Episoder
-
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 28th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start off in the Book of Psalms 1:3:
“He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.”What a beautiful promise for the children of God from our Heavenly Father! Then just to confirm that we go to the Book of Ezekiel 47:12:
“They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
What a beautiful promise from Jesus Christ for you, my dear friend and for me, today. When I think of rivers of living water, I think of the mighty Victoria Falls, one of the wonders of the world. Maybe you have never had the privilege of being there. I want to describe something to you. I want you to think of Dr David Livingstone, the missionary, who was walking through the bush for days if not weeks - flat, dry land, no mountains, no valleys, just flat, with a lot of thorn bush. He must have woken up one day and as he was walking he saw a column of smoke going right out of the ground and into the sky. He must have seen it many, many miles away. As he got closer, he realised it wasn’t smoke, it was mist. It was coming from a river, the mighty Zambezi River, and then he saw the wonder of God, the Victoria Falls.
There is a depression in the ground. There is no mountain, there are no waterfalls, the river is running and it disappears into a crevice. The Africans call it Most-Oa-Tunya, The Smoke That Thunders. The ground literally trembles under your feet in the rainy season. You can hardly see anything with this beautiful water. There is a forest there, a green lush forest that looks like a tropical jungle, walking out of those dry wastelands. Now I want to say to you today, that is what Jesus is to you and I, but you need to be thirsty. He was very thirsty, I am thirsty and I am sure you are. That water brings healing to your body. It is a soothing feeling in your very innermost being. It is food, it is life, it’s cleansing, it’s restoring and it is for every season of life.
Today, put your feet in the beautiful, cool water and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will soothe you, refresh you and take away all your fears and all your doubts.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
-
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 27th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Joshua 24:15:
“…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,…”
Then we go straight to the New Testament, to the Gospel of Matthew 12:30. Jesus says:
“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.”
I read a beautiful comment made by Mark Hopkins, he said: “Choice and service, these were demanded of the Israelites, these are demanded of you and I. These only, choice and service. In these, are the whole of life.” There is something very powerful about a public declaration, isn’t there, a public declaration of your faith and service towards God?
I remember my oldest son standing up the day he got married at the reception, and telling all the guests that, “Today, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” I have never forgotten that. It was many, many years ago. It cements things, doesn’t it? You know the Fiji Rugby Sevens Team, a beautiful sport to watch, these huge men from Fiji are so often the world champions but I know why, I really do! It’s because they are not ashamed to thank the Lord Jesus for their victory. Often I sit and I chuckle when I see the interviewer stretching out his arm with the mic to give it to the Fijian players, these huge men with the sweat pouring down their faces, some of them bleeding, cut by the match, they take hold of the mic - big mistake for the interviewer! And then they say, “We want to give God the glory! We want to thank Jesus for giving us the strength to be able to play rugby for Him.” And the interviewer is trying to rescue the mic back but he can’t get it back. And then they greet all their families back in Fiji and then they start to sing hymns, that’s right, they are not ashamed of the Gospel. And I believe that is where the power is.
Why don’t you and I do it today? Why don’t we tell the first person we meet today what Jesus Christ means to us.
God bless you and have a lovely day,
Goodbye. -
Mangler du episoder?
-
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 26th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start off in 1 Kings 19:5:
“Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
That was Elijah in the desert and the Lord fed him through the angel. Then we go straight to the Book of Mark 1:13:
“And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.”
Oh my dear friend, nothing has changed, Jesus still wants to do it for you today! I don’t know what situation you are in. Still, He is telling you loudly and clearly, “If I can do it for my prophet, Elijah, feed him in the desert by using an angel, and if I can look after My Son, My beloved Son, for forty days and nights in the most extreme and hostile environment”. He can do it for you and for me!
