Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 15th of September, 2024 and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Matthew 23:24:

”Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” 

Religion is a killer. These are the words of Jesus. Now, do you know what a gnat is? I looked up the Oxford dictionary to find out the exact meaning of a gnat. A gnat is a small two-winged fly, resembling a mosquito. Now Jesus says, you strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel. We need to be so careful on this one. We go to Luke 6:9. Jesus asked the pharisees, the religious people: 

Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?”

See, and they never said a word. Now there was a man with a withered hand and Jesus wanted to heal his hand but the religious people said you mustn’t do any work on a Sabbath day, and that is when the Lord asked, “Is it right or wrong to do good on the Sabbath?” We must be very careful that we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Now, moms and dads, tell your children what that means. 

A few years back, two young women came into our church, and I must be honest with you, they were very skimpily dressed and very suggestively dressed, and there was a visitor that came from overseas. He was clearly a pharisee because after the service he came up to us and he said, ”How can you allow two women, so badly dressed, to come into the church?” and we looked at him and we said, ”But sir, we have never seen those women before. This is the first time they’ve ever come to church.” You see, folks, those two women were obviously seeking the Lord, and they decided to be brave and come to church to meet with Jesus, but if the pharisee had his way, he would have never allowed them in. How many times do we read in the bible that Jesus was eating with the tax collectors, the publicans, the prostitutes. Even the disciples didn’t come into those eating houses. “Lord, do you know who those people are?” 

“Yes, I know who they are. I came for the sick, not the healthy.” Be careful today, that we don’t swallow a camel and try and strain out a little mosquito, a gnat, out of our food. 

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day. 
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 14th of September, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Book of Ezekiel 3:17:

”…give them warning from Me…” 

We need to warn people about the urgency of the hour in which we are living. Folks, we need to warn them in order for their lives to be saved. We have a responsibility, however - and this is very important - we cannot lead a person to Christ ourselves. Only the Holy Spirit can do that in the name of Jesus Christ.

I have got a special horse. His name is Snowy. I think you know him. I can take Snowy down to the water but I can’t make him drink. He only drinks when he wants to drink, and seriously, that is the case with people. We can tell them about the Lord but we can’t make them serve the Lord. There is a terrible urgency in the world at the moment. People need to know the way home. They need to know that they have to be born again. It’s what the Bible says. If we look at John 4:35, Jesus says:

”Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? 

In other words, tomorrow is another day. In Zulu we say, “Kusasa, evuma uNkulunkulu“ Tomorrow, if the Lord wills. And Jesus says,

“Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”
John 4:35

We really need to blow the trumpet and warn the people. You know, I have got a picture, I have had it for many years in my mind, and this is the picture - of a sleeping watchman on top of the wall of an old medieval castle, and all the people sound asleep inside the castle. Now the watchman has a responsibility. When he sees the enemy coming, he has to blow the trumpet and warn the people to wake up and get ready to defend themselves, but he is sound asleep, and the enemy has put ladders on the walls, and they are busy climbing up the ladders to go into the castle and to destroy the people. 

You and I are those watchmen. We have a responsibility. “Ja, but they won’t listen to me, Angus”. No, that is not your responsibility. Your responsibility is to tell them, and that is not only by words but by action and lifestyle. It’s not just the responsibility of the evangelist or the minister or the pastor, no! It is every single believer's responsibility, whether at school, at university, in the workplace, in the hospital, wherever you might be. People need to hear that Jesus Christ loves them and that He is coming back very soon and we need to be prepared. 

Have a wonderful day and goodbye. 

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 13th of September, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in Psalm 2:7:

“You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.”  Then we go straight to Luke 4:41:

“You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And those are demons acknowledging Jesus Christ as the Son of God. “

Then Luke 8:28, the same thing again:

“What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”

The first people to acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Son of God were demons - oh yes! Jesus says that He came into the world, not for those who are healthy but for those who are sick, ordinary people who have never met Jesus Christ in a special way. Folks, I want to tell you, as I record this message, there are Mighty Men Conferences taking place all over the world. Just yesterday I was on a zoom call with men in Australia that will be meeting at Ayers Rock, right in the heart of Australia, to pray for revival for the Mighty Men Conferences coming next year. There has just been one completed in Canada - beautiful!  We have got over 20 Mighty Men Conferences happening in South Africa alone, 5 in a row in 5 weeks.. I want to tell you that God is on the move, and I want to tell you that Jesus Christ is the Friend of sinners like you and me. 

