03/07/2024

Angus Buchan

03/07/2024

Be Decisive

July 3, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Matthew 5:37

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 3rd of July, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Matthew 5:37, the Lord Jesus says:

“But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”

We must not make promises that we cannot keep. We must be honest, come clean, and say, “We cannot do it” rather than try to pacify people. If you have made a mistake, just go and ask the person to forgive you. I am thinking of that relationship, that young couple who are contemplating marriage, and maybe she has realised at the last minute that this is not the man for her. You need to let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no’ for your sake, for his sake, and most of all for the Lord’s sake. The Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are the peace-makers”, not “blessed are the peace-lovers” and sometimes to bring peace in your family you have got to make decisions. You have got to say to your children, “No, you are not going to do that, we are going to do this” and eventually your children will come and thank you for that. We have to become more decisive.

When I left Zambia, and I came down to South Africa, we had signed up to purchase a farm, and I had to go to the lawyers to sign the papers, but there was something in me that was not really at peace, and I had to cancel the farm sale, and I bought another farm. At the time, I was very, very embarrassed and the gentleman who was selling me the farm was extremely disappointed, but I had to say to him, “This is not the farm that we are going to buy because I want to grow seed maise on this farm and I don’t have isolation distance from other commercial crops of maise, and it just wouldn’t work.”

I made the right decision. It was very difficult and as a result, we bought the farm, “Shalom” and God has blessed us on this farm with many, many good things, but I can tell you right now, if I had purchased the other farm, just to make the seller happy, we would have gone bankrupt. Today, let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and let your ‘no’ be ‘no’ and anything else, the Lord says, is evil. Don’t keep on doing things you know you shouldn’t do because you will not get the victory in that situation. Be decisive and then you will be at peace.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

02/07/2024

July 2, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Acts 17:6

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 2nd of July, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start off in the Book of Acts 17:6: “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” Pascal, the great French philosopher, mathematician, etc. said something that is so special. He said, “The serene beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world next to the might of God” - a holy life. You see, that is what happened. Paul was preaching Jesus and said, “He is the Christ, He is the coming Messiah, He is the hope of the world”. The Greeks were persuaded to follow after the Lord Jesus Christ, but some were envious, some were evil, some went to the marketplace and got a whole lot of rabble-rousers and they attacked the house of Jason, where Paul and the apostles were staying - those who have turned the world upside down! Now, they did not turn the world upside down with a mighty army - no! They did not turn the world upside down by a great invention - no! Well, how did they turn the world upside-down? By telling people that there is a God, that His name is Jesus Christ, that there is eternal life, that after we die in this world, we don’t go to a lost eternity. If we believe in Him, we have life eternal. That great English evangelist, George Whitefield, said, “We are immortal (in other words, we can’t die), on this earth until our work has been completed.” I want to encourage you today to stop worrying about things that are not even going to happen. I want to encourage you today to focus on the Lord and that will bring more people to Christ than anything else. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.

01/07/2024

July 1, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Matthew 5:22

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 1st of July, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Gospel of Matthew 5:22 and Jesus says: “But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” That’s quite a statement. Don’t call any man or woman “a fool.” You know, years ago when children were taught at school, they all had to write with their right hand, and little children who were born left-handed would get punished if they tried to write with their left hand. As a result, many left-handers from that era are very poor writers, (I happen to be a left-hander), but we cannot presume that people are foolish because they don’t do things the way other people do. Mother, be very careful how you talk to your children. Some people learn slower than others but they are not fools. No, in fact, often the ones who learn slower, when they get it, they are brilliant. I read the life story of a woman called Helen Roseveare. She was a missionary doctor who went right up into the Congo. She built a hospital, literally out of the jungle, and she even taught her clearners, the people who swept out the wards where the patients were lying and made the beds and took the rubbish out - she taught them how to be surgeons. Now they couldn’t even read or write. She taught them how to deliver babies by operating on that mother when she couldn’t give birth naturally, delivering the baby, then stitching up the mother’s wound and making sure that mom and baby were both perfectly healthy, a miracle! We need to dream our dream. Don’t call anybody foolish. As Christians, we need to encourage one another, to dream our dreams. Speak it into being - have patience with each other because we all operate at different paces and different levels. Let's be encouragers today and not critics. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.

30/06/2024

June 30, 2024 • Angus Buchan • 2 Timothy 2:3

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 30th of June, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in 2 Timothy 2:3: "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." People say "Come to Jesus and all your problems will be over." Now, I have been looking for that scripture in the Bible for quite a few years and I just can't find it because it is not there. There is nowhere where Jesus says, "Come to Me and I will give you a bed of roses" - not at all! He says, "Come to me and I will give you rest," and He says, "Take My cross up and follow Me daily." If we look at Hebrews 12:12-13, the Lord says: "Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed." We are in the fight of our lives. Yes, we have the victory, I know that so well, but nevertheless, it is still a fight. I read a little article the other day that says, "This life is not victory but a battle." We need to be patient for a little longer and then we will have the victory. Do you remember that beautiful hymn, "I have decided to follow Jesus?" I remember a few years ago when we were going to Cape Town. They had had no rain for two years and we went to parliament. We were praying that the Lord would undertake for us, and I got an opportunity to stand up and to speak up, and I felt the Lord say, "I want you to sing. I want you to sing that you have decided to follow Me." Please sing it with me because as a soldier of the Cross, it gives us strength to run the race and to finish it. Of course, we have the victory but we need to be good soldiers. We need to disciplined. We need to get up every morning and face the day until that wonderful day when Jesus comes to take us home to be with Him in glory forever. The song goes like this: I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus; Oh, no turning back, praise the Lord, no turning back. The second verse goes like this: Tho' none go with me, I still will follow, Tho' none go with me I still will follow, Tho' none go with me, I still will follow; No turning back, praise the Lord, no turning back. As good soldiers, let's press on towards the mark of our high calling. Jesus bless you, have a wonderful day, Goodbye