I really do believe in angels. I want to tell you that Jesus is God made flesh, but He was very much man, and the experts will tell you, after three days the human body closes down if it doesn’t get water, and then forty days without food, any sort of food, is basically physically impossible. So how did it happen? Yes, our beloved Father sent His angels to minister to His Son in the desert to keep His Son from being attacked by wild beasts and by the lies of the devil. He never abandons His children, no matter how desperate the situation might be. I want to say to you today, I don’t know where you are at, but I want to tell you if you allow the angels to minister to you, they will take you on their wings through your situation and bring you out the other side.
George Müller is one of my heroes. Now, George Müller started the children’s homes in Bristol, England a couple of hundred years ago and what a man of faith! He had taken in a whole lot of street urchins, they were in this big boarding house and they had had their last meal that night. The next morning there was nothing to eat and yet when George Müller got up, he said to the children, “Lay the table...” They thought the old man had lost his marbles! “…and let us say our grace, “For what we are about to receive,…” There was a knock at the door. He said to one of the children, “Go and see who is at the door.” There was a dairyman who had been passing by with his wagon, to take his milk, cheese, butter, cream to town to sell and the trailer had broken down. He said, “Can you use this food?” They said, “Thank you”, closed the door and when they had sat down, there was another knock on the door. He opened the door and there was a baker with a red face, very embarrassed and he said, ”The Lord woke me up in the middle of the night and asked me to bake bread for you.”
Folks, I want to tell you, those were angels! Today, trust God for your angel.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.
-
I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Monday morning, the 25th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in Job 38:1-4:
"Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
"Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?"
We are not to question God, folks. We must remember who we are and we must remember who He is! I listened to the most beautiful song last night, sung by a young lady named Phillipa Hanna. It's called: 'You're still God', the words go something like this:
"When all foundations have been shaken
When I'm left standing in the dark
And all I feel is my heart breaking
You still reign, and You're still GodAnd when it feels all hope has faded
The heavy questions hit so hard
And though my soul may feel forsaken
You still reign and You're still GodThough I can't see what's before me
I know that I can trust Your heart
And this one truth will be my story
You still reign, and You're still God."You know folks, I remember, like yesterday, my old dad came to stay with us for the last few years of his life because my mother passed away before him. He lived in the little cottage behind us, and then he took sick, and eventually, we had to put him in a home for the frail because my wife couldn't take care of him. He's just such a big man that she couldn't turn him over and handle him. I used to visit him every single day, sometimes twice a day. I'd go to town to get spares for fixing my tractors, and I'd pop in and see Dad. I was so close to him.
He became more than a father to me; in those senior years, he became my friend. One day, I came in, and he didn't look so good, and I said: "Dad, I'll see you this afternoon." I came back to the farm; in those days, we had the old party line - two shorts, one long, that was your call sign or one long and two shorts. Now, the young people with cell phones won't understand that. You had to pick that receiver up and crank that thing to get the operator to answer. We were all connected together.
When I returned to the farm, I walked up to my farm office. I had a telephone there and one down at our little house. As I walked in the door, I heard the phone ringing. I picked it up and didn't say anything; my wife Jill picked up the phone at the house. It was the old age home saying: "We just wanted to tell you, please give a message to Angus; his old dad has passed away and gone home to be with Jesus."
When all your foundations have been shaken, remember He is still God. You know, Job could say, right at the end in Job 13:15:
"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."
Maybe you are there today. Lean hard on the Lord and He will take care of you because He knows all things and He has a plan for your life.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.
-
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 24th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go straight to the Book of James 1:22:
”But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
Then we go straight to the Gospel of Matthew 27:58:
”This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.”
Yes, we are talking of Joseph of Arimathea, a very rich man. So often, rich people get condemned because they are rich, and I want to tell you something now, some of the most generous people I’ve ever met in my life are rich people, and they are rich because they are hard-working. It’s not a sin to be rich folks. The sin comes when we love money more than God. It’s the love of money that is the sin, not money itself.
