Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 12th of January, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Book of Habakkuk 2:2-3: 

“Then the Lord answered me and said:

“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.”

I want to ask you today, have you written down any areas of your life that you want to clean up, that you want to do better for the year 2025? We are right into it already. We are almost halfway through January. Can you believe it? But you know, if you don’t write it down, you have got nothing to aim for. What do they say? If you aim at nothing you are sure to hit it. You have got to get that journal. Write down your vision and make it plain, so that others can run with it as well. I have been looking at a devotional and this is what it said, “Think it over.” Now, I wrote in this devotional, you won’t believe it, in the year 2003, 22 years ago! This is what I wrote: “I intend to read my Bible more, to pray more, to have more Christian fellowship, to become a better husband, to become a better dad, to become a better grandad and to work harder for the Kingdom of God.” That is what I wrote in the year 2003, and I stumbled upon that reading this very morning. 

I want to say to you, write down the thing that you are aiming for. 22 years ago that is what I was aiming for and I can tell you from my heart that that is still my vision even today. I am not saying that I achieved it by any means, but that is what I am aiming for. And I want to say to you as well, take a notebook, take a diary and write it down, what you are wanting to do and accomplish and then work towards it, and then the Lord says that we must wait for it, He says because it will speak in due course.

Have a wonderful day.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

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

We start in the Gospel of Matthew 15:11. Jesus says:

”Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

You and I have to clean our act up. Yes, we need to check our hearts today because it is more than outward appearances. You see, Jesus and His disciples were eating some food. They hadn’t washed their hands. They had probably been on the road. The pious Pharisees and scribes started pointing fingers. They said, “Look at these men! They don’t even wash their hands before they eat.” But the Pharisees and scribes went through all their rituals, their traditions, and had a special way of washing their hands, of washing their utensils, but inside they were rotten and Jesus saw it. 

We must not be hypocrites. As believers, we have got to be an example to the world. Jesus is more interested in the inside of a man or woman than the outside appearance of a man or a woman. Matthew 23:27:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”

You see, it is hypocrisy that keeps a lot of people from turning to Jesus Christ. Mahatma Gandhi said he would have no problem following this Man, Jesus, but he could not reconcile himself to the followers of Jesus. We’ve really got to start to clean the inside first. I looked up the Oxford Dictionary of the word hypocrisy, and it is really quite scary. It said, “Behaviour in which a person pretends to have a higher standard than what they really have.”

One of the saddest things that happened to me as a new Christian, many years ago - I heard a true story about a pastor. He was a very fine looking man, always well-dressed, well-spoken and he preached a great message. He went away for a couple of weeks and left the key of his postbox with his secretary and his secretary would go and take the post out every week. She went this one week and took the post out and there she found a pornographic magazine that this pastor was subscribing to.  You see, he had forgotten that the magazine was coming to his postbox and that destroyed his ministry. After that, he left town. I want to say to you, let us be very careful that we walk the talk.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

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

We start in Psalm 90:17: 

“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.”

Make us successful in everything we do, please Lord Jesus, establishing the work of our hands. You know, some say Moses was the greatest leader who has ever lived, apart from Jesus obviously. He took a whole nation for forty years through the desert. Folks, we are talking about temperatures of over 45 degrees, 50 degrees sometimes during the day, and freezing at night. He fed those people, a whole nation, not for one year but for forty years. Moses was a great man of God, but you see his prayer was, “Make us successful, Lord, for Your glory.”

I want to ask you a question. Are you praying every morning before you start work with your staff? Are you praying and committing the day’s work into the Lord’s hands before you start? Whether you be a farmer, school teacher, businessman, or construction man, are you standing with your staff and praying every morning and reading a scripture verse before you start work? Do you know that the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, every single morning, early in the morning, spent time getting instruction from His Heavenly Father as to what He had to do? If you read Mark 6:46, He departed to the mountain to pray, to be alone with the Lord. I want to encourage you to pray in the mornings before you start. That is what makes you a successful man or woman, by committing everything into God’s hands before you do anything else. I want to pray for you at the start of this year that you will do it, that you will discipline yourself and do it every single day. It just makes the day go so much smoother and there is such a bonding with your people when you start the day in prayer. 

