22/05/2024

Angus Buchan

22/05/2024

Good Soil

May 22, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Jeremiah 4:3, Matthew 13:7

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

We start in the Book of Jeremiah 4:3:

“Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns.”

Then we go straight across to the Gospel of Mathew 13:7:

”And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.”

We have to prepare our hearts just like the good farmer prepares the land that he will plant his precious crop into. A lazy farmer does not take pride in his land preparation and he doesn’t do a fine job. It is rough, it is unkempt, and from the start the seed is going to struggle. We must be very careful that we don’t try and cut corners because if we do we are wasting our time. The thorns and the weeds and the thistles will grow up and strangle those precious little plants as they emerge from the ground.

If we look at verse 22, we see that the word of God tells us that the distractions, the worries of this world cause the plants not to grow because of the competition on the land. Compromise, pleasures, delights and the riches of this world choke the word of God and it yields no fruit.

I remember a farmer came into our area many, many years ago. He came from a different part of the country. Here we have very fertile land and it rains beautifully in this area. This man came from a marginal area where the land was quite dry. He did most of his weed control by mechanical means, cultivating his rows of maize with a tractor and a cultivator. We said to him, ”You need to spray all your weeds because they are getting out of control.” He said, ”No, no, I’ll just let them grow and then I will come in on a nice hot day and I will cultivate them out of the ground.” Well, of course that dry hot day never came. It just rained and rained and rained and eventually his whole crop was strangled by the weeds. We couldn’t even see the little plants. After a couple of years that man left this district because he couldn’t farm here anymore.

We need to cultivate our walk with the Lord. My dear friends, sometimes the most dangerous thing is when you go on holiday and you don’t get up in the morning and don’t have a good quiet time with the Lord every day. You don’t read your Bible, you don’t pray because you say you’re having a rest, but that is when the weeds come in and strangle your relationship with the Lord. When on holiday you need to be spending more time with the Lord and reading His word and praying. Cultivate your land and God will give you a mighty crop.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

15/06/2024

June 15, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Philippians 4:6, Matthew 7:7

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 15th of June, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go straight to the Book of Philippians 4:6, and I am reading it out of the Amplified Version: “Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God.” Then we go to Matthew 7:7 (AMP): “Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.” I am speaking this morning about prayer. You know, Jesus prayed more than anything else. He always prayed without ceasing and He asks you and I to do the same. I got a message on my phone yesterday to say that the Kouga Dam, outside Gqeberha, is overflowing at seven cumecs at the moment, spilling over the wall. God answers prayer. I remember like yesterday, thousands of us, standing at the base of that mighty dam wall, and I think there was less than 12%, that’s just a little mudhole in the middle of that dam. There was nothing, thousands of us prayed, and we continued praying at Jeffries Bay, at the Mighty Men Conference, and look what is happening! We are going into winter. It is winter in the Eastern Cape, and the dam is overflowing seven cumecs at the moment. I want to pray for you today: Heavenly Father, I pray for my friend, listening to this message. I pray Lord, for those who are anxious, depressed, fearful and filled with anxiety. Lord, I pray today that they will lift up their eyes and see that Jesus Christ is seated on His throne in Heaven and He is waiting to hear our requests, our petitions. Lord, if we don’t pray, how can He answer? Lord, please show us and teach us to pray because when men pray, God moves, and I thank You, Lord, for the evidence that we see in this dam which is overflowing as I record this message. In Jesus’ name! Amen. God bless you and keep on praying, Goodbye.