Ephesians 2:8 says we have been saved by grace, through faith, and even that, not of ourselves, for it was a gift from God. I know better than anybody that I am saved by grace, there’s nothing good about me that will get me to Heaven. However, we must remember, that once we’ve had an encounter with the Lord, there must be fruit available. Joseph risked his very life asking for the body of Christ from Pontius Pilate. He exposed himself - he could have been killed for that but Pontius Pilate gave him the body of our beloved darling, Jesus Christ. He took that precious body, washed it clean, wrapped it in clean linen cloth and laid it in his own tomb, which he had dug out of solid rock. Remember, faith is a doing word. It’s not just talking, my dear friend.
I remember seeing a cartoon once in a Christian magazine which made me cry. There was a picture of a very big, overfed minister with a dog collar on, and he had a big black Bible in his hand, and with his other hand, he was pointing down at a small little child who was suffering from malnutrition. He also had a big stomach but it was because he was hungry. He was holding a little begging bowl in his hand and the caption under the cartoon said, ”Tell me preacher, will there be food in heaven?”
Today, go out and bless somebody who cannot repay you and you will be blessing God.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.
-
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 23rd of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to the Book of Jeremiah 18:4:
”And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.”
Then we go to the Gospel of John 12:24:
”Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”
"Heaven will be filled with broken vessels, broken upon the wheel of earth." Campbell Morgan said it, and I think it is so true. Yes, we will be made into new creatures. There is no doubt about it but it’s men and women who have been broken on the wheel of earth, the potter’s wheel of earth, that will fill heaven. You see, it’s in dying that we live. Even as our beloved Christ was broken on the cross, so too we must be prepared to be broken. Maybe this morning you feel that your dream, your vision, has failed miserably. It’s all been a waste of time. Oh no, oh no! Take heart Christians, many of those who have gone before us must have felt exactly the same way. Get up now, dust yourself off and get back into the fight.
I want to give you an example, Jim Elliot, I think he must have been 29 years old, he must have felt the same way when he was being murdered in the Amazon jungle. What a waste - but I want to tell you folks that through his death and through his friend's death, thousands of young men and women have gone to the mission fields to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are still going even today. That same young man said, ”It is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Today, you and I, let us keep on. You might feel broken, you might feel that you have disappointed others. Get up and keep going because heaven is filled with people who have been broken on the wheel of earth.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 22nd of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to the last Book of the Bible, Revelation 22:12-13. This is Jesus speaking:
”And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
Then we go right down to verse 20 and the Lord says:
“Surely I am coming quickly.”
Oh, how many of us can say, “Lord, today would not be soon enough.” Jesus is our measuring staff. When we look at the chaos in the world today, we just see how things are disintegrating and we cry out, “Lord come, please come Lord. End these double standards, the dishonesty. Shatter the long nights of sin and of sorrow, of tears, of pain, despair and death.” We are to look up folks. Many of us are looking too low. We must look up because Jesus is coming back very soon. He who aims beneath the stars, aims too low. We must aim above the stars - we as followers of Christ. We’re not going back to Egypt. We’ve got no reverse gear in our motor cars. We are refusing to lower our standards for anyone. We are going to remain fearless and expectant for our soon-coming King.
One of the heroes of the early fathers of the church was Polycarp. Polycarp was a martyr, he died for his faith. He was the Bishop of Smyrna. He was 86 years old when they arrested him. The Roman soldiers that arrested him said, ”Listen old man, we don’t want to kill you. Just renounce the name of Jesus, follow after the gods of Rome and we’ll let you die in peace.” He said, ”No ways.” And so they took him to the arena and the crowds were waiting in anticipation to see a child of God be burned at the stake.
The Proconsul, the representative of Caesar, said to him, ”Do you know who I am? I have the power of life and death over you. Do you know who I am?” And the old gentleman said, ”Oh yes, I know who you are. You are the son of the devil!” Folks, we need some men like that who fear nothing but sin and desire no one but God.
Today, lift up your eyes. Get rid of all that sin in your life, and get ready for the coming of the King.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.
