14/06/2024

Angus Buchan

14/06/2024

Humility

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.

21/06/2024

June 21, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Matthew 4:19–20, 2 Corinthians 9:8

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 21st of June, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Gospel of Matthew 4:19-20: “Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” The importance of being called - following Jesus is not a good idea, it has to be a calling. Now, these men were working when the Lord called them. They were not sitting in a corner waiting for the call. They carried on with their daily work. A sailing ship, tied up in the harbour, is not going anywhere, but a sailing ship in the open sea, even if it is going the wrong way, with an experienced sailor, can be turned around and tacked against the wind and using those sails, will take the passengers to their desired destinations. When Jill and I wanted to serve Jesus Christ, we thought that we would have to stop farming, go to Bible College and study theology, but we decided to fast and pray. I went up to the mountains on my own, Jill stayed at home with the children. You can imagine, she was quite nervous, not knowing what the outcome was going to be with five small children. I came back from the mountains and she was standing by the gate with the children when I drove in and she had a big smile on her face. I think she was quite relieved because you see, the Lord had spoken to her and called her at the same time He called me. We went into the bedroom, we sat down together, I opened my Bible, she opened her Bible, and we had separate quiet times; we prayed together every day, but we had separate quiet times with the Lord. The Bible has 66 books in it. We both opened the Bible to 2 Corinthians 9:8. It says: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” First of all, our legs went to jelly, we were still brand-new Christians - we couldn’t believe that the Lord gave us the identical scripture! The Lord showed us, stay on the farm and make a place for My Holy Spirit to work, which as we know, has taken place. We have had some of the biggest men’s conferences, I think, in maybe the history of the world, 450,000 in 2010 and still going strong even today. So, a good idea is not always a God idea. Carry on working hard, seeking the face of the Lord and He will tell you the time that you need to leave your nets and become fishers of men. We are full-time fishers of men at present and still making a place for our Lord, Holy Spirit, to work in people’s lives. Jesus bless you and goodbye.

20/06/2024

June 20, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Jeremiah 15:16, Isaiah 55:11

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 20th of June, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Jeremiah 15:16: “Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;…” Then we go to Isaiah 55:11: “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” The power of the spoken word of God! You and I must learn to devour God’s word. We must eat it, we must get it into our spiritual man. The spoken word of God, with authority and with love and compassion, will save many who hear it. God’s Holy Word never returns void, the power of the spoken word of God. People are not interested in our opinions. Why should they be? People are interested in what God says about the situation. All our major decisions should be decided on what the Bible says about it. That is the ultimate authority. That will bring peace and joy into the situation. When we go to court, what do we do? We put our hand on the Bible, and we swear over the Bible that we will speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. That is what they do in a secular court situation. People need to hear the word of God, and that is what brings joy, peace and compassion, and most of all, love, and it brings a rejoicing in our hearts. Every morning, when I get up early and have my quiet time, I can maybe feel a bit concerned about the situation. Maybe I am a bit concerned about my children and my grandchildren, but when I start to read the Word of God, it fills me with confidence. Lord, you said it, I believe it and that confirms it - and then I go out and I impact the world, not by my words but by Jesus’ words, spoken out of my mouth. God bless you and have a lovely day, Goodbye.

19/06/2024

June 19, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Matthew 4:4, Ephesians 6:17, 1 Samuel 17:45

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 19th of June, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for the day. We go straight to the Gospel of Matthew 4:4: "But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" We want to speak today about the power in the spoken word of God. Now Jesus is God made flesh, and yet when He was tempted in the desert by the devil, he could have told the devil just to "push off", but He didn't, did He? No, He realised the tremendous authority in the spoken word of God, because Jesus is actually the Word of God. Now, if we look at the Book of Ephesians 6:17, the word of God says: "...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;..." It is the only weapon that the Lord has given us to stand against the enemy. We are not using it enough. I am going to pray for you at the end of this message, that God will help us use the weapon that He has given to us. Little David, the shepherd boy in 1 Samuel 17:45, said: "But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." He was standing up against Goliath. They say David was just a teenager. He was a young boy. He stood up against a giant, the champion of the Philistines. They say that Goliath stood approximately ten and a half feet high. He had a spear like the shaft of a weaver's beam. He was a very ugly man. What Goliath are you facing today, my dear friend? I want to pray for you: Father, I pray for my dear friend right now who is facing a Goliath in their life. They don’t know which way to turn, they don’t know what to do. Lord, I pray that they will do exactly what Jesus did to the devil in the desert, when He was sorely tempted after forty days and forty nights of fasting and prayer. He prayed the word, Isaiah 54:17: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.” He was weak, Lord, but He used the word - “It is written”. I pray that my friend will do the same, and Lord Jesus, that You will give him, You will give her, a tremendous victory. David killed Goliath and got the victory because he came against him with the word of God. Pray the word of God today. Thank You, Lord, Amen.