25/04/2024

Angus Buchan

25/04/2024

Shine for Jesus

April 25, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Isaiah 60:1, Ephesians 5:14

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

We start in the Book of Isaiah 60:1:

“Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”

Then we go straight to the Book of Ephesians 5:14:

“Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light.”

Oh, like never ever before in this world of ours, it is time to shine for Jesus, so that the people will be taken out of their darkness. This world, my friend, is in an absolute state of desperation. It is lost, aimless, it is seeking for direction, for purpose for living. This is our greatest opportunity to show the sad world the way home, the way to the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is man’s purpose for being here on earth? Maybe you are asking yourself that question this morning. “What am I supposed to be doing on this earth? Why am I here?” Well, two reasons: Number one is to glorify God, number two is to enjoy Him forever. I can hear somebody saying, “But I am not a preacher, how can I tell the people? We need to let Jesus shine through us today wherever we have been put.

I love horses - I think you know that by now. Monty Roberts, the horse-trainer, the horse whisperer, was taken over to England to show the Queen Mother (she loved horses), how he could gentle a wild horse that has never been ridden before, a racehorse, a hot blood, in one hour, and he did it! A jockey got onto that big horse within one hour, having never been ridden before. You know, that it overwhelmed the old lady so much, she started to weep and Monty Roberts comforted her.

Use what God has given you, the gift that God has given you. I remember an old man who came from Mozambique. He used to walk with a limp, I even remember his name, Napila. He was on our farm when we were in Zambia. That old man was a blacksmith and he had no equipment to work with. He had a home-made set of bellows. He made a hot fire, he used car springs. Now, any mechanic will tell you how hard a car spring is. He made the most beautiful axe-heads, out of those car springs which he put into indigenous wood. Have you ever seen a potter, working with clay that comes out of the earth and making a beautiful creation? Some of our African women are incredibly talented at creating the most beautiful vases and pots.

So, I am going to encourage you today to use whatever gift God has given you. You might be a homemaker, a school teacher, a policeman, or a doorkeeper. It’s time to shine for Jesus!

God bless you and have a wonderful day,

Goodbye.

10/05/2024

May 10, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Genesis 46:34, Matthew 7:6

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 10th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Genesis 46:34 - This is Joseph speaking to his brothers: “…that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ occupation has been with livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; (Now, listen to this) for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” “Every shepherd is repulsive to the Egyptians.” The Amplified Version says. Then we go to Matthew 7:6, this is Jesus speaking: “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” Very, very strong words. They are spoken by the Lord, Himself, and the Old Testament reading spoken by Joseph to his brothers, when they came to Egypt. This really shocked me when I read this scripture initially from Genesis. You and I need to be very careful. Joseph was a very wise man and he told his brothers, “Don’t say you are shepherds”, because actually that is what they were. In fact, God said to Peter, on the shores of Lake Galilee, “Do you love Me?” He said, “I love You, Lord.” He said, ”Feed My sheep.” So Peter was a shepherd, a shepherd of the flock. We need to be very sensitive when we share our faith with people in the world. Some don’t understand, some don’t want to understand and some will actually get quite aggressive towards you. We need to pick the time. Often I say, “Tell the first three people you meet, after you give your life to Christ, what you have done, and I still maintain that, but we need to be clever. The Bible says we must be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. So when we share our testimony with somebody, we must pick the right time and the right place, otherwise we will be rejected severely. That’s why it wasn’t a lie that Joseph was telling his brothers not to tell the Egyptians. He said, “Tell them that we are keepers of livestock and not shepherds.” I want to say to you today, we never apologise for our faith, we are never ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, but we need to be very, very wise if we want to lead people to Christ. So today, when you go out, just be very careful who you share with and when you share it, but never hold back on the truth. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.

09/05/2024

May 9, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Isaiah 66:2, Job 38, Job 40:2

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 9th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Book of Isaiah 66:2. The Lord says: “For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.” There is absolutely nothing that you and I can do for God. Earlier on, He says, “Heaven is my throne”. He says, “The earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you can build for Me?” We can do nothing for Him, He has done everything for us. What He requires of you and me is a contrite (which is a repentant), a broken spirit that trembles at His word. The Lord wants us to be simple, plain and reverently responsive to what He says. You will find that out of the Message in Isaiah 66:2. We need to be so careful, and maybe I am speaking more to myself today, my dear friend, than I am to you. We need to be so careful that the work of the Lord does not become more important to us than the Lord of the work, if you know what that means. You see, Jesus actually doesn’t need anything from you and I. He has made it all, He has done it all, there is nothing that we can do for Him. Now, there was another farmer and he was having a conversation with the Lord. He was quite upset with the Lord, and maybe you are today, but if you look at Job 38 - yes, I am talking about the farmer Job, and you can read that whole chapter from verse 1, the Lord takes him and brings him to attention and says, “Listen, sit down a minute. I want to ask you a few questions. Where were you when I made the earth? Where were you when I did this? Where were you when I did that?” How dare we question our creator! He says in Job 40:2: “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?” I mean, it’s ridiculous isn’t it? It’s absolutely ridiculous. What we have got to start doing now is to be plain and simple in front of God and go to the Lord like a little boy goes to his dad and sits on his lap and asks him, “Please help me, dad, to fix my bicycle, please help me dad, to do this.” And dad loves doing it! Don’t argue with God, love God and appreciate what He has done for you and me. Have a wonderful day. Jesus bless you and goodbye.

08/05/2024

May 8, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Psalm 32:5, Daniel 9:23

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 8th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Psalms 32:5: “I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden.(in other words, I have confessed my sins) I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.” Then we go to the Book of Daniel 9:23: ‘At the beginning of your supplications (your prayers) the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; …” That was the angel, Gabriel, who brought a message to Daniel from the Lord. I want to say to you today that the Lord hears and knows your prayers, even before you speak them. Isn’t that wonderful news? You might say, “What is the point in us praying?” Well, mother, that little boy of yours, he comes into the kitchen. You know that he is ravenous, you know that he is so hungry but you want to hear him say, “Mom, could I please have something to eat?” And then you give him that lovely sandwich or whatever it is that he needs. I remember going down to Cape Town like yesterday. They had no rain for two years, and the people were literally about to start dying of thirst. We had a prayer meeting on the sand dunes of Mitchell’s Plain, one of the most dangerous places on the Continent of Africa. Something like a quarter of a million people cried out to the Lord, asking God to send life-giving rain. I want to tell you, it makes me want to weep when I think of it. In the middle of the service, we hadn’t even finished the service, it started raining and it hasn’t stopped since. That huge dam that supplies water to the city of Cape Town was dry. It was like a desert. They said it would take seven years to fill if it started raining. Well, it was overflowing in 4 months. God knows what we are asking before we even ask and yet He still wants to hear us praying and saying, “Lord, please help.” Today, let us ask the Lord with faith, believing, and then we start to thank Him for what is coming. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.