-
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 21st of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to the Book of Ephesians 4:15:
”…speaking the truth in love,…”
It is the truth that will set you and me free today. The truth cancels out all our mistakes. In other words, just own up and apologise and say sorry, and it sets us free. But as long as you and I continue to tell untruths - yes, that little white lie…there is no such thing as a white lie, we are held prisoner by the devil himself. You see, one lie leads to another lie. As they say, when you tell lies, you have to have a good memory because you have to remember what you said the last time, and slowly but surely, what happens is we get trapped in a spider’s web until we cannot escape. We need today to speak the truth in love.
That is what happened to Richard Nixon. He had the potential to be America’s greatest president. I mean, he made peace with China, he was a great diplomat. He had incredible natural abilities, but he told an untruth, he told a lie and then to cover that lie, he told another lie, then eventually he put his hand on the Bible and swore over the Bible that he had not made the mistake, and he was found out and it toppled him completely until he had to leave office.
Tell the truth today in love and Jesus Christ will back us up all the way and we will walk free because the devil will have no more hold over us. Folks, today Jesus Christ is saying to you and to me, ”Let us walk in honesty and the purity of God’s word.” And if we do make a mistake, and by the way, every single one of us have - Peter made three mistakes, he denied the Lord three times, he didn’t know him when he knew him very well, but he repented, he said sorry and what did Jesus do? He forgave him and used him to head up the church.
Today, let’s walk in truth and let’s be free. The Lord shall set you free - you shall be free indeed.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 20th of November, 2024 and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Proverbs 10:19. The word of God says:
“In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.”
Then we go to Matthew 27:14:
“But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.”
Now the Message translation says: “Do you hear that long list of accusations? Aren’t you going to say something?” Jesus kept silence—not a word from His mouth. The governor was impressed, really impressed.”
We need to watch what we say. We need to make sure that our words are sweet because one day we might have to eat them! The longer you speak, the more you dilute your point. Speak less, listen more and we will become mighty wiser people. Mom, those children don’t listen to you maybe because you talk too much all the time. Let your words be shorter and to the point.
I love the story of Sir Winston Churchill, the famous British Prime Minister, the “bulldog of Britain”. He went to Harrow School in 1941, in the middle of the Second World War and all the students were there, probably hanging on each word he was going to say. One of the greatest speakers ever to live, got up, walked up to the podium, looked at those young men and said, “Never, never, never give up!” And then he went and sat down. That was it. Do you know that that speech is the shortest speech he ever made, yet everybody knows it.
Today, be like Jesus. Let your words be few but let each one count.
Jesus bless you and goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 19th of November 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Gospel of Luke 23:3:
”Then Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered him and said, “It is as you say.”
Jesus Christ is the King of all Kings. Hallelujah. He’s the Lord of Lords. He’s the Lily of the Valley. He’s the Bright Morning Star. He’s the friend of sinners like you and I. Folks, I want to say to you that every single creature that has ever existed in Heaven and on Earth knows in their heart, that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Philippians 2:10-11 says every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Everyone knows this. You say, “How come?” Because God has put eternity into the heart of a man.
You can go to the Amazon jungle, you can go to the Congo jungle, you can go to the Artic Circle, and you can meet people who have never ever heard the name of Jesus and you can ask them, ”Is there a God?” And they will say, ”There is. There is a higher power”. They just don’t know His name because you and I haven’t told them, but they know that there is a creator! Albert Einstein regarded as one of the most brilliant men that ever lived, acknowledged that there is a God. This creation couldn’t have happened with a Big Bang. It is created.
I want to ask you a question, ”Do you know Him today, sir? Do you know that Jesus Christ is God in flesh? Immanuel, God with us?” I want to suggest to you, stop arguing with God and start believing. Do you know that there is more evidence that Jesus Christ walked on this earth than there is that Julius Caesar was the Emperor of Rome. Yet no-one questions the fact that Julias Caesar was the Emperor of Rome. Yet we are always questioning whether Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God. You know, Pontius Pilate asked Him, he said, ”Are you the King of the Jews?” He said, ”Yes, it is as you say.” Oh, my dear friend. I want to pray with you this morning.
