07/05/2024

Angus Buchan

07/05/2024

Obedience

May 7, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Jeremiah 7:13, Matthew 6:33

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 7th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Jeremiah 7:13:

“and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer,…”

Jesus is calling us. Matthew 6:33:

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

We cannot live a life of disobedience, doing our own thing, and then expect God to bless us. It doesn’t work that way. It is no use getting up early in the morning, having a good quiet time, listening to the voice of the Lord, and then going out and doing our own thing. Delayed obedience is actually disobedience. As followers of Christ, we need to start hearing the word of the Lord and obey it immediately. For example, pay your accounts on time, when they are due, otherwise if you don’t, your motorcar will be repossessed, and then we cry out and say, “Lord, why have you done this to us?” No, you didn’t pay your account on time.”

I am a farmer and we are facing winter now in South Africa. This is the time when farmers’ firebreaks should be in place. The farmers should have made their firebreaks by now. It should be in position. Now, if you don’t make the firebreak in time, and the fire season is upon us, after the first frost things turn over night. The grass is dry, it’s vulnerable, the wind gets up and a fire breaks out in the middle of the night and burns right through your farm, and now your cattle have got nothing to eat. Then you cry out, “Lord, why have You allowed this to happen to me?” No, not at all. What’s happened is, you have delayed doing what you know is right.

We really need to start hearing from God now, not only hear from God but also apply His principles, and we will succeed like never before.

Have a good day, Jesus bless you, and start listening and obeying the word of God.

Goodbye.

27/05/2024

May 27, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Revelation 21:4, Revelation 21:3

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 27th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Revelation 21:4: ”And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Now, isn’t that something to look forward to? Wow, I can’t wait! The former things have passed away, there will be no more tears in Heaven, there will be no more death in Heaven, there will be no more sorrow in Heaven, there will be no more crying in Heaven, there will be no more pain in Heaven, and the past has been wiped away. What a future to look forward to. There will be no anticlimax, there will be no disappointment. A few years back, I had the privilege of being invited to meet, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest evangelists to have ever walked on this planet, yes, Dr Billy Graham, himself. I was flown up in a jet from Tennessee, USA, up to Montreat, North Carolina, where he lived. They fetched us at the airport. I was so excited to meet this man. They drove me to his home, but at the gate there was a security guard, and he asked the gentleman who supposedly organised the meeting for the credentials, and of course, the thing fell flat. He said, “You can’t see Mr Graham because we don’t know about this appointment.” I was so disappointed, honestly. Look, they were very kind to us, they took us to the museum, they showed us where he grew up, where he lived, his home. They showed us all the different, wonderful things that he had done in his life. Many other retired evangelists were there. They took us around, it was wonderful, but it was an anticlimax. When we go to Heaven, there will be no anticlimax. If we look at verse 3 it says: “God Himself will be with them and be their God.” Revelation 21:3 That is a guarantee, that is a given. He personally will meet us at the gate, He won’t send His angels, He won’t send Peter or any of the disciples, He has promised us, He will meet you, Mary, He will meet you, John, personally, and welcome you home. I can’t wait for that day. In the meantime, maybe today, you are feeling a bit down, you’re feeling a bit lonely. Maybe you have also been disappointed. Well, I want to tell you something now, lift up your heads and look for your redemption draws near. I want to pray for you as we close. Dear Lord Jesus, I pray for my friend today who is not feeling very happy. Maybe they have lost a loved one, maybe they have been terribly disappointed by a relationship, maybe they don’t have work, maybe they are fearful of the future. Oh Holy Spirit, reassure them today of the wonderful future that awaits them when You come to fetch us personally, and to take us home to be with You in glory, forever and ever, Amen. God bless you and goodbye.

26/05/2024

May 26, 2024 • Angus Buchan • 1 Peter 5:7, Philippians 1:21

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 26th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. I am reading out of the New King James Version, out of the First Book of Peter 5:7: ”…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” What a beautiful promise! Then if you look at the Amplified Version, this is how it reads: “…casting all your cares, all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all on Him, for He cares about you with deepest affection and watches over you very carefully.” Isn’t that beautiful? I remember like it was yesterday, many, many years ago, we booked the Kings Park Rugby Stadium in Durban to hold an outreach. It was very exciting for me. It was the biggest attempt I had ever had and the first major stadium I had ever booked, and that night, I was so excited when the crowd came. We were talking about casting your cares upon the Lord, and what had happened was, there was a warning of el Niño, that massive drought that was going to hit South Africa, and the radio stations and the TV stations were saying to the people, “Don’t plant your crops on marginal land because it will fail.” That night, I stood up on the platform and I said, “To hell with el Niño, I am going home to plant up all my fields, and I am going to plant potatoes!” And folks, you know, after I got off that platform, I mean I had cast all my cares on Him, I had burnt my bridges, there was no turning back, I had committed myself, and then the devil started on me, “Well, yes, that is the end of you. You are going to go down because it is not going to rain and you are supposed to have irrigation when you plant potatoes.” I had no irrigation. But by faith, I went home and I planted that potato crop and I planted a maize crop, and I leased some other land and planted maize there, and then I started to pray, and I cast my cares on the Lord, every single day. Folks, I want to tell you, the good news is, we had a wonderful crop of potatoes, we had a beautiful crop of maize. It was a wonderful year for us. I want to say to you today, cast your cares on the Lord, lift up your eyes higher, higher folks. One man said, “He who aims at the stars, aims too low.” That’s right, we have got to aim above the stars. Philippians 1:21, Paul says: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” So what have we to be afraid of? Nothing. Today, cast your cares on the Lord and get on with the job that God has called you to. He will do it for you, He is not a man that He should lie. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.

25/05/2024

May 25, 2024 • Angus Buchan • John 15:7, Philippians 4:13

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 25th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Gospel of John 15:7: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” Wow! That is a beautiful promise from the Lord, but the key there is abiding in Him. Philippians 4:13 - we know that scripture so well: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Its Christ Jesus, folks, it is not our own efforts. Jesus spent thirty years with His Father, His Heavenly Father, in the carpenter shop for a mere three years of ministry, thirty years of preparation for three years of ministry. The devil wants you and I to rush, rush, rush. He keeps us off balance all the time, running, running, running, so that we cannot spend time with the Lord. But Jesus is the opposite. He is never in a rush and He is never late. Remember, He came to the tomb of Lazarus, His friend, 4 days after He had been summoned by Mary and Martha, Jesus’ friends. But what happened? A miracle took place. Lazarus was raised from the dead. The main objective of the believer is to spend time with Christ and to allow His strength to flow through us. Then, there shall be nothing too hard for us. Nothing is too hard for us when the Lord Jesus Christ is flowing through us, absolutely nothing. Remember the story I told you before about one of the greatest presidents of the United States of America? Abraham Lincoln was asked, “If you were given six hours to cut down that large tree, what would you do?” “Well,” he said, “I would spend four hours sharpening the axe.” Now, I cut trees and I split wood, I want to tell you, that is profound. There is nothing more sad for me to see than a man trying to cut a tree down with a blunt axe. It doesn’t work. John Wesley went across to Europe to meet with a very special man of God, Count von Zinzendorf, the founder of the Moravian church. Do you know what happened? This man, John Wesley, had an MA in theology, and von Zinzendorf made him work in the garden for months. He was so offended. What was he doing? He was trying to get Jesus into the man of God, and out of that, started one of the greatest revivals that the world has ever known. Today, spend time in His presence. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.