Now, for the ladies that are listening to this programme, I want to reassure you that the reason why Mighty Men takes place, is to teach men how to love, how to respect, how to honour and how to protect their women and children, how to put bread on the table, how to teach their children how to love Jesus and to stand up and be counted, and the Lord is doing that.

Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and Jesus went into his house to have a meal with him, the disciples said, “Lord, do you know who that man is?” He said, “Yes, I do know who he is.”  I want to tell you that Zacchaeus got converted that day. He was that little short man who climbed up the sycamore tree to see Jesus coming. He gave 400% of everything that he took away from or stole from anybody else. 

I have seen letters sent to me from little children, 10 years old, in that big, beautiful handwriting - it makes me want to cry, “Thank you for giving me a new daddy after the Mighty Men weekend.” Women writing beautiful letters to us saying, “the man I fell in love with 20 years ago came back home this weekend.” Jesus is on the move, and He is here for the sinner and He is here for those who will put up their hand and say, “Lord, I will follow You.”

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 12th of September, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Matthew 14:25, from the amplified version of the Bible:

“And in the fourth watch of the night (3:00-6:00 a.m.) Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.”

Our dear Lord Jesus had been with His Father, on the mountain, before he performed one of the greatest miracles that this world had ever known. Yes, He walked on the water. Yes, He saved His disciples from drowning. Where did the strength come from? It came from time spent on the mountain with His Heavenly Father. That is what God is expecting of you and from me. Don’t even attempt to serve the Lord if you are not going to hear from God and if you are not going to spend quality time with Him.

Jesus says, time and time again through the Gospels, that He could do nothing without His Father. We find every time the Master did a great work, He had spent time in the presence of His Father. We need to do the same. We need to get our directives from the Lord and not from people and definitely not from peoples’ opinions. The times that you and I are living in, my dear friend, are too dangerous and too critical, for us to simply try and “wing it”, as they say. If in doubt, don’t do it! Hear first from God and then commit and do it with all of your heart. 

It was between 3 and 6 o’clock in the morning, when Jesus came walking on the water. That lake was not calm, it was extremely stormy. That lake is very, very deep. I have sailed on that lake a number of times and even today, it is known to be very turbulent and stormy at times. The disciples were sinking in the boat when the Lord came walking over those waves on top of the water, but without hesitation, when He got to the boat and He stepped into the boat, the waves and the storms ceased immediately.

Today, before we want to attempt something, whatever it might be, whatever decision it might be, please spend time with God and hear from Him.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 11th of September, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

I want to speak to you this morning about quiet time, spending time alone every morning with Jesus. We go to Exodus 33:14:

“My Presence will go with you…”

Isn’t that a beautiful assurance? Then Hebrews 13:5, where the Lord says:

”I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

I want to ask you, are you having a regular quiet time every day? “No.” you say,” I’m too busy at the moment.” And how are things going with you? “No. They’re not going well.” Exactly! We need to put Jesus Christ first every morning before we go to work. It doesn’t matter how busy we are. They asked Martin Luther, the great revivalist, “What do you do when you get busier in the morning?” He said: ”I get up earlier and I have my quiet time.”  We cannot go into the world without having our quiet time.

F P Meyer was a wonderful man of God, a preacher and I picked up this reading that he had written. It goes like this: 

“We should never leave our prayer closets in the morning without having focussed our thoughts, deeply and intensely, on the fact of the actual presence of God there with us, encompassing us and filling the room as literally as it fills heaven itself. It may not lead to any distinct results at first, but as we make repeated efforts to realise the presence of God, it will become increasingly real to us, and as the habit grows upon us, when alone in a room, or when treading the lawn of some natural woodland, temple or when pacing the stony street, in the silence of night, or even amid the teeming crowds of daylight, we shall often find ourselves whispering the words, “You are near. You are here, oh Lord. Amen.”

What a beautiful reading. Today, give Him the first fruits before you go out of your closet. 

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 10th of September, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Lamentations 4:4. The NKJV version says:

The young children ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.”

The Amplified version says:

” …The little ones ask for food but no one gives it to them.”

