Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 27th of February, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start off in the Book of Hosea 4:12: 

“My people ask counsel from their wooden idols,
And their staff informs them. 
For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray,
And they have played the harlot against their God.”  

Very sad. Then we go to the New Testament to the Book of Romans 1:21: 

“…because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” 

Idols, lucky charms, wooden carvings and stone statues, made by the hands of mere men are not to be worshipped in the place of the living God. Worshiping images does not please our Heavenly Father at all. That image, by the way, could be our business, it could be our sport, it could be our very health, for example - and I am asking myself the same question - do we spend as much time with the Lord Jesus Christ each day as we do training in the gym? 

Henry Ford basically invented the motorcar. He had an affair with a woman who was not his wife, and when he was caught he confessed his adultery to his own wife but she showed hardly any emotion or even shock. She said to him, “This is not you - you have been having an affair for years with your motorcars and your business, and I have always taken second place.”

It has got to be Jesus, first and foremost. He will not take second place to any idol or image in our lives. 

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 26th of February, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Gospel of John 13:34-35: 

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” 

Then we go to 1 John 2:9: 

“He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.” 

People will know us by the love that we have for one another. A few years ago, I went to a maximum security prison in our nation of South Africa, and I spoke to inmates who were there for various crimes; these were serious crimes. I asked if I could have an orange overall to put on because I wanted to identify myself with the prisoners, and they gave me one. When I stood on the platform and I had finished preaching, I felt such a love towards these men who were serving their sentences. Yes, they had made mistakes, but they were paying for their mistakes.  

The warden said to me, “Don’t get off the platform and walk among them because it is dangerous -” but I just couldn’t help myself. I jumped off the platform and started walking among them, shaking their hands, telling them that Jesus loves them and that I love them, not their deed but the person, and when I came right to the end, there was one particular man - a very notorious criminal but he had come to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. I walked up to him to shake his hand and congratulate him, and as I was about to shake his hand, I felt the Lord say, “Don’t shake his hand, hug him.” And so I just walked up to him and put my arms around him and hugged him and said, “I love you and Jesus loves you too.”

My dear friend, it is a commandment, it is not a suggestion, that we have to love one another. We don’t have to love the deed that they committed, but we have to love the person. Love people - that is a sign of a believer.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 25th of February, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of John 3:8: 

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 

It cannot be explained. We must believe it by faith and by faith alone so that no one can touch the glory of God. I remember it like yesterday, in Ein-Gedi, the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea, in September 2012. It was a night we will never, ever forget. I was standing on the platform, reading from the Book of Acts, where the rushing mighty wind came through the upper room and filled all the disciples with the Holy Spirit, and when I was finished, I was so overwhelmed by the goodness of God. There was a huge crowd, maybe 5000 delegates from 80 nations from around the world, and I stood in front of the lectern, and you can see it - is on video, and I said, “Lord, please do it again, Lord Jesus, do it again.” And I want to tell you there was a wind that came. We don’t know which way it came from. My assistant, Clive, had to go and find my Bible. My Bible weighed about 2 kilos, and it flew off the lectern like a piece of tissue paper. The sound system started blowing away, the guitars, the drums, and the musicians were running onto the platform to try and rescue their equipment, and then when the wind was blowing at its fastest, it started to rain. Now folks, I need to explain to you. It doesn’t rain in that area - very rarely. There are no trees there; it is dry and hot, but this wind blew. It was the most incredible experience I think I have ever had in my life. Now, I just asked the Lord Jesus to please do it again and folks, He did it.

He loves you very much and He wants to fill you also with His Holy Spirit again, but if we look at the verse before, verse 7, Jesus said: 

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

What does that mean? It means to make a new start. It means to ask Him to come into your heart and rescue you from the things of this world. Maybe you have never asked Him into your heart. I would like to pray with you now, if I may. Please pray this prayer after me if you would like to:

Dear Lord Jesus,

There are many things I do not understand. I don’t know where the wind comes from and I don’t know where the wind goes to but I do know that the wind blows because I can feel it on my face. Lord, you said we must be born again so today I ask you to come into my life to fill me with your love and to start with me afresh.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

God bless you and have a wonderful Sunday,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 24th of February, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Gospel of Luke 23:50: 

“Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man.” 

That was Joseph of Arimathea, a businessman. 

Then we go to Matthew 1:24: 

“Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,…” Then verse 25: “And he called His name Jesus.”

We need to do the work which God has called us to do. We can’t all be great ambassadors for Jesus, but we can do the work God has called us to do. Joseph of Arimathea was a businessman. He wasn’t a great preacher, he wasn’t a great leader, he was a good, solid, just man. He was the one who went to Pontius Pilate and asked for the body of Christ. He could have done that at his peril, he could have died for doing that. He took the body of the Master down, he washed His body, embalmed Him in fresh linen which he bought, and spices which he paid for, and put the body of Christ in his own personal tomb, that he had cut out of sheer rock for his own burial, a very expensive operation. He did it gladly because he loved the Lord. He was just an ordinary man doing his part of what God had called him to.

