28/04/2024

Angus Buchan

28/04/2024

Rebuild the Ruins

April 28, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Ezekiel 36:36, 2 Corinthians 5:17

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 28th of April, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start off in the Book of Ezekiel 36:36:

“Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.”

Rebuilding the old ruins - Jesus will help us. Jesus is a builder, He is not a demolisher. We have been called to be builders with Him, not demolishers. We are called to reinforce. 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

We must never write people off, God never does that. I don’t know about you but I love to see new buildings going up. I really love it, I get so excited, and I am quite sad when they break down old buildings, and I know it has to be done sometimes. That big steel ball and that chain suspended from a crane, knocking down old buildings, it breaks my heart sometimes. We need to cultivate virgin land. When I arrived on this farm with my young wife and children 48 years ago, nobody wanted this piece of ground. It was full of weeds and invader trees. There was nothing here. There was no water, no lights, no electricity, and we started from square one, but those were good days because we were building.

I love speaking to young men and women. I love hearing their dreams their visions and their new ideas and projects. I just love it. The other day I went to town with my dear wife, and she loves going to these secondhand furniture shops and looking for pieces of furniture that she can purchase. I was sitting there and a gentleman came out and introduced himself to me. He was a former headmaster of a school and he is retired and he is doing the thing he loves the most. He goes around buying old furniture and he brings it back to his factory and he restores it like new. It was wonderful to meet him. As he came out with a piece of furniture that my wife had bought, I shook his hand and said, “I am Angus.” He said, “Yes, I know the voice.” He said, “I hear it every morning at 5 o’clock in my bedroom.” But what a lovely man! He is a restorer, he is not a demolished.

Most of all, you see the Holy Spirit make brand-new people out of people who have been broken and pushed aside - Mary Magdalene was one of those. Seven demons were cast out of her, she was a woman of ill-repute, but what a faithful servant and follower of Jesus. Don’t write off anybody today. Don’t disregard people. Every one of them has incredible potential.

Jesus bless you and have a lovely day,

Goodbye.

11/05/2024

May 11, 2024 • Angus Buchan • 1 Corinthians 15:58

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 11th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to 1 Corinthians 15:58 “…be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord’ The Amplified Bible says: ”Always doing your best and doing more than is needed.” I read a beautiful reading by Bishop Ryle who lived many, many years ago. He said: Activity in doing good is one recipe for being cheerful Christians. It is like exercise to the body and it keeps the soul in health.” Doing good makes cheerful Christians. It keeps us spiritually fit. Just like exercise, going to the gym, keeps us physically fit, when we do Christian deeds for others, it makes us spiritually strong. Remember, no man is an island. We were never created to be on our own. We were created by the Lord to help one another. There are no lone rangers in the Kingdom of God. We really need to help each other. Now, I have told you this story before, but it is worth hearing a second time, and this is a true story about a young man, many years ago, in this district where we live. He was looking for a job. He was riding on his horse and in those days the district roads all had gates which led from one farm to the other, and he heard this old motorcar coming from behind, probably a Model-T Ford, and an old couple were driving this motorcar and he jumped from his horse and opened the gate to let them go through. They tipped their hats and said, “Thank you,” and he closed the gate behind, got on his horse and the motorcar stopped just ahead, and as he rode up, the old gentleman said, “Where are you going, son?” He said, “I am looking for a job, sir.” So he said, “Well come along, come along to my farm and I will give you a job, it’s right down the road”, and that is exactly what he did. That young man eventually inherited that farm because the old farmer and his wife never had any children. So, by opening that gate and doing something good as a Christian, he inherited a farm. Today, we don’t do it for any return or reward, we do it because it is what God wants us to do, to help one another and to be cheerful about it. Go out today, make that phone call, take that bunch of flowers to your teacher at school, send a text message and tell people you are praying for them. It will do you the world of good. Jesus bless you and goodbye.

10/05/2024

May 10, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Genesis 46:34, Matthew 7:6

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 10th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Genesis 46:34 - This is Joseph speaking to his brothers: “…that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ occupation has been with livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; (Now, listen to this) for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” “Every shepherd is repulsive to the Egyptians.” The Amplified Version says. Then we go to Matthew 7:6, this is Jesus speaking: “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” Very, very strong words. They are spoken by the Lord, Himself, and the Old Testament reading spoken by Joseph to his brothers, when they came to Egypt. This really shocked me when I read this scripture initially from Genesis. You and I need to be very careful. Joseph was a very wise man and he told his brothers, “Don’t say you are shepherds”, because actually that is what they were. In fact, God said to Peter, on the shores of Lake Galilee, “Do you love Me?” He said, “I love You, Lord.” He said, ”Feed My sheep.” So Peter was a shepherd, a shepherd of the flock. We need to be very sensitive when we share our faith with people in the world. Some don’t understand, some don’t want to understand and some will actually get quite aggressive towards you. We need to pick the time. Often I say, “Tell the first three people you meet, after you give your life to Christ, what you have done, and I still maintain that, but we need to be clever. The Bible says we must be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. So when we share our testimony with somebody, we must pick the right time and the right place, otherwise we will be rejected severely. That’s why it wasn’t a lie that Joseph was telling his brothers not to tell the Egyptians. He said, “Tell them that we are keepers of livestock and not shepherds.” I want to say to you today, we never apologise for our faith, we are never ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, but we need to be very, very wise if we want to lead people to Christ. So today, when you go out, just be very careful who you share with and when you share it, but never hold back on the truth. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.

09/05/2024

May 9, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Isaiah 66:2, Job 38, Job 40:2

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 9th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Book of Isaiah 66:2. The Lord says: “For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.” There is absolutely nothing that you and I can do for God. Earlier on, He says, “Heaven is my throne”. He says, “The earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you can build for Me?” We can do nothing for Him, He has done everything for us. What He requires of you and me is a contrite (which is a repentant), a broken spirit that trembles at His word. The Lord wants us to be simple, plain and reverently responsive to what He says. You will find that out of the Message in Isaiah 66:2. We need to be so careful, and maybe I am speaking more to myself today, my dear friend, than I am to you. We need to be so careful that the work of the Lord does not become more important to us than the Lord of the work, if you know what that means. You see, Jesus actually doesn’t need anything from you and I. He has made it all, He has done it all, there is nothing that we can do for Him. Now, there was another farmer and he was having a conversation with the Lord. He was quite upset with the Lord, and maybe you are today, but if you look at Job 38 - yes, I am talking about the farmer Job, and you can read that whole chapter from verse 1, the Lord takes him and brings him to attention and says, “Listen, sit down a minute. I want to ask you a few questions. Where were you when I made the earth? Where were you when I did this? Where were you when I did that?” How dare we question our creator! He says in Job 40:2: “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?” I mean, it’s ridiculous isn’t it? It’s absolutely ridiculous. What we have got to start doing now is to be plain and simple in front of God and go to the Lord like a little boy goes to his dad and sits on his lap and asks him, “Please help me, dad, to fix my bicycle, please help me dad, to do this.” And dad loves doing it! Don’t argue with God, love God and appreciate what He has done for you and me. Have a wonderful day. Jesus bless you and goodbye.