“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38
You know, in rugby I used to play in the scrum and we would wrestle over that rugby ball for ages. I played rugby what seems like about 100 years ago - It doesn’t happen like that these days does it? Ask the young men and they will tell you. You use it or you use it, when you get that ball in a loose scrum you have to get it out as soon as you can otherwise the referee blows the whistle and the ball goes to the other side. We have got to use what God has given us. The Lord says very clearly:
“...and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Matthew 7:2
Remember the parable in the Bible about the talents - where the businessman goes on a journey... Before he leaves he calls his men together. He gave one ten talents, the other five and to the other, he gave one talent. Just before he leaves he says:
"Do business till I come". Luke 19:13
He comes back and the man to who he had given ten had doubled it up. The man who had five had doubled it and the one who had one talent never used it - He hid it because he was afraid. And what did the businessman do? He took the one talent from the man and he gave it to the man who had ten talents. Even the workers themselves protested - They said: “Lord, he has got so much already.” I must be honest with you, I also said: "Lord, that doesn’t seem fair." But that is how God works. We need to use what we have if we want anything more from God.
I heard a beautiful illustration once: In Israel, there is the Jordan River, it is the life-spring of the nation. No Jordan River - no Israel. It starts on Mount Hermon, right up on the snowy mountain tops and it flows down the boundary of Israel and into the beautiful sea of Galilee. It is my favourite place in all of Israel, I love to sit on the shores of Galilee - That is where Jesus operated and most of his ministry took place.
It is vibrant, it is full of fish, full of life, irrigating fruit and produce along its shores. Then the river flows out of Galilee and carries on and flows into another lake that is called The Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is where nothing lives, nothing happens - It is salty. There is no life, there is nothing there.
Why? Because you see, with the first lake the river flows in and it flows out - and it produces. With the second lake, the river flows in but nothing flows out... We must give in order to receive.
Have a wonderful day and God bless you.
09/06/2021
Flowing
June 9, 2021 • Angus Buchan
19/04/2024
April 19, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Isaiah 58:6–7
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 19th of April, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Isaiah 58:6-7: “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?” (your own family) This is the chapter on fasting, going without food. Now, to fast is very important. Jesus did it for 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. It is a very good practice. It brings the body into subjection with the spirit. It is necessary for each believer to do. However, the Lord says, ”but this is the kind of fasting that I have chosen.” We have got to be doers of God’s Holy Word. We have got to lift the burdens of the oppressed, we have got to share our food with the hungry, we have got to give a bed to those who have no roof over their heads, and we must not hide ourselves from our own families. Jesus says, if we do this, then the light will break forth like the morning, and healing will spring up speedily and then the glory of the Lord will be our portion, and then when we call on the Lord, He will answer us and He will say, “Here I am.” Today, we need to be doers of God’s word. I remember my dear old dad just after I had led him to the Lord. I said to him, “Dad, we have got to fast as well now that we are Christians, and that old Scotsman looked at me with those blue eyes of his, and he said, “Laddie, fast?” He said, “I fasted for three and a half years.” You see, he was a prisoner of war in the Second World War. He was imprisoned in Germany and Italy. That didn’t impress him so much as when he saw us taking care of the poor and the needy. That impacted my dad’s life more than anything else. Today, yes, we must fast but let us fast as the Lord says - by taking care of those who are hurting, those who are lonely and those who are fearful. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.
18/04/2024
April 18, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Psalm 27:1, Matthew 28:20, Philippians 4:13
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 18th of April, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in Psalm 27:1: The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? Then we go to Matthew, the Gospel of Matthew 28:20, the last verse in the Book of Matthew: “…I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” You and I can never be alone. Jesus has promised us that He will be with us always. We must always add His resources to our own when we are making calculations. That is what F B Meyer says, and I agree. When you sit down and work out your budget, when you are working on your spreadsheet and making plans for your future, always put it next to it with a little + sign, “But God.” So when people come to you and say it will never happen, it is too big, just answer two words, “But God!” Remember, we can do all things through Christ Jesus, who strengthens us. (Philippians 4:13) William Carey, who translated the Bible from English into many different Indian languages, was just a cobbler. People mocked him and said, “You are a shoemaker, aren’t you?” He said, “No, I can’t make shoes, I can only repair them.” Yet God used that man because He brought God into all his calculations. He became the Chief Interpreter to the High Court of Delhi. A country boy, just a man who could repair shoes, why? Because he added God into all his calculations. He added God into all his resources. He said, “Attempt great things for God and expect great things from God.” Today, remember to add “But God” to all your calculations, and you will be surprised at what things you can do for the King. Jesus bless you and have a lovely day. God bless you and goodbye.
17/04/2024
April 17, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Psalm 34:7, Psalm 147:3, 2 Corinthians 12:10
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 17th of April, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in Psalm 34:7: “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.” “He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3 In the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 12:10, simply says: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” And we ask ourselves the question - how come? Well, it’s because when we get out of the way and let God take over, He makes us strong. You know, proud people are often very lonely people. When we come to the Lord Jesus because we just can’t go on anymore, that’s the time that He takes over. It happened in my life and I am sure it has happened in your life. He says, “I can,” just when you say, “Lord, that’s it. I cannot do it anymore.” Maybe you are in that position today. As an evangelist, always the highlight of any service for me, is when we make the altar call. We ask people to come forward and to lay their burdens down at the altar rail, at the foot of the Cross. We see instant and miraculous changes taking place. It is quite something. You see a whole crowd turn in an instant from being down-hearted, fearful and afraid. All of a sudden, they start to smile, there is a real sparkle in their eyes. Many are weeping because they are free from the chains and the shackles of guilt and condemnation. It’s definitely the highlight for me, every single time, and I never, ever get used to it. Billy Graham always used to sing a song, “Just as I am, without one plea”, as the people started to come forward, and I have done it myself many times. It is a very special hymn, it’s a deep hymn, it’s a hymn that sets the captive free, it heals the brokenhearted. That hymn, you know that hymn, maybe you would like to sing it with me? Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidds’t me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come! I come! Just as I am, though tossed about With many a conflict, many a doubt, Fightings and fears, within and without, O Lamb of God, I come, I come! Jesus bless you, Have a wonderful day, Goodbye.