Father,
This man, this woman, who is listening to this message this morning, they continue to doubt Your sovereignty. Please forgive them.
Pray this prayer after me:
I confess that I have doubted God but today,
I choose by faith, to believe that Jesus Christ is the soon-coming King.
Amen.God bless you and have a wonderful day. Goodbye.
-
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 18th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Isaiah 42:3:
”A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.”
Folks, I want to say to you that the Lord will establish justice on the earth. “Gentle Jesus meek and mild” - that was a children’s hymn that was written in 1745. It goes like this:
Gentle Jesus meek and mild,
Look upon a little child,
Pity my simplicity,
And suffer me to come to thee.They say in the early days that instructing little children to memorise and sing hymns was the most important way to keep truth in their little minds. I want to speak to you about the gentlest person who ever walked on the face of the earth. Yes, His name was our beloved Jesus. You say, ”What was His character like?” Well, let me give you an example. You know He was the one that was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, and you can read it in John 18:8, and yet what did He say, He said, ”Let these go their way,” the disciples, ”I’m the one that you want.” Isn’t that beautiful?
He was the one, when He was hanging on a cross, where spikes had been driven through His hands and through His feet and a crown of thorns rammed upon His head and blood pouring down His face, He could say, ”Forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Oh yes, this is the gentle Jesus I’m talking about. He’s the one who could tell Peter that he will see Him in Galilee. Why didn’t He say that to all the others? No, because Peter was the one who had denied Him no less than three times, but He still loved him.
He’s the one who, when He was hanging on the cross, looked down and saw the disciple John and He said, ”John look after my mother.” And then He looked at His mother and He said, ”Mom, look after my brother” - so gentle. Gentle means mild and kind. Moderate, not harsh or severe but kind, tender, understanding. Talk to Him today, He’s waiting for you. He says to you and I, ”I have come to give you life abundantly.” John 10:10.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day with gentle Jesus,
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 17th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in Psalm 65:3:
“Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them.”
Beautiful! In the Amplified Version it says:
“Wickedness and guilt prevail against me; Yet as for our transgressions,You forgive them [removing them from Your sight].”
Oh beautiful! Then 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.”
Isn’t that beautiful? Jesus provides a way of escape, a way out. Not only does He forgive us of our sins, but He also forgets our sin! When you go to the Lord and you say, “Lord, remember that thing that I did last week?” He says, “No, I don’t remember. When He forgives, He forgets, not like us - when the going gets tough we say to that person, “Remember what you did to me at that other time?” God never says that. That is why I love Him so very much.
Romans 8:1 (Amplified Version):
“Therefore there is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict, no punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus [who believe in Him as personal Lord and Saviour].”
Isn’t that beautiful? No fishing - okay, there is a big pool there, you want to go fishing - no! There is a sign up there that says, “No fishing!” When God forgives, it is done, therefore go, sin no more. It is like getting all those accounts at the end of the month. You don’t know how you are going to pay them, you start opening these accounts and there is a big stamp, right across those accounts, “Paid”, “Paid”, “Paid in Full” - “Paid By The Blood of Jesus Christ which was shed on the Cross of Calvary for you and for I.”
Go therefore today, knowing that your sins are forgiven and the Master says, “Go and sin no more.”
Jesus bless you and goodbye.
-
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 16th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Gospel of Matthew 10:30-31. Jesus says:
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
Our God is the God of infinite detail - do you know that He even knows how many hairs are on our heads!? Ask your hairdresser the next time you get your hair done, if she can just quickly count the hairs on your head. She will never do it, will she? I can hear somebody saying this morning, ”But nobody cares about me, Angus. I don’t have a friend in the world. If I was to die today, no-one would even notice.” That is not true. He cares for you. He loves you so very much that He died in your place. John 15:13:
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
Do you know that Jesus Christ knows you by name? When you die and you go to Heaven, yes, there will be huge crowds there, tens of thousands, millions, and yet He will be there to welcome you home!
