icon__search

14/01/2022

Priorities

January 14, 2022 • Angus Buchan • Matthew 6:33, Mark 8:36

It is Friday morning, 14th January, the year 2022, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these (other) things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

I believe today, we need to speak about priorities. Now I looked up the Oxford Dictionary and the meaning of the word, priority: “A thing regarded as more important than others.” What is your priority today, what is my priority today?

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” Mark 8:36

And in this rat race of life that we are living in at the moment, we have got to get back to basics. Now, this is how it works...
Priorities:
God first; secondly, your wife or your husband; thirdly, your children and your extended family; Fourthly, your career, your ministry, your vision and whatever.

We have to be so careful that we get it in the right order. How many times have you heard of a couple, as soon as the children leave home, they get divorced! Why did they wait so long? “No, we did it for the children.”
It is not acceptable. First your wife or your husband, and then the children, that is after God.

Be careful that the work (I am talking now to pastors) of the Lord does not become more important than the Lord of the work - Do you understand what that means? First your relationship with God before anything else.

You know, President Barack Obama, of the United States of America, he wrote in a book. He visited his old granny in Kenya in East Africa and she sat there this rural woman, and she was talking to her grandson. The president of the most powerful nation on earth and she said to him, “If everyone is your family, you have got no family.” Quite something isn’t it, quite profound! If everybody is your family, you have got no family. We have got to have priorities.

Yes, we have got to be friendly to everyone. We have got to take care of as many people as we can but not at the cost of your family. Now listen, don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today. Make that phone call, have that cup of tea, spend that visit.

You know often they used to look for Jesus, they could never find Him. “Where were You, Lord? The crowd is waiting for You.” He says, “I am with My Father, I am up the mountain and I am hearing from Him and I am spending time with Him.”

Spend time today and get your priorities in order.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

29/03/2024

March 29, 2024 • Angus Buchan • John 15:12–13

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Good Friday, the 29th of March, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.  We go to the Gospel of John 15:12-13 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”   In the year 2003, which is 21 years ago, my wife, Jill and I went to the Holy Land for the first time. I have been many, many times since then, but that particular trip, I have never forgotten. We went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem. As we walked into that place, I have never forgotten it, I sat down in a little bench and I looked across the way, and there were steps going up to where they say the Lord was crucified and I started to weep uncontrollably. I don’t think I have ever wept like that before in my life. The reality of what Jesus has done for me hit home, and my dear wife, Jill had to actually comfort me. I was completely overwhelmed at the price that the Master had paid for my sin. Yes, I realised what a sinner I was. I broke down and I wept. I looked up and I saw pilgrims coming into this massive cathedral, flocking in from every part of the world. I saw women from Russia with those little scarves tied around their heads and their brightly coloured clothes, coming up to a slab of granite that they say the Master’s body was laid on when Joseph of Arimathea took Him off the cross after He had died. They were taking cloths from their bags and wiping the top of the concrete slab and the tears were flowing. They would obviously take these cloths back to Russia with them for their families. There was such a presence of the Holy Spirit and I think of all those multitudes of pilgrims from all over, from Japan, China, South America, Britain, South Africa, Canada, the United States of America, coming together and just spending time on their knees worshipping the Lord. Now, we don’t know exactly where it took place. There is another place in Jerusalem also, where they say (The Garden Tomb) where the Lord was buried. That doesn’t matter to me. What matters to me is that it happened and it happened in Jerusalem, in the Old City, and I just thought how Mary Magdalene felt when she cried and asked the angel in the morning, where the body of Christ was. I want to say to you today, take time out please to sit on your own and contemplate. It wasn’t the Jews that killed Jesus, it wasn’t the Roman soldiers that killed Jesus. It was our sin that murdered the Darling of Heaven and we need to ask Him again to forgive us and we need to think carefully about our lifestyle so that it doesn’t happen again. This is a time for you and I to contemplate on the greatest sacrifice that has ever been made in the world. Jesus bless you as you have a very thoughtful Good Friday, Goodbye.

28/03/2024

March 28, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Isaiah 53:1–3

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 28th of March, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.  We start in the Book of Isaiah 53:1-3: “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Oh, my dear friend, that is a description of our Lord Jesus Christ, written 700 years before He was even born. We want to thank our dear Lord Jesus this morning. Remember, this is the night before Good Friday. Tomorrow is the day we traditionally remember that Jesus Christ was crucified for your and my sins. When I think of the example that You set for us on earth, Lord, Your humility, a Man who was acquainted with sorrow and with pain, so much so that we even cannot look upon your face, a man who was despised by the world system because everything You ever said and did was the total opposite of the things of this world - but oh Lord, I love You. I love You because you were such an incredible example to us.   I think of the Baobab tree, the San Bushman tell you it is called the upside-down-tree because the roots look like they are sticking up into the sky and the top of the tree is underground. Well, I want to tell you, our beloved Jesus preaches the upside-down Gospel according to the world system because everything that the world says we must do and be, He seems to teach the exact opposite. When the world says you must get to the top, no matter how many people you trample on to get to the top, Jesus says, “Turn the other cheek”. When the world says you must be the greatest, Jesus says you must be the least. When the world says, “Let’s have a party and be happy”, you are found with those who are weeping, those who are mourning, and those who are sorrowful. Thank You, Master, for leading the way for us, for teaching us, not so much by words, but by action and by lifestyle. Our desires are to become more like You everyday. We love You very, very much. Thank you for being our ultimate example and champion here on earth, Amen. God bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.

27/03/2024

March 27, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Romans 5:3

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 27th of March, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan with a thought for today.  We go straight to the book of Romans 5:3:  “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Just yesterday I had a very severe lesson taught to me in patience, in humility and character building. I had to go and get a document from an institution that was full of people from every walk of life. I got there early in the morning. I waited in the queue and then by about nine or ten o’clock, I asked the lady at the counter, “What is the holdup?” She said that the internet is down and they cannot do anything. That’s right, my patience was starting to get a little bit tested, a bit ragged. I said, ”Well, should I come back?” She said, ”I think that might be a good idea.” “What time should I come back?” I came back at one o’clock.  When I got there at one o’clock, the place was packed out. There were queues everywhere. I had to sit and wait and you know, during that time of waiting, God started talking to me in my heart. First of all, I saw people from every walk of life and I realised how fortunate I was. An older lady was wheeled in a wheelchair because she had to sign the document. There was a man who walked in afterwards. He had obviously had a stroke. He was walking on one crutch, his wife was trying to keep him balanced and he was waiting for a document. There was a young man and a young woman with two little babies, obviously getting the babies registered. The babies were very hot and not comfortable at all and mom and dad were trying to hold the babies and sign all the documents. I sat there quietly looking at all of this and the Lord showed me very clearly, just the tremendous need that there is in society. Sometimes, we are so busy doing things we don’t observe what is happening in the everyday lives of ordinary people. Yes, indeed, it was a character-building day. Eventually, by about half past three in the afternoon, I managed to get to the counter again to collect my document, but only to be told that my fingerprints were not registering on the computer. The poor lady was trying her best to help me but she was failing. I said I’d come back again the next day. She said, ”Please sir, If you don’t mind, I would appreciate that.”  I walked out, and I thought, “I have achieved nothing today,” but just in my quiet time room this morning, I’m realising I had achieved plenty. God showed me just how little patience I have, just how little compassion I have for others, and God taught me a lesson in humility.  Today, don’t be afraid of tribulation. It will make a man or a woman out of you. Jesus bless you and goodbye.