Father God,

I pray for my friends today, before they start work every morning, that like the man of God, Moses, they will pray, “Lord establish the work of our hands please”, in Jesus' precious name, 

Amen.

God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 9th of January, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Gospel of Mark 6:50:

“for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

That is what Jesus said when the disciples saw Him walking on the water in the middle of a terrible storm. He is The Miracle-Worker! Oh my dear friend, I have been on a boat in the middle of Lake Galilee and I want to tell you, it is extremely deep. It is the source of life for the country of Israel. Jesus wasn’t walking across a little stream. He was walking across a lake that was in the middle of a terrible storm and the disciples were fearing for their very lives. They were experienced fishermen and they knew that they were in deep trouble. What did He say? The Master said, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” He stilled the aggressive storm and got into the boat with them. There is no living creature who has ever done this before. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. That is what the Bible says in Hebrews 13:8.

The same Lord asked an old woman who was well-passed having a baby, her name was Sarah, that’s right, Abraham’s wife, He told her she was going to have a son, and she laughed. She didn’t believe it and then He asked her a question (Genesis 18:14):

“Is there anything too hard for the Lord?”

Well, the answer is that there is nothing too hard for Him, but why is it that you and I believe the Bible, we believe the written word of God, but sometimes we cannot believe that Jesus can answer our prayers. He can heal that sickness, He can make those blind eyes open, He can open those deaf ears, He can heal that heart problem, He can find that job for you, He can make a place for you at university where they said there’s no place, He can save that marriage. I want to pray a prayer of faith for you today:

Father,

I pray for my dear friend who is really battling to believe that You can answer their prayers. 
Lord, You walked on the water, 
You gave an old woman (nearly 100 years old) a baby,  and You can answer this prayer today. 

We ask it in Jesus’ name, 
amen.

God bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 8th of January 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a Thought for Today. We start in 2 Corinthians 5:17, out of the Amplified Version today:

”Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Saviour], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].”

Wow, what a beautiful scripture! As we start this new year, which is still the first month of a brand-new year, I can hear somebody sitting there and saying, “Angus, I have messed up. I am done and dusted. There is no hope for me - I have let the Lord down, I have let my family down, I have let my husband down, I have let my parents down. There is no hope for me.” Oh yes, there is, according to this scripture! If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. Old things have passed away. 

Look at Mary Magdalene. Jesus cast seven demons out of that woman. She was an immoral woman, according to the word of God, and yet the Lord used her. I want to tell you that if you get to Heaven before me, the woman who will be sitting closest to the Lord, the most beautiful woman in Heaven, will be Mary Magdalene. Why? Because God takes broken things, He renews them and makes them new again. 

What about Peter, the big fisherman? “I will die for You, Lord.” He denied the Lord three times. He was absolutely disgusted with his life, but he repented. He said sorry, and God gave him a new beginning. What about Paul (Saul), the Pharisee? Paul, who thought he was doing a good thing by killing Christians? He was an evil man, but the Lord gave him a second chance, a new beginning, and Paul wrote two-thirds of the New Testament.

I want to pray for you this morning. Put the past behind you. You know, the Lord has got a bad memory. What do I mean? When He forgives, He forgets. So let’s say, “Lord, please give us another chance; give us a new beginning.” Pray this prayer after me:

Dear Lord Jesus,
This morning, on the 8th of January 2025, I give my life to You afresh. 
Lord, I want to make a new start.
I want to put the past behind me.
I see that big blackboard duster rubbing out all that chalk,
all those sins paid for, done.
And Lord, I want to serve You this year with all of my heart. 
I ask it in Jesus’ name, amen.

God bless you, and have a wonderful year,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 7th of January, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Romans 1:21:

“…became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” 

We are talking about vain imaginations, thinking things that aren’t true. Then we go to 2 Corinthians 10:5:

“…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,…”

Oh my dear friend, we really need to be careful what we are thinking about. What am I talking about? We get an attitude against somebody because when we drove past them on our way to work and we waved to them, they did not respond, so we thought, “Oh, they are too good to speak to a humble person like me!” Okay, but what actually happened was, the sun was in their eyes and they didn’t see you. And that other time, you were in the shops and greeted that man who was walking right in front of you, “Hello John,” and he never responded but what you don’t realise is, John left his hearing aids at home and he can’t hear too well, so he never heard a word you said.