14/06/2024

June 14, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Numbers 12:3, 1 Peter 5:5, Matthew 10:27

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 14th of June, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Numbers 12:3, in the Old Testament, “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.” I want to speak to you about humility, about genuine humility and humbleness, meekness. Now, Moses led a nation of over a million people, through the desert, a terribly tough place, for forty years. There was nothing soft about him. As some people say, the softest part of Moses was his teeth. I am looking forward to meeting him in Heaven. What a man! But he was the humblest man who ever lived, according to the word of God, and we are not talking about Jesus of course. “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5 Now, I want to speak to you about real humility today, not false humility. Sometimes when you watch some sport on television and you see a tennis player or maybe a soccer player, a rugby player, and they are interviewed and the interviewer says, “How did it go?” And the tennis player says, “Oh, I am so pleased with myself. I hit the ball so sweetly today.” Or a golfer, “I really connected that ball, I really am pleased with myself.” It sounds like he is really bragging you know, it sounds like he is really arrogant but the truth of the matter is, my dear friend, he is so excited about the improvement in his game. He is not talking about himself as per sé, he is talking about the fact that he hit the ball so nicely, he has been working so hard on it. Like when you go to a farmer and he takes you around his farm and he shows you a beautiful maize crop and he says, “Man, I am so pleased with myself, I have got such a lovely crop. And you think, “Come on man, stop bragging.” He is not bragging, he is so excited about the achievement, or a magnificent animal on the show when he has just got the grand champion, a beautiful big bull. He is so excited about it. False humility is walking around with sackcloth and ashes and saying, “I am suffering for Jesus.” That doesn’t bring any glory to God. I want to tell you a little story. I was at a book signing once, and a little boy walked up to me, and he was standing back, and he had a red face; he was very embarrassed. He had a cell phone in his hand, he had one of my books and a pen. I walked over to him and I got down on my knees. I said, “Son, would you like me to sign your book for you?” And he had a big smile on his face, “Yes please, sir.” “And would you like a photograph with me?” “Yes please, sir.” So we posed together, we did a nice selfie, and a lady walked past. She was pushing someone in a wheelchair, and she said, “Christians are supposed to be humble.” Ag, I just smiled and I said, “Yes, thank you, madam’, but that little boy walked away so happy. Today, shout it from the rooftops. Matthew 10:27. Tell people about your newfound faith and about how good God has been to you. Have a lovely day, Jesus bless you and goodbye.

13/06/2024

June 13, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Matthew 26:63–64, Psalm 10:16, Jeremiah 10:10

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 13th of June, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Psalms 10:16: The Lord is King forever and ever;…” Oh beautiful, and then we go to Jeremiah 10:10: “But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.” Just before that, please read it if you have time, you will see that Jeremiah talks about people who worship idols made by human hands. They cut a tree down, carve it, make it into a beautiful carving, and then worship it, but it can’t talk, see, or hear. It is ridiculous, isn’t it? Then we go to the last scripture, Matthew 26:63-64: “Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Jesus said to him, “It is as you said”. Then they started to tear His clothes and beat the Master and eventually crucified Him, but on the third day, He rose from the dead. Our God does not live in buildings, there are no buildings on earth that can house Him, He is too big. Our God is not found inside statues of marble or gold, even though they might be beautiful, but they are all man-made. Where does He live, Angus? Oh, I am glad you asked that question. Early in the morning, when you see that sunrise, oh you will see Him. He is in the sunrise, He is in the late evening sunset. When you see a newly born calf and a mother cleaning, licking and loving her, He will be there. You will see Him when you see the roll of the waves onto the seashore and the power and the majesty and the smell of that salt air, He will be there. You will see Him in a newborn baby. Oh folks, what a beautiful way to see the Lord. You will see Him in a young couple that are in love. I married twelve couples in the City Temple in London, just right off the cuff. They were in their ordinary clothes. The Holy Spirit moved in the City Temple, a beautiful building that was built to commemorate the Lord. But you know, when those couples were in love, they were weeping, they were repenting, the building just faded into insignificance, when the glory of God was manifest through those young couples who decided they were not going to live together anymore. They were going to get married immediately. Remember today, wherever you go, open your eyes and you will see the glory of God. Jesus is alive, I tell you, He is not dead. God bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.