Very, very sad scripture and so true - so many hungry children in our midst. Then we go to Matthew 14:14:

”And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.”

Now folks, remember John The Baptist had just been beheaded. The message came through to His cousin, our Lord Jesus Christ. He must have been absolutely devastated, and the Bible tells us that He went off by himself to a deserted place, obviously to mourn the death of the man of God, and yet the multitudes followed after Jesus on foot. They would not leave Him alone but He put His personal feelings aside and He went out and He healed all of them. You and I need to keep focused on what God has called us to do.

I can hear a person say, I’m in an old age home, what can I do? Oh, you can pray because there is power in prayer. You might be a businessman, you say, ”I can’t get on the platform, I’ve got too much work to do in my business.” Well, you can support the Gospel by the gift that God has given to you, in generating income. There’s always something that we can do.

Remember the story, I’ve told it to you before about the little boy walking along the sea shore and a great wave came in and thousands of little starfish were stranded on the sea shore and this little boy walked along, probably five, six years old, and started picking up the starfish and throwing them back into the sea and a big man came up behind him and he said, ”Little boy, what are you doing? He said, “I am saving the starfish, sir.” And the man said, “Son, you will never ever be able to throw these hundreds of thousands of starfish back into the sea before they die.” He said, “No, sir” but he picked up a starfish (it makes me want to cry) and he threw it in and said, “but I saved that one!” And he picked up another one and he threw it into the sea and he said, “And I saved that one too!”

Folks, we need to do what we can while there is still time left for the lost in this world. They need to hear the Gospel.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 9th of September, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Book of Matthew 14:9:

“And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her.” 

Peer pressure! King Herod secretly admired John the Baptist for his holiness and his fearless stand for truth and righteousness, but when the crowd was around him, he was under pressure to perform, and he buckled. Do not buckle under pressure. 

Just because everyone else is doing it, young lady, that does not make it right. All the girls in your class tell you they are not virgins - it’s not the truth. Do not conform just to be accepted. It could cost you a lot of pain and a lot of suffering. “The world stands aside for a man who knows where he is going” - isn’t that beautiful? People don’t have to like you but they must respect you. 

I looked up the Oxford Dictionary to find out the literal meaning of the words, “peer pressure”. It means to conform, it means to buckle to intimidation, to buckle under nagging, forcing someone to do something, twisting a person’s arm. Don’t allow it to happen. If you cannot afford to buy it, do not buy it. “Yes, but everybody else has got one.” It doesn’t matter? Cut your cloth according to your pocket and then you will have peace and sleep well at night. Just because other people are doing it, doesn’t make it right. 

King Herod knew what he was doing was wrong but in order to please people, he capitulated, he changed his mind, he let the show down and it cost him dearly. The man that Jesus said was the greatest man to be born from the womb of a woman, John the Baptist, was needlessly beheaded by a king who did not have the guts to stand. You ask yourself the question, “Well, what must I do? What is right? What is wrong? Do I pay my income tax or don’t I? Do I have an affair because all my friends are? ”Well, I will tell you what to do, it is very simple. You ask yourself one single question, and this is the question: What would Jesus do? Then you do what He would do, and you will be safe and you will live a righteous life and things will go well with you. Just do what the Master tells you to do. You will have peace, peace like a river, you will be able to sleep well, operate well. 

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 8th of September, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Lamentations 3:39:

“Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins?”

Why do we complain when we have done something wrong and things don’t work out? Then we go to the Book of Micah 7:9:

‘“I will bear the indignation of the Lord, Because I have sinned against Him…”

Just be honest and say sorry. Just ask God to forgive you and stop complaining about the punishment you are receiving because of something you have done wrong. Fix it, just fix it! Many years ago I leased a field from a neighbouring farm and we grew a crop on that farm, and a young man, who was working with me was a great farmer and he would come back to the farm and would complain furiously. “What is wrong?” I would say. He said, “The neighbour that we have hired the land from, his cattle keep going into our crops and are eating our crops because the fence is so poor. So I said, “Well, let’s fix the fence.” He said, “But that is not our responsibility. We have just hired the land, he is supposed to look after his own farm!” And this continued, and of course, the farmer we were leasing the land from, he wasn’t complaining, his cattle were getting fat, until one day I said to the young man, “Go and fix the fence. It doesn’t matter if it isn’t our responsibility. We are losing our crop.” And of course, once we had fixed the fence, the cattle couldn’t go in anymore. 