What about Joseph, the carpenter? You don’t hear much about Joseph, do you? Well, I want to tell you that Joseph, the carpenter, was the man who had the privilege of naming that baby that Mary bore. He named the baby, Jesus. He was the one who put bread on the table and he was responsible for clothing and paying for accommodation for Jesus, from the time He was born until the time He was 30 and He went out into public ministry, but you don’t hear much about him, do you? But I want to tell you, he was mightily used by God. He had the privilege of housing Immanuel in his home.

I read this beautiful little saying the other day in a devotional: “He does the most for God’s great world, who does the best in his own little world.” You and I today, lets just get on with the job that God has called us to and He will do the rest.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 23rd of February, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Isaiah 44:2:

“Thus says the Lord who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you…” 

I just want to say to you today, God never makes mistakes and God is the only one who can create anything. He never makes mistakes. He says to us here clearly this morning that He formed you and me from the womb. Remember Sarah, Abraham’s wife, she couldn’t have a baby. She was almost a hundred years old. It is physically impossible for a woman of nearly a hundred years old to conceive and bear a child. Ask any gynaecologist or any child specialist and they will tell you it’s impossible. Hannah could not have a baby; she was the laughingstock of the congregation, and yet God gave her Samuel, who some say was the greatest of all the prophets. What about Elizabeth? She was also old, she couldn’t have a child either and yet she had a beautiful baby by the name of John, The Baptist. Then, of course, what about Mary, the young handmaiden of the Lord? She conceived and bore a child. His name was Jesus, the Son of God. She never knew a man.

What are we saying here? We are saying that it is God who forms you and me in the womb of a woman. I have got a serious word here for lots of moms and dads. Don’t tell your child, especially the last born, ”Oh, you were a mistake.” That can be extremely hurtful and it can be very devastating to some people even when they grow up. They keep on feeling that they were not meant to be, they just happened one night. That is not the truth. Only God can put that seed into the womb of a woman. I want to say to you that the Lord created you in His own image, He loves you very much and He has a wonderful plan for you in your life, and I would like to pray for you.

Father, I want to pray for that person listening to his message who has got a complex, right from when they were small. Their mom and dad probably never meant it jokingly, ”Oh, you were a mistake. We thought our family was complete until you came along." Lord, we cut that thing off in that person’s mind and we remind them today, Lord Jesus, that our Heavenly Father is the Creator, and not man. So we thank You for giving us this life and we pray, Lord, that we will use that life you have given us in the furtherance of the Kingdom of God here on Earth. We ask these things in Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

God bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 22nd of February, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in 1 Samuel 17:58: 

“So David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Then we go to the New Testament to the Gospel of Mark 6:3: 

“Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary…?”

Jesse was a shepherd. His son, David, was a shepherd. Jesus was a carpenter, and Joseph, His earthly father, was a carpenter. I am a farmer, and my sons are farmers, too. I love horses. My sons all love horses and my grandsons. I love Jesus Christ, my sons love Jesus. It is a very important thing to understand. Your children will never do what you tell them, hardly ever, they will do what you do! If you are a drunkard, they have a good chance, unfortunately, of growing up as drunkards. If you are a wife-beater, they will hate themselves for it but they might do the very same thing to their own wives. 

We have a huge responsibility as parents. Yes, I know the story, the Lord has got no grandchildren, every person has to accept and follow Jesus Christ for themselves. Oh, but we must never be a stumbling block for our children because of our lifestyle. Rather, let us be an inspiration. When they see dad getting up early in the morning and spending time with Jesus everyday, the chances are that they will do the same when they grow up. Those girls see mom, the way in which she submits and respects her husband, the good chance is they will do exactly the same for their husbands.

Today, let us be examples for our children so that they get an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. 

God bless you and have a wonderful day.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 21st of February, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We go to the Gospel of Matthew 18:21-22: 

"Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."  

Unforgiveness - we really need to deal with it even today. There is a cancer that eats you up if you don't deal with it. Deal with it today, my dear friend, because every single one of us has to deal with this issue of unforgiveness. 

I read a little story by that great Russian author, Leo Tolstoy. He told the story about two little families that lived next door to each other on small farms in Russia. They were the greatest of friends; they shared everything together. If the one needed flour, he just went to his neighbour next door and his neighbour said, "Help yourself." If the other one needed a spare milk cow, he would just walk across to the fence and say, "Can I borrow your small cow today?" "No problem." They helped each other and they were like one big happy family. But then one day, something happened - the one family had a chicken that laid an egg every single day, and this one day, the chicken flew across the fence into the other family's farm and laid an egg somewhere in the barn and then flew back. The old lady came out to get her egg every morning, as she did, and it wasn't there. She went looking for it and she found it in her neighbour's yard and that started an argument. The one lady said, "How can you trespass onto my farm?" The woman who owned the chicken said, "How can you keep the egg?" And it is ridiculous. It really is; it is laughable, but that incident started brewing and all of a sudden there was an argument between the two women, then the two men got involved and then the children got involved and then they started getting ugly with each other and it blew up to such a degree that the one farmer wanted to burn down the barn of his neighbour, but the sparks of the fire spread into the village and burnt the whole village down. The moral of the story is that if they had just said sorry and made up, they would have still been great friends. 