I don’t know if you have ever travelled overseas to an international airport. I am just thinking of Atlanta Airport in the United States of America. You get off that aeroplane, folks, I am telling you, especially for a country boy like me, a farmer, you don’t know where you are. When you go through customs and immigration, you are faced with escalators going up, escalators going down, and signs everywhere. You follow the signs, you go down underground and the next thing, a huge train! The doors open, people go in, people go out and you just say, “Lord, please help me!” It’s quite an experience but I want to tell you, when you get home to Heaven, there is going to be a personal welcome for you. Jesus is not going to send one of His soldiers, one of His disciples, no, no, He promised you, He is coming Himself. He is going to say to you, “Welcome home Peter!”, “Welcome home Jenny, Lindy, Johnny, Patricia!” Let’s not disappoint our Lord Jesus when we arrive at home and we don’t know who He is, because I am telling you He has got a huge banquet waiting for you in Paradise.
In John 14:3, He says,
“I am going ahead to prepare a place for you and then I am coming back to fetch you."
Today, just rejoice as the Lord not only knows you, He loves you and He created you.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.
-
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 15th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to 2 Corinthians 1:22, and I’m going to read it out of the Amplified version:
”… it is He who has also put His seal on us [that is, He has appropriated us and certified us as His] and has given us the [Holy] Spirit in our hearts as a pledge [like a security deposit to guarantee the fulfillment of His promise of eternal life].”
Oh beautiful, a security deposit to prove His promise of eternal life. He’s given us His Holy Spirit. Jesus has put His seal upon us. Certified us as His alone. Isn’t that beautiful? He has stamped us with His seal of love over our hearts, like you put an engagement ring on your fiancé’s finger. “She is mine”. Stamped us with His eternal pledge, His eternal promise. We are guaranteed that by His promise, we are His forever. That seal can be seen by everyone, a lifetime guarantee. Isn’t that beautiful?
We were in Israel maybe just over a year ago now and one of our meetings was at King David’s Tower that he built in the Old City, a most beautiful place. We had a wonderful service with all our pilgrims, over 300 of us. At the completion of the service, we were just closing up, a young man came up to me in tears and he said, ”Angus, I feel convicted.” Oom Angus, he called me. “I feel convicted by the Holy Spirit. I need to marry my girlfriend. We have being going out for a couple of years.” I thought she was in South Africa. I said, ”Where is she?” He said,” She’s here, she’s part of the group.” I said, ”Bring her up here.” I called them up onto the platform and he pledged his seal upon her. He got on his knees in tears, she was in tears, we were all in tears, and I married them right there in David’s Tower in the Old City of Jerusalem in Israel, with much rejoicing! He put his pledge upon her, gave her his ring. They were man and wife. God blessed them and you know something, just a month ago, they gave birth to their first child. A beautiful baby boy, I’ve seen the photos. A happy mother, a proud father and take a guess what? They have named him David.
Allow Jesus to put His seal upon you too.
Jesus bless you and goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 14th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start with the most well-known scripture in the whole Bible. John 3:16. We all know it, say it with me:
”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.”
I want to speak to you today about the greatest miracle that has ever happened in the world. Now, when it comes to miracles, St. Augustine said, ”Miracles are not in contradiction to nature. They are only in contradiction with what we know of nature.” I really like that. Be careful folks, that we don’t get too clever and try to explain everything. You can’t explain a miracle.
I looked up the Oxford dictionary to find out the literal meaning of the word, “miracle”. This is what it says: “A welcome event that is so extraordinary it is thought to be the work of God or a saint. It is amazing, astounding, remarkable, extraordinary, incredible, unbelievable, sensational and phenomenal.”
Now, the greatest miracle of all is Christmas. We are in the Christmas season, Immanuel - It means God with us. Now seven hundred years before Jesus was born, Isaiah 7:14, tells us about the virgin birth of Jesus. A virgin is a woman who has never slept with a man, and the Bible tells us in Isaiah, seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, that a young maiden will become pregnant with a baby, without knowing a man, and that baby’s name will be Jesus and we can see confirmation of that in Matthew 1:23.
