your workers, maybe? What are you going to leave behind? The Oxford dictionary defines the word, ”Legacy”, as something handed down by a predecessor. Moses left Joshua a powerful legacy of spiritual leadership, faithfulness, and authority, so that Joshua could lead the children of Israel into the promised land after Moses had done his work and gone home. Jesus did exactly the same thing. He taught His disciples lifestyle. He taught them how to live a life of faith. He taught them about humility and love. He taught them about the power of God through the laying on of hands of miracles.

What is so sad for me is when I see a man and wife work so hard to leave a legacy for their children, but they don’t teach them how to use it. It’s like giving your sixteen-year-old boy a Ferrari sports car and telling him to go and drive it. He will kill himself within the first couple of days because he was never taught how to manage the power of that motorcar. My friend, it is so sad for me when I see a family leave money behind, a farm, a business and they have never taught their children how to use it. It lands up in chaos every time because that power, that money, that legacy, will kill your children.

Today, let us be like Jesus. Jesus taught His disciples, and then He sent them out into the world, two by two, to preach the Gospel. Let us be like Moses who taught Joshua. Joshua walked with Moses for forty years before he was promoted to take the Children of Israel out.

Today, I believe the Lord is saying to us, ”Be very careful what you leave your family behind. Teach them the things of God, and then they will succeed, and the Holy Spirit will bless them.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day. 
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 20th of August, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in 1 Samuel 17:45:

“Then David said to the Philistine (that’s Goliath), “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” 

Then we go straight to the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5:

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (fleshly) but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, (verse 5) casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,…”

Our battle today is not a physical one. It is a spiritual battle. Maybe this morning you are in a state of fear. You are wondering, how am I going to pay these accounts at the end of the month? Maybe the doctor has told you that your child is sick, very sick, and you are in a panic situation. What must I do? Where must I go? Well, you must do exactly what the young boy, David did - he was only a teenager.

He was minding his father, Jesse’s sheep on the mountain. What was he doing? He was writing psalms, he was singing to God. He was having a quiet time. Oh, my friend, are you having a regular quiet time with Jesus in the morning? You say, “No”. There is your problem. The weapons of our warfare are not physical. They are spiritual. So when the boy brought food for his big brothers down to the valley, he saw a 9 foot giant by the name of Goliath, mocking the people of God. He did it for 40 days. And he said, “Who is this man?” And his brothers must have told him to leave the food and go back and look after the sheep.

“He said, “No ways! No one is going to get away with this, mocking my God!” He stood up. He said, “Let me sort him out.” Remember Goliath said, “Do you think I am a dog, that you come up against me with sticks and stones?” And listen to what he said. He said, “I come against you in the name of the Lord God, The Commander of the armies of Israel.” And with that he killed him and cut his head off.

Today, you need to do the same. You need to get into your closet, spend time with God. Ask God to show you what to do, and then go out and take it because God has already given you the victory. Jesus bless you and have a victorious day today.

Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 19th of August, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

Today I am going to read a scripture out of the Amplified Version of the Bible - Hebrews 11:1:

“Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].”

That is very powerful. I want you to try and meditate on that fact. You see, faith is real, but you can’t see it, you can’t touch it, you have to believe it. Now, yesterday I shared with you how John Wesley, on his trip to America, got caught in a huge storm, was devastated, thought the ship was going to sink, the passengers were panicking, and there was a group of Moravian believers standing on board, singing calmly, singing hymns. They were not afraid at all, and it blew him away.

He realised he wasn’t even saved. Now I want to continue. Once Wesley came back to England, another Moravian, Peter Böhler, came along 3 years later, in 1738, and he told him he was at his lowest ebb spiritually. In fact, he wanted to give up preaching altogether. This is what Peter Böhler said to him and it has impacted my life as well. He said, “Preach faith till you have it, and then because you have it, you will preach faith.” I want you to think about that.

In 2008, the Lord laid upon me to book the biggest tent in the world at that time which could seat over 30,000 people. It took 17 40-ton trucks, with containers on board, to bring it to the farm, and took over 2 weeks to erect it by a man called Attie Van Staden, whose life was impacted by erecting it. It was the size of 4 rugby fields in the end. I had R500 in my pocket, that’s all I had but by faith I booked it but I didn’t ask for a penny, I never charged for a ticket, and we had it on this farm and we had an amazing encounter with God. Because of faith, God sent 60,000 men, 30,000 in the tent and 30,000 outside of the tent, and He paid for everything. I want to encourage you today to trust God. He will not fail you.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 18th of August, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Hebrews 11:6:

”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.” 