I really want to say to you that we need to capture those vain imaginations because they pull you down and start arguments and thoughts that have no foundation, no meaning at all, just the devil trying to cause trouble. So I want to say to you today, read books that are solid, that are encouraging, that are true. Watch movies that have solid backgrounds. Don’t watch rubbish, don’t make your mind like a garbage pit but rather think about things that are pure and good and what the Lord says about you and your neighbour, and you will live a much more pleasant and positive life for Jesus Christ.

God bless you and goodbye. 

I greet you in Jesus' precious Name. It is Monday morning, the 6th of January, 2025, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today.

We start in 1 Kings 17:12:

So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin and a little oil in a jar."

That's what the widow told Elijah, the prophet when he asked her to make him a small biscuit. Then we got to Mark 6:37:

But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat."

Now, there was a large crowd of people, and they were hungry. Jesus says, "You, give them something to eat." You do it. "But you know, I'm an old-aged pensioner, I really don't have much income." or "I'm just a working man or a working woman. I'm a widow, I don't have much. I can't help..." But the Lord says that we are to use what we have. 


Remember, the Lord took two fishes and five barley loaves and fed 5000 men, not including women and children. This morning, God is looking for willing hearts who are prepared to step out with raw faith and obey the word of God. That widow did what the prophet said, and her flour and oil never ran out until the drought was over. If she had refused to make that biscuit, it would have been the last biscuit she and her little son would have eaten. It's in giving that we receive.

What do you have in your hand? Give it to the Lord, and He will multiply it for you.
In 2008, many of you will remember that we had the biggest tent in the world on this farm. Oh yes. We were expecting 23,000 men and 60,000 men arrived. The tent was full - 30,000 seats inside the tent and 30,000 men outside the tent. But listen to this. We also told them that we would feed them. Well, folks, I want to tell you something now. We slaughtered 40 oxen for one meal. Then we had those foot-longs, which we call footlong sausages, like hot dogs, and we fed those men. Then we gave them bunny chow, the famous Natal bunny chow. Where you take half a loaf of bread, take the inside out, and fill it up with stew. We fed them the whole weekend, and we never ran out of food.

Today, give the Lord what you've got. He says we must give them something to eat and let him do the rest.

Jesus bless you, and good
bye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name, it is Sunday morning, the 5th of January, 2025, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a Thought for Today.

We go to Mark 16:18:

“They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Can you imagine the hands of Jesus being laid upon you, my dear friend, to take away all your sickness, all your pain, all your suffering, all your fear and all your anxiety, those beautiful, beautiful hands. Of course, you know they will have a hole through them. They have been pierced by nails when the Lord was nailed to the cross for our sins, but what beautiful hands.

Early this morning I was repairing a fence the back of our garden, and because I'm a preacher now and not a farmer, I must confess, my hands are very soft. I was quite embarrassed. I just remember my dear old Dad. Man, he had hands like you can't believe. He was a blacksmith, and he used tongs and 14-pound hammers, standing next to that fiery furnace and heating up that steel and banging it. He had the most incredibly powerful hands, yet they were so gentle - I never once saw him try to break a man's hand. He would shake your hand and it was like it was in a vice. It was firm, it was secure! Hands, hands are so important.

I remember, one day, going to the chemist's shop and as I was paying for something I said to the lady, look at my hands. I've got hands and like a woman now that I don't farm actively anymore. She looked at me and she said, “Don't insult women's hands.”
Now, when I speak to farmers, I have to put my hands in my pockets because when they see those hands, they'll say those aren’t a farmers hands. But you know, on a serious note, the Lord tells us to lay our hands upon the sick and to pray for healing over them. To get a touch from the Lord is so beautiful and so precious. I love to stop and pray for somebody in the street and I will put my hand on their shoulder; sometimes I don't even pray and they start to weep. It's the love of Christ in us that people need to experience, so it doesn't matter whether your hands are strong or soft. 