I want to sat to you today my dear friend, if you cannot believe in miracles you cannot believe the Bible. The Bible is one miracle. The Gospel of John 1:1:
”In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
When an atheist says to you they don’t believe in God and you ask them, ”Well how did everything come into being?” And they will say to you, ”With a Big Bang.” Then you need to ask them, ”Who made the big bang?” It was God.
In the beginning was the Word and you’ll find that your strength will be built up if you believe Romans 10:17:
”So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
Jesus bless you at this Christmas season,
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 13th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in 2 Kings 6:17.
"Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. ”Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
Then we go to Genesis 33:1:
“Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men.”
We need to open our spiritual eyes and we also need to always remember, if we are followers of Jesus Christ there are always more who are for us than those who are against us.
F B Meyer was a great preacher and he said, “Do not lift up your eyes and look for Esau’s. Those who look for troubles will not be long without finding trouble to look at. Lift them higher to Him from whom our help comes, then you will be able to meet your troubles with an unperturbed spirit. Those who have seen the face of God need not fear the face of man that shall die. To have power with God is to have power over all the evils that threaten us." Isn’t that a beautiful promise? You know, the very thing you are afraid of might never take place.
Now we go back to the story of Jacob and Esau. You see, Jacob had been very unkind to Esau, he had cheated Esau of his inheritance, and there comes his brother Esau with 400 men. Jacob thought it was payback time, he was petrified, he put his family behind him and he thought, “Well, here we go!” And what happened? Esau ran over to him and hugged him and loved him. The very thing that he was afraid of was actually nothing to be afraid of because his brother was coming to love him. Maybe today there is something in your life which is really making you so fearful. I want to suggest to you, lift up your eyes a bit higher, just like Elijah’s servant. Elijah prayed, “Lord, open his eyes and let him see that there are more who are for us than those against us - chariots of fire all around the mountain! I want to tell you, if God is on your side - you have got nothing to fear!
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 12th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Judges 7:7:
”Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you,…”
Then we go straight to the Gospel of Matthew 26:56:
”Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.”
Have you ever felt deserted? Oh well, go to Jesus, He understands. Have you ever felt that everybody’s left you. Go to Jesus, He understands. I don’t think there’s anything more ugly than self-preservation. It can be such a terrible thing, and that’s what happened. All the disciples fled and left the Master on His own when He needed them the most. Peter followed Him at a distance. You can read that in verse 58. What about Gideon? He started with 32,000 fighting men. He ended up with 300 men.
I believe the Lord is saying to you and me this morning that it’s not about man’s approval. It’s about the vision which God has given to you and I to perform. You see, Jesus was sent by His Heavenly Father on a mission, to save the world from it’s sin, and nothing was going to stand in His way. Irrespective if no one was going with Him, He was still going. If we are depending on man’s support, if we are depending on man’s approval, we will be sorely disappointed.
James Hudson Taylor took the Gospel to China. He went alone. He had no support. There was no big organisation paying his way. I want to tell you the biggest revival in the world today is happening in the underground church, that’s right. China is not supporting Christianity. Something like 60 million believing Christians and counting. One man - he had no support but God gave him a vision.
What about William Carey? William Carey went to the board, he said, ”I believe we need to go and take the Gospel to India.” Some of the long grey beards stood up and said, ”Listen, if India needs to be saved, God will do it. He doesn’t need you.” Can you believe it? That didn’t stop William Carey. He went to India. He translated the Bible from English into all the major Indian languages - a man that was on a mission.
Make sure today that you have a clear word from God for whatever mission you want to accomplish and then go for it.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.