In other words, without faith we can’t please God.

Then we go to Romans 10:17:

”So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” 

Lots of people have written to me over the years and asked me, ”How do you get more faith?” Well, there’s the answer. It comes by hearing and listening to the word of God and reading the Bible.

John Wesley tells a story that took place in 1735. He boarded a ship for the USA, and on board were many English passengers and Moravian people going to America. Moravians from the early church that was started in Germany. As they went to sea, it was winter, it was freezing cold. A great storm arose, the mast broke, and it looked like the ship was about to sink. Now remember, John Wesley was a theologian. He had a Master of Arts Degree in Theology. He thought he was a man of faith. He thought he was a Christian but listen to the story.

The storm got so violent that the English passengers aboard were panicking and screaming. Then Wesley looked up on board, and he saw the group of Moravians quietly, calmly singing hymns to God as the sea washed across the top of the ship. Then he realised that he was not saved and that he did not really know God. It changed his life. I’m talking about faith being a practical thing. Folks, we need to realise faith is not a noun like a cupboard or a chair. Faith is a doing word. It is a verb. 

By action, those Moravians showed John Wesley that he wasn’t even saved, but afterwards, in a little Bible study in Aldersgate in London -  he went to a Bible study. He sat there quietly, and he said a strange warmth came over his heart, scales fell from his eyes, and he believed that at that moment he was born again. 

We need to walk the talk. People need to see our faith by our actions.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day. 
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 17th of August, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Joshua 10:13:

”So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.  And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.”

Remember, Joshua asked the Lord to hold the sun in place until he defeated the enemies and that’s exactly what God did. The Lord works miracles! He expects you and me to believe Him and to trust Him completely.

Then we go to the Gospel of John 14:12 and Jesus said:

“…I say to you, he who believes…” That’s where we come in.”… he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” 

If we, you and I, can believe for the miracle, the Lord can do it. If the Lord can make the sun stand still so that the man of God, Joshua, can win the battle, then surely, the Lord also can do it for us. The problem is many of us won’t believe it. “No, no Lord. You can’t do that.” He says, ”Try me and see.”

Many years ago on the farm when we had just started, we didn’t have much money, and we desperately needed water, and so I got on my knees, and I prayed, and I said, ”Lord, I’m going to take a peg. I’m going to put it in the ground and I’m going to believe you that I am going to hit water when I call the drilling company to come and drill a borehole.” Yes, I got some experts to give me an idea roughly where the rock formation is situated, but as you very well know, you can drill a hole and miss the water by a few centimetres. So I went out prayerfully, with faith, and I put the peg in the ground. Then I called the drilling company to come and drill in that place. Oh my dear friend, all the Glory to Jesus! You know that was fifty years ago. We are still using that same water from the same borehole. It has never gone dry even in drought years because our God is a faithful God. 

Now, today, trust Him. I’m going to pray for you. Jesus, my friend, who is listening to this little message is desperate for the answer to the prayer of faith. I stand and I put my faith together with theirs and I believe for that baby that they have been waiting for, for so many years. I thank You by faith, she will conceive. They will have a child and they will give that child to you. 

In Jesus name, we give You all the glory, amen.
God bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye. 

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 16th of August, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Book of Romans 11:20-21:

“Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.”

I looked up the Oxford Dictionary to get the direct meaning of the word, “haughty”. It means arrogant and superior towards other people. My dear friend, you and I need to be very careful how we stand. If we look at 1 Corinthians 10:12:

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

There is nothing worse for me than to see a young man whose father has worked so hard and built up a very powerful and huge business and then his young son comes into the business - he struts around like a cockerel, shouting the odds to all the employees, telling them what to do, completely arrogant, and yet he himself did nothing towards the building of that huge company. We need to be careful how we stand, lest we fall!

Do you know that lovely old song? I am not sure if I have got the words correct, but it is a song that touched my heart deeply, and I want to sing it to you - just in case we start becoming a little bit haughty and thinking that we have done nothing special. Paul, the apostle, says, “Be careful how you stand.

He paid the debt he did not owe, I owed the 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 the debt I could never pay

Just remember, we are saved by grace alone, undeserved loving kindness, unmerited favour from God, so let us not become haughty. Let us be grateful that the Lord has seen fit to save a sinner like us. 

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.