I think of the hands of that incredible neurosurgeon, Dr. Carson, who had the gift of separating Siamese twins with one operation taking something like 48 hours. Those were hands of compassion and hands that are strong. Remember, folks, people love a handshake, they love a hug, and it doesn't matter whether your hands are rough, or whether they’re smooth but make sure they're always clean. My Dad had the cleanest hands of a man I've ever seen. He made sure that when he went out, his hands were clean. There might be rough and gnarled, but clean, and most of all filled with the love of Jesus.

Have a blessed day.
God bless you, and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 4th of January, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Old Testament to the Book of Jeremiah 4:22:

“For My people are foolish,
They have not known Me.
They are silly children,
And they have no understanding.
They are wise to do evil,
But to do good they have no knowledge.”

What a sad verse! And then we go to the Book of Hosea 4:1:

“There is no truth or mercy
Or knowledge of God in the land.” 

Another very sad scripture!  As we start the new year of 2025, we have to teach the children of God carefully to do good and not evil. These comments have been made, not to unbelievers - no, but to the Body of Christ! We have got to get back to basics. 

John 17:17, Jesus says:

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

Because I can hear somebody saying, “Yes, but what is truth?” Well, the word is truth. We need to teach our children, teach our loved ones, about the knowledge of God. That is what will set us free, and the knowledge of God is the undiluted word of God. It’s not about our opinions, it is God’s opinion that counts. 

One of my sons met a a new farmer in the district in the local farmer’s co-op, some months back. A very, very successful farmer who had been farming up-country, and he relocated and bought a new farm not too far away from us, and they got talking in the co-op, a good place to talk! This man was devastated. He said, “I have lost almost sixty head of cattle. Sixty cows have died from red water” (which is a tick-born disease). And my son said, “What are you doing about it?” And he said, “No, the vets have told us, the experts have told us to leave the cattle and they will become immune in time.” My son is from the old school. He said, “Sir, I would advise you to dip your cattle regularly.” Well, of course, he got back to the basics and he dipped his cattle. We saw that gentleman in church a few weeks later. His face was beaming. He said, “I have not lost one cow since then.” We have got to do the basics right. There is a lot of theory going on. At the end of the day, it is what Jesus says that counts. 

What am I talking about? 

Husbands, love your wives - that is what the Bible says, unconditionally. 
Wives, submit to your husbands - it’s what the Bible says. 
Children, honour your parents - it’s what the Bible says. 
Parents, do not provoke your children. Love one another unconditionally.
That is wisdom.

Jesus bless you and have a lovely day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 3rd of January, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start off in the Gospel of Mark 6:20:

“…for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.”

Then we go to the Book of Acts 26:28:

"Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

People don’t have to like us but they must respect us. You see, even though John openly rebuked King Herod for taking his brother’s wife and living an ungodly lifestyle, Herod still respected John and admired him. There are many people on the verge of giving their lives to Jesus, and your lifestyle and my lifestyle will determine whether they come through or not. You see, the truth of God draws people to Jesus, just like a light draws a moth in the middle of the night - it’s irresistible. King Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

We must never lower our standards because if we do, people will simply despise us and say, “You see, they are a bunch of hypocrites!” We need to stand tall, we need to speak the truth, and God will bring those people to Himself. When they see your peace, your purpose, your joy, they will come to you and say, “I want what you have got.” So young lady, you don’t have to throw your virginity away just to please people. Young man, you don’t have to bend the rules, put your fingers in the till, as they say, and take money that is not yours, just to keep up with other people. It doesn’t work and it does not last. We really need to stand up for what we believe in.

There is a young man who I love very dearly. I have known him for many years and I keep saying to him, “When are you coming to have a cup of tea with me?” I say to him, “I have got the kettle on, I am waiting for you.” But he knows what we are going to talk about and I am firmly believing by faith that one day, I will get that phone call where he will say, “Angus, I am coming to have that cup of tea.” And that will be the day that he will fully commit his life and his lifestyle to Jesus Christ. But until then, by the grace of God, we continue like John the Baptist to speak the truth in love - in love - and God will do the rest.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.