-
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 11th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to the Gospel of Matthew 26:52:
”But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”
We must put away the sword. Jesus says if we refuse to put away that sword, we will die by that sword. This morning, the Lord spoke so clearly into my heart while I was preparing. This message is very important, my dear friend. I’m not talking about the war between Ukraine and Russia, the war between Israel and Iran. Although we are praying about all those situations. I’m talking about the war at home. I’m talking about the war in your marriage. The Lord says, ”Put away the sword.” You see, it takes two to have a sword fight, you can’t fight by yourself. Put the sword away. It might save your marriage.
Your children, you are continually fighting with your children. Put the sword away. Your business partner, it’s going to blow up and it’s going to destroy your business, which is doing so well at the moment because you just can’t get on together. Put the sword away!
Now I can hear you say to me, ”But Angus, how can we do that? I’ve got my rights.” Well, if you are a child of God you don’t have any rights. You surrendered your rights the day that you gave your life to Christ. You see the Lord said to Peter, He said, ”I can call down a legion of angels,” He said, “They can literally obliterate these soldiers, but I haven’t.”
I want to say to you, try prayer. Yes, try praying, not necessary out loud but in your heart before you say something. Try a gentle answer. The Bible says it will defuse an explosion. Try tears - yes, compassion - see where the other person is coming from and weep for them if necessary. Try sitting down and having a nice cup of tea with that person. Let’s just talk and pray about this thing. You’ll get up feeling much better.
Do not throw everything you have worked for, do not throw it away in a moment of anger by striking the servant’s ear off like Peter did. It achieves absolutely nothing.
Jesus bless you as you put the sword away,
Goodbye. -
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 10th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go straight to 1 Peter 5:5:
“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
I read a beautiful little reading this morning in my quiet time by a man by the name of Thomas Champness, and it goes like this: “Is it not one of the great difficulties of church work that we have more officers than men?” How true is that? “We need more of the rank and file who are willing to march anywhere and to do the lowliest of tasks. We shall succeed in doing greater things when all are willing to be subjects. It is the bayonet rather than the gold braid which is needed when the enemy is to be subdued. “
You know, Count Zinzendorf was the founder of the Moravian Movement, an incredible missionary movement, and John Wesley, the great English preacher, who by the way, had a Master of Theology degree from Oxford University. He wanted to learn more and went across to Germany, to Count Zinzendorf’s farm, hoping to be taught, and you know what Count Zinzendorf did? He put Wesley to work in his garden. Wesley was most put out and he stayed there for a long time. Humility is what we need in the Kingdom of God.
William Duma, that wonderful Zulu preacher, was invited to Zambia in the early days. He was to preach at a conventional Baptist Church where you come in at the back and walk down the aisle to the pulpit in the front. 9 o’clock arrived and there was no preacher and they were looking everywhere, and the pastor thought, “I better pull out a sermon because he is not coming.” Then they heard a little knock. It was at the backdoor where the servant comes in on a Monday morning to sweep out the church and the pastor went through the curtain to the back, opened the door and there was the man of God. Humility!
Of course, the greatest example of all is our beloved Saviour, Jesus Christ, who was a foot-washer. Let’s be feet washers today.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.
-
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 9th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start off in the Book of Ezekiel 37:3;
”And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”
Then we go to John 5:21, and Jesus says;
”For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”
Amazing Grace! Jesus doesn’t do a patch up job. Oh no. He does a brand new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17, one of my favourite scripture verses in the whole Bible, and I’m going to read it out of the New King James Version for you:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
What a beautiful promise! The old life is gone, the old order has vanished, we are new creations in Christ Jesus. Now remember, if Jesus can save a detestable slave ship captain like John Newton, then He can save a wretch like you and one like me. Probably the most famous hymn ever written is Amazing Grace. Do you know what grace means? It means undeserved loving kindness, unmerited favour. We don’t deserve it but because He loves us, He’s taken that bag of bones and He’s made us into new people. It’s worth singing about. Shall we sing that beautiful hymn together? Amazing Grace. This is how it goes:
Amazing grace, How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I am found,
Was blind, but now I see.'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye. - Se mer