I want to say to you today, deal with that unforgiveness in your heart. Just forgive that person. Why? Simply because Jesus said so - that's why. I remember going to pray in a church when I was a new Christian. The church was open during the day for a prayer day so you could go in and out and pray. I went in to pray, but I had an issue with my minister. We had a disagreement. I was kneeling at the altar and felt I couldn't pray. I looked to the right of me and who was sitting there, by himself, in the church, was the minister. We had to get up; I got off my knees, went up, and said, "Errol, I am so sorry." He started to weep, I started to weep, and that friendship was mended and went the full distance. Today, just say, "I forgive you."

God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious Name. It is Tuesday morning, the 20th of February 2024, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today.

We go to Galatians 5:22-23:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

I want to speak to you today about branding. Now, on our farm we have cattle and we brand our cattle - We put our sign on the side of the animal. We use a branding iron, why? So that people can see our cattle from a distance, they can see that they belong to Shalom Farm. People should be able to see you and I from a long distance away because we are branded by the Lord Jesus Christ. Our brand mark is the fruit of the Spirit. When we walk into a public place, it should be very easy for us to be identified by the way we stand back and let other people in first; by the way we take care of older people; by the way in which we treat our waiter - Yes, they are getting paid to wait on us but we should treat them with love and patience. There's a ranch in America called King Ranch. They own 825,000 acres. They run 35,000 head of cattle and 200 quarter horses. They have a brand called "The Running W." It's a 'W' that they brand on the side of the cow; why? So that they can see their cattle from a long way away. You and I are branded, yes we are rebranded by the Name of Jesus Christ.

One of these fine days the Lord is coming to fetch us, whether we meet him in the air or whether he comes and takes us home to be with Him. My prayer for you today, my dear friend, is that when the Lord comes to fetch us He won't have a problem identifying who we belong to. Whether we belong to the Lord or whether we belong to the devil. You see, it is not only the brand mark; it's the condition of our animals that tells people where they come from, and we need to be in good condition. We really need to be ready for the coming of the Lord and what a beautiful opportunity you and I have today, to stand up for Jesus, when people can say that man walking down the street - He is a Christian! How do you know? Well, look at the smile on his face; look at the way he's walking. He is a proud man but he is very humble as well. He is a man you can trust, he is a man of God.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day goodbye

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Monday morning, the 19th of February, 2024, and this is your friend Angus Buchan with a thought for today. 

We start in the book of Isaiah 49:15-16: 

"Can a woman forget her nursing child,
and not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
Yet I will not forget you.
See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands…."

Then we go to 2 Peter 3:9:

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

Jesus will never give up on you, my dear friend. It doesn't matter what you've done or what you haven't done. That's how much He loves you. He loves you so much. The Lord uses an example of a nursing mother, that's a mother who is suckling her baby on her breast, and he says even she might give up on that child, but Jesus will never give up on that child.

When you see visitors coming to the farm, and they see a bull in a paddock, people may say to you, 'Beware of that bull. It may charge you." I want to tell you, you don't have to worry about the bull; what you have to worry about is a new calf with its mother - a big Brahman cow who is so proud of her calf, and if you come anywhere near that calf she will literally kill you. That is what you need to be afraid of, not that bull standing in the paddock by himself, but a mother and a calf at foot. That mother will die for that calf, yet Jesus loves us even more than that. Isn't that wonderful news?

Today, after this little program, get on your knees and say, "Lord, thank you that you have not given up on me." It doesn't matter what the devil says. It doesn't matter what other people say, He is not slack and He will persevere with you to the very end. Just open your heart and allow Him to come in.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 18th of February, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Isaiah 41:13:

“For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’ 

What a beautiful promise! Then we go straight to the Gospel of John 16:7: 

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”  

We need to understand we have nothing to fear. The Lord is with us always, He is in our very heart so we have nothing whatsoever to be afraid of today. 

You know, that little Zulu preacher, William Duma, who has since gone to be with the Lord, he had an incredible relationship with the Holy Spirit. The story goes that one day, he was travelling on a bus, going to an appointment, driving through the sugar cane fields of Kwazulu Natal. The bus was full of people. He was sitting in the front seat, just behind the driver and he felt the Holy Spirit tell him to get off the bus immediately. So he did not hesitate. He stood up and told the driver, “You must stop the bus, I have to get off.” The bus driver was very angry with him, “Why do you want to stop in the middle of nowhere?” “I have to get off the bus immediately.” The bus driver stopped the bus, the people were quite irate, they wanted to get to their destination. They let the little preacher get off the bus with his small suitcase and away the bus roared, down the road, clouds of dust following it. And he stood alone in the sugarcane fields wondering, “Lord, why do You want me here?”. That bus only went one or two kilometres down the road and had a head-on collision with another vehicle. The very place where William Duma was sitting was crushed. He would have been killed.  

The Holy Spirit is with us always. He is our Helper. We need to listen to His inner voice speaking to us on a day-to-day basis. When He speaks to you in your heart, listen to Him, He is here to help you.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.