I want to say to you this morning, that Jesus is more eager to forgive us of our sins than we are to ask Him to forgive us. Remember the story of the rich young ruler? He came to Jesus and said, “I have obeyed all the commandments of the Bible. The Lord said, “There is just one thing you haven’t done. Give your riches to the poor and come and follow after me.” And he couldn’t do it, he would not, he walked away. And as one minister said to me, “Jesus must have been standing there with tears running down His face,” because that man was walking on his way to hell because he would not repent and adjust his ways. I believe that if that young man had said, “Yes Lord, I will give it all away”, the Lord would have probably said, “Now you can keep it’, because He does not want us to be ensnared by the things of this world.

Today, fix it! 

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 7th of September, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Matthew 13:58:

“Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

What a sad scripture! Jesus did not do many mighty works in His own hometown, Nazareth, because of their unbelief. He says just earlier in the passage:

“A prophet is not without honour except in his own country and in his own house.” 
Matthew 13:57

So sad. From Nazareth down to Capernaum is half a day’s walk. In Nazareth, where Jesus worked in the carpenter shop with His earthly father, Joseph, and his brothers, sisters and mother, Mary, He could perform very few miracles. Yet, a half a day’s walk, down to Capernaum, amazing miracles, feeding 5,000 people with two fish and five barley loaves of bread, walking on the water, healing the sick, setting captives free, delivering people from demons because the people believed.

I want to ask you one thing, and I want you to listen very carefully. Please do not tie God’s hands because of your unbelief. When a person wants to pray for you, it is not the person who is going to heal you. It is the name of Jesus Christ, when a person anoints you with oil and prays the prayer of faith. You can find that in James 5:16. It is the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man that avails much, the Bible says. So many times when I have been overseas, people have come from distances to receive healing and they have received their healing, not because of me. I am merely a vessel of the Lord, but because of their faith in Jesus Christ. 

Remember the woman with the issue of blood? She pushed through the crowd and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. She said to herself, “If I can only touch the hem of His garment, I will be healed.” She was healed immediately. That woman had spent all her money going to doctors. What about Bartimaeus, the blind man? “Oh Rabboni (Teacher), if I could just receive my sight.” Immediately, he was healed. Do not tie God’s hands through unbelief - that is why He could not perform many miracles in His own hometown. 

Jesus bless you and have a day where you contemplate the miracle working power of The Carpenter from Nazareth.

Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 6th of September, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Psalms 37:7: 

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;…”

Then we go to the Book of James 5:7-8

“Therefore be patient, (there is that word again)  brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

We need to be patient and today everything is almost working to the opposite of being patient. It is a case of “Hurry up and let’s do it quickly!”  Everything is fast - fast food, fast cars, a fast life. Folks, I tell you what, it does not last. The Lord says we must be like a good farmer who waits for his crop. Impatient, erratic people will never see the fruit of their labours. You and I have to work at things.

I never had the privilege, and it is a privilege, to go to a theological college to learn about the word of God, but the Lord sent me to the field. He sent me, as a farmer. To put a crop of maize into the ground, or wheat, or corn, it takes a full year, not two or three months. You have to prepare the seed bed, you have to plant the seed, you have to nurture that crop through all kinds of disease, of weather extremes - I am talking about hail, I am talking about drought, I am talking about floods, and you have to stay with that crop. An old farmer once said to me, “Angus, how often do you check your cattle?” I said, “Every single day.”  He said, “Then you should check your crop of maize every single day because you will find something else that you can work on.” You need to deal with the weeds that spring up. If there is insect damage coming in, you need to deal with it. You coax it, you tend it, you love it until the day of harvest, and then, once it is in the bag, as they say, you can relax and give the glory to God.

Work on your marriage. There is no such thing as a perfect marriage, I have never met one yet. Work on your marriage! Study hard to get that qualification, it does not come easy. If it did, everybody else would be doing it. Be patient, not only with your animals but with your loved ones. You see me riding a horse and you think that is easy. No, its not easy, it has taken years and years and years of patience and training to get that horse to do what I want him to do.

Now, let’s spend time with Jesus and He will give us the grace to finish the job.

God bless you and have a lovely day,
Goodbye.