28/10/2024

Angus Buchan

28/10/2024

This is the Day

October 28, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Ezekiel 33:5, Hebrews 2:3

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

We start in the Book of Ezekiel 33:5:

“He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life.”

Then we go to the Book of Hebrews 2:3:

”…how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, …”

We need to listen for the sound of the trumpet calling. It’s a warning, my dear friend, for the time is running out. I just feel in my heart I am speaking to a man at the moment, and maybe a woman as well, who is continually digging your heels in and you are saying, “Tomorrow, I will make my peace with the Lord.” But the trumpet is blowing. The Lord is saying, “This is the day that you need to seek Me with all your heart." This is the day that you need to make your peace with God.

A long time ago, I heard a story about a miller - you know, the old-fashioned mill where it had a wheel and a little stream running past, and the water turned the wheel, and the wheel turned the two huge grindstones, and they ground the corn into meal. This miller was very hard-working but he was totally obsessed by his work. He wasn’t interested in anything to do with the Lord, but he got very sick and his family was worried about him, and they realised the old gentleman was dying. They called an evangelist in, “Please come and tell our dad about Jesus because he is going to meet the Lord very shortly.” They came down to the mill and the old man was now bedridden, and what he had done was, he had asked them to put the bed right next to the grindstone so that he could hear the wheels grinding the corn and making money for him. The evangelist walked up and he started to say to him, “Please sir, the trumpet is calling, home time has arrived. You need to make your peace with Jesus. ”And he kept saying, “I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you because of the noise of the mill, grinding the corn.” And eventually, he died and he went to hell.

Folks, I want to tell you, we have got to speak up. I want to pray with you today. I just feel that there is a man and a woman listening to this programme who have never made a commitment to Christ. You know what to do, you know what you are supposed to do but you have been so busy, busy with your work, busy with your vision, your ambition. If you are that person, I want to give you the privilege of praying this prayer with me, a simple prayer. Let us pray together:

Dear Lord Jesus,

I acknowledge today that I have been wasting valuable time. I ask You therefore, to be my Lord and Saviour. I am so sorry that I have been chasing after other gods, like money and fame and ambition. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour.

Amen.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,

Goodbye.

27/10/2024

October 27, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Proverbs 18:24, John 16:7

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 27th of October, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Proverbs 18:24: “But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” You don’t have to be lonely today. Then we go straight to the New Testament to the Gospel of John 16:7, and this is the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples. He says: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” The Lord Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit. I want to say to you this morning if you are feeling lonely or if you are feeling fearful, you have got a huge task on your hands next week and you just don’t know what to do, call upon the Holy Spirit. You know, so often we talk about our Heavenly Father, we talk about the Lord Jesus Christ, our best friend, but we don’t always talk about the Holy Spirit, and I want to tell you, He is part of the Holy Trinity, and we cannot do it without Him, believe me! Whenever I stand on that platform and I look out on that sea of faces, I say, “Lord, Holy Spirit, please help me because I can’t do this.” And He does, every single time. In Zulu, we call Him, “Umoya oNgcwele”. Umoya oNgcwele - the Spirit who lives within us. Isn’t that beautiful? In Afrikaans, we say, “Heilige Gees”, He is my Friend, He is my Helper. The Greeks call Him, Paráklētos which means The Helper. I want to say to you today, we need to call upon Him, we need to love Him, we need to speak to Him because He wants to speak to you. Do you remember that beautiful chorus, “Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on me”? Why don’t you sing it with me? Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on me, Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me. Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on me. God bless you and have a lovely day, Goodbye.

26/10/2024

October 26, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Isaiah 40:8, Matthew 24:35, Psalm 23:1

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 26th of October, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Isaiah 40:8: ”…the word of our God stands forever.” Then we go to the New Testament, to Matthew 24:35: ”Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” Now that’s Jesus speaking Himself. You see, the word of God is the Bible. It is Jesus Christ in print, as I always say, and that is why even the Master Himself quoted the word of God when He was tempted in the desert by the devil. Remember He said, “It is written, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God”. “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the Lord your God.” It is an extremely powerful weapon. It’s like a sharp two-edged sword, that’s what the Bible says. Have you ever watched those fencers at the Olympic Games. It’s incredible, the speed that they use those weapons with, but there’s no good having a fancy jewel-studded weapon that we can’t use. Now, when I read my Bible I don’t just read the Old Testament or just the New Testament, I read them together. I read them systematically. I read them daily. I read them in the first person. What does that mean? Well, let’s take Psalm 23: ”The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” When I read it I read it like this. ”The Lord is Angus’ shepherd and Angus shall not want.” Then it becomes extremely personal. I also want to encourage you to get a sword that you can handle. Get a translation that you can understand. I personally use the New King James Version. I find it very easy and accurate to handle. You need to get lessons, like any sword fighter! Somebody can give you a brand new set of clubs, that doesn’t mean to say that you will be able to hit the ball like my dear friend, Gary Player. Oh no, you need lessons. You need to know how to hit that ball. I really want to encourage you to start using the weapon which God has given you. He’s told us that even heaven and earth will pass away but the Bible will never pass away. Carry one in your pickup. Carry one in your motorcar. Folks, I love Bibles, I really do and every time I read the Bible it means something new to me, it’s so exciting. Now, if you don’t know how to read the Bible, why don’t you start in the Psalms. Start with the Psalms and read about ten verses every morning and get a little notebook and write in the notebook what it means to you, and then go to the New Testament and start in the Gospel of John, and every day just read a portion of the Bible in the first person and it will change your life. It will protect you and it will comfort you. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day. Goodbye.

25/10/2024

October 25, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Isaiah 50:10

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 25th of October, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Old Testament to the Book of Isaiah 50:10: “Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord And rely upon his God.” Are you going through a rough time at the moment? Oh yes, I know those rough times very well. Is everything dark? Have you lost direction? Do you know where you are going? Is there anybody to help you? Listen to this beautiful reading that I stumbled across early this morning, written by a man by the name of Richard Fuller. He says, “In fierce storms,” said an old seaman, “we can do but one thing. There is only one way; we must put the ship in a certain position and keep her there.” This, Christian, is what you and I have to do today. Sometimes, like Paul the Apostle, you can see neither sun nor stars, and no small tempest lies on you (a massive storm). Then you can do one thing, there is only one way. Reason cannot help you. Past experiences give you no light, even prayer fetches no consolation. Only a single course is left. You must put your soul in one position and keep it there. You must stay upon the Lord; come what may—whether there are winds, waves, lightning, thunder, huge rocks, roaring breakers— you must tie yourself to the helm and hold fast your confidence in God’s faithfulness, His sovereign engagement, His everlasting love in Christ Jesus, and He will see you today through that storm, and the sun will shine again, and He said, “I will never leave you and I will never forsake you.” Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.