“How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! “
Matthew 23:37
You know, when a hen gathers her chicks underneath her to protect them and they are not willing, that is a major problem.
I just love to watch a young mother when she has bathed her beautiful baby... And when she's bathed that baby, she wraps that baby tightly up and it looks so snug and so secure.
I looked up, Hemmed in - You and I need to be hemmed in by the Lord today. Hemmed in means to be surrounded or restricted, a restricted movement of someone... and that just makes you feel so secure, doesn’t it?
People are so distressed today, they are so loose - There is just nothing secure, nothing sure. When I go to Israel, there is a little church on the Mount of Olives, a small little church that overlooks the Kidron Valley and you can see the Temple Mount from there - where Solomon’s Temple was. Jesus sat there and that is where He said, “I would just love to gather you together but you are not willing.” I want to say to you today, let the Lord hem you in. Let Him look after you like a mother hen looks after her little chicks - Don’t push away from Him.
You know, a couple of nights ago, we were driving home. It was a rough road, it had been raining, it was dark, the traffic was hectic and there were potholes everywhere. You couldn’t ask for a worse night... The road was extremely busy. People were trying to get home, lights flashing everywhere - it was a terrible scenario to be in. We didn’t really know where we were going because there were these massive signboards, “Pull over to the left”, “Stop!” We didn’t know what to do but there was a huge 30-ton pantechnicon, a big lorry in front of us. We decided we were going to tuck in behind him. He had massive red brake lights and every time he came up against a pothole, he put his brakes on and we knew there was a pothole coming and we slowed down. That driver, I wish I could have shaken him by the hand but it wasn’t possible. You know we just settled in behind him and he took us safely to our destination.
I want to say to you today, why don’t you and I allow Jesus to guide us, He wants to. Let’s just allow Him to look after us and wrap us up, nice and tight, and take us to our destination.
Have a wonderful day.
God bless you and goodbye.
07/10/2021
Hemmed In
October 7, 2021 • Angus Buchan • Matthew 23:37
25/04/2024
April 25, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Isaiah 60:1, Ephesians 5:14
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 25th of April, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Isaiah 60:1: “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” Then we go straight to the Book of Ephesians 5:14: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” Oh, like never ever before in this world of ours, it is time to shine for Jesus, so that the people will be taken out of their darkness. This world, my friend, is in an absolute state of desperation. It is lost, aimless, it is seeking for direction, for purpose for living. This is our greatest opportunity to show the sad world the way home, the way to the Lord Jesus Christ. What is man’s purpose for being here on earth? Maybe you are asking yourself that question this morning. “What am I supposed to be doing on this earth? Why am I here?” Well, two reasons: Number one is to glorify God, number two is to enjoy Him forever. I can hear somebody saying, “But I am not a preacher, how can I tell the people? We need to let Jesus shine through us today wherever we have been put. I love horses - I think you know that by now. Monty Roberts, the horse-trainer, the horse whisperer, was taken over to England to show the Queen Mother (she loved horses), how he could gentle a wild horse that has never been ridden before, a racehorse, a hot blood, in one hour, and he did it! A jockey got onto that big horse within one hour, having never been ridden before. You know, that it overwhelmed the old lady so much, she started to weep and Monty Roberts comforted her. Use what God has given you, the gift that God has given you. I remember an old man who came from Mozambique. He used to walk with a limp, I even remember his name, Napila. He was on our farm when we were in Zambia. That old man was a blacksmith and he had no equipment to work with. He had a home-made set of bellows. He made a hot fire, he used car springs. Now, any mechanic will tell you how hard a car spring is. He made the most beautiful axe-heads, out of those car springs which he put into indigenous wood. Have you ever seen a potter, working with clay that comes out of the earth and making a beautiful creation? Some of our African women are incredibly talented at creating the most beautiful vases and pots. So, I am going to encourage you today to use whatever gift God has given you. You might be a homemaker, a school teacher, a policeman, or a doorkeeper. It’s time to shine for Jesus! God bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.
24/04/2024
April 24, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Psalm 62:5
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 24th of April, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Psalms 62:5: “My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him.” Not hearing from God? Why? Well, I want to tell you something now. Maybe, it’s not God’s fault, maybe it is our fault, and I really want to stress the fact that this message that I am giving to you today, is probably more for me than any of you. If you speak to my wife, she will tell you that Angus never stops speaking, and sometimes I have got to do a little more listening. Now, I am going to read something for you that I got from an unknown author, and it goes like this: “Did it ever occur to you that if you do not hear God’s answer to prayer, It may be, not that He is dumb but because you are deaf? Not because He has no answer to give but because you have not been listening for it. We are so busy with our service, so busy with our work, and sometimes so busy with our praying (now that is an interesting point, isn’t it?), that it does not occur to us to stop our own talking, and listen if God has some answer to give us, with that small still voice, to be passive, to be quiet, to do nothing, say nothing and in some true sense, think nothing, simply to be receptive and waiting for the voice of God.” I want to say to you today, we need to slow down. This world of ours is going at such a speed, we don’t even know how to be quiet, do we? And I want to say to you that that is an active word, “to be quiet”. It means you are doing something, you are being quiet. Today, be quiet and listen and God will speak to you. Jesus bless you and have a lovely day, Goodbye.
23/04/2024
April 23, 2024 • Angus Buchan • Revelation 3:16, Matthew 26:75, Mark 16:7
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 23rd of April, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Revelation 3:16: “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” Wow! Very strong words from the Lord Jesus Christ. It is better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all. We need to call sin by it’s name. We need to stand up and be counted. In order for sin to triumph, all that good people need to do, is nothing. To turn your back on the enemy is the most dangerous thing to ever do. Ask any boxer and he will tell you. When he turns away from his opponent, he is as good as dead. We have got to face our enemies and face them head on. A very famous statesman once said, “A man is not defeated by his opponents, but by himself.” Peter, the big fisherman, would have understood exactly what that saying meant, when he denied the Lord Jesus Christ three times, after having told Him that he would die for Him. We can find that in Matthew 26:75. He went out and he wept bitterly. But praise God that our Lord Jesus is the God of the second chance. Yes, Peter got a second chance. You will find that in Mark 16:7. The angel told them: “But go, tell His disciples—and Peter (isn’t that beautiful?)— that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” And Peter - thats why I love the Lord so much. He knew that Peter would never go because he had denied his Master, so the angel said, “Tell the disciples—and Peter.” That is so precious. If we look at the word of God, all the patriarchs, the men that God chose, men like Moses who was a murderer, remember he killed the slave-driver, but he got a second chance at the burning bush; King David, he did a terrible thing. Nathan, the prophet came and told him, but he got a second chance; Saul of Tarsus was persecuting Christians but he got a second chance, and became Paul the Apostle. Today, ask Him and He will give you a second chance. Jesus bless you and goodbye.