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.

04/05/2024

May 4, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Hebrews 10:19, Hebrews 10:23

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 4th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Hebrews 10:19: ”Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,…” Boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies in the temple of the Lord. You know, for 15 centuries—that’s one thousand five hundred years—there was no access to the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem. But since the death and resurrection of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ, that curtain has been torn in two from top to bottom, and you and I are free to enter. Listen to this beautiful scripture in Hebrews 10:23: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” The Lord has made a way for you, my dear friend, and for me. He has made a way for us to enter into the Holy of Holies, whereas before it was only the High Priest who could enter once a year. It was such an absolutely holy place, they would tie a rope around the ankle of the High Priest because they could not go in there, and they would put bells on the edge of his garment and while he was in the Holy of Holies, ministering to the Lord, the bells would be ringing. If the bells stopped ringing, that would mean that the High Priest had collapsed or died and they would pull him out, backwards, by the rope. It was such a very, very precious place. There would be signs up there, “No Entry!” Have you ever seen those signs? “No admittance. Danger!” The skull and the crossbones, “High voltage electricity!” Dangerous, but Andrew Murray says the sign has been changed since the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It now says, “Enter in, the veil is torn, free access anyone, come in!” The holiest of holy places in the world is open, and you know God is waiting for you and me. He is waiting to welcome us, my dear friend, “Come in”, He says, “And I will take you in my arms, into my ample bosom, and hug you and love you and have intimate fellowship with you.” You don’t have to be lonely, you don’t have to be left out in the cold any longer because Jesus has made a way that we can have fellowship with our creator, our Heavenly Father. Today, go in and spend time with Him. He is waiting for you. Jesus bless you and have a lovely day, Goodbye.

03/05/2024

May 3, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Proverbs 20:22

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Friday morning, the 3rd of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Proverbs 20:22: "Wait for the Lord, and He will save you." I read a beautiful quotation by James Hudson Taylor. He was the man who took a thousand families to China to preach the Gospel, by faith! He says, "Quiet waiting before God would save from many a mistake and from many a sorrow. We need to wait for the Lord. It will save making many mistakes by quiet waiting upon the Lord Jesus Christ. This will save us from many a sorrow, quiet waiting." I am just thinking at the moment of all the students that are going to be writing exams again very shortly. I want to say to you, when you go into the exam hall and you sit down to write that important exam, take all the time they have given you. Do not rush. You see, some of the bright stars, they will write up their answers and they will be up and out of that exam hall so quickly, and that will put pressure on you. It will make you panic. "I better hurry up!" No, take your full time and when you have finished writing your paper and you have still got a half an hour, sit there quietly, spend a little bit of time in prayer and go through your answer paper again. I guarantee that you will pick up one or two mistakes, and that might just give you those extra marks you need to pass. I want to say to that businessman, don't make a rash decision. Tell them you will come back tomorrow. "Aah, but they said I have to make a decision today otherwise the deal is off." Well, rather let the deal be off. There is no pressure from the Lord. There is no rushing. That crop that you want to plough in - I have done it myself before. You want to plough it in because you can see there is nothing coming in from this crop. Just wait a little bit. You will be very pleasantly surprised. You might just get that last shower of rain that will just turn the crop and get it full to the brim with good grain. Folks, we need to wait upon the Lord quietly, and we won't make as many mistakes as we have in the past, and we won't be so sorrowful. That proposal that that young man has made to you, just wait, young lady, there is no rush. Tell him you will come back to him, you are going to pray about it. Absolutely, and then you can be sure that God is with you on that decision that you have made. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.

02/05/2024

May 2, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Isaiah 62:2, Hosea 1:10, Luke 15:31

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 2nd of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Isaiah 62:2: “You shall be called by a new name,…” Then we go forward to the Book of Hosea 1:10: ‘You are sons of the living God.’ Sons of the living God, wow! Very personal and so intimate. A son has access to anything a father has. A son can go into the Holy of Holies. Oh yes, visitors have to wait outside until they are invited in. You and I need to understand something today - we are not hirelings. We are sons and daughters of the living God. We are not working for wages, a hireling works for his wages. He carries a watch on his wrist and whether it is 5 o’clock or whatever the time might be, he knocks off. It doesn’t matter what is happening on the farm or in the business. He is only working for a wage. He is not working for his inheritance. That’s the difference, but a son is working for his inheritance. He doesn’t wear a watch, he doesn’t watch the time, he does his job. You know the story of the Prodigal Son? We are always pretty hard on the older brother. Remember he said to his dad, “So this prodigal son has come home, he has wasted all his money, and you have killed the fatted calf for him and you wouldn’t even give me a lamb, to have a party with my friends.” And his father said to him, listen carefully, Luke 15:31: “Son”, I get tears in my eyes: “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.” Maybe today you are going through a hard time and you say, “Where are You, Lord? I am Your son”, or “Your daughter”, but you are going through a time of learning, a time of testing. When I was on the farm with my two boys, they would work harder than anybody else. Don’t ask them about that, they always exaggerate of course, it wasn’t really that bad! But you know, when the cattle broke out in the middle of the night and went into the maize crop, who had to get up out of their beds? Yes, the boys and me, and we had to put the cattle back. You can’t expect the staff to get up in the middle of the night because they are not paid for that. We have to go the extra mile. Now, when you are a son of God and the Lord has promised you that He has given you everything you need and more - when we go home, we are not going home to Heaven as strangers, we are going home to Heaven as sons and daughters of the living God. He is waiting for us. He wants to spoil us. Now, today, we need to man up as they say; we need to understand that the going is tough for the sons because He is preparing us for eternity because He loves us so much. So, son, daughter, go out today and take your inheritance. Jesus bless you and goodbye.