I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 24th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Book of James 1:22:

”But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Then we go straight to the Gospel of Matthew 27:58:

”This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.”

Yes, we are talking of Joseph of Arimathea, a very rich man. So often, rich people get condemned because they are rich, and I want to tell you something now, some of the most generous people I’ve ever met in my life are rich people, and they are rich because they are hard-working. It’s not a sin to be rich folks. The sin comes when we love money more than God. It’s the love of money that is the sin, not money itself.

Ephesians 2:8 says we have been saved by grace, through faith, and even that, not of ourselves, for it was a gift from God. I know better than anybody that I am saved by grace, there’s nothing good about me that will get me to Heaven. However, we must remember, that once we’ve had an encounter with the Lord, there must be fruit available. Joseph risked his very life asking for the body of Christ from Pontius Pilate. He exposed himself - he could have been killed for that but Pontius Pilate gave him the body of our beloved darling, Jesus Christ. He took that precious body, washed it clean, wrapped it in clean linen cloth and laid it in his own tomb, which he had dug out of solid rock. Remember, faith is a doing word. It’s not just talking, my dear friend.

I remember seeing a cartoon once in a Christian magazine which made me cry. There was a picture of a very big, overfed minister with a dog collar on, and he had a big black Bible in his hand, and with his other hand, he was pointing down at a small little child who was suffering from malnutrition. He also had a big stomach but it was because he was hungry. He was holding a little begging bowl in his hand and the caption under the cartoon said, ”Tell me preacher, will there be food in heaven?”

Today, go out and bless somebody who cannot repay you and you will be blessing God.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 23rd of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Book of Jeremiah 18:4:

”And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.”

Then we go to the Gospel of John 12:24:

”Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”

"Heaven will be filled with broken vessels, broken upon the wheel of earth." Campbell Morgan said it, and I think it is so true. Yes, we will be made into new creatures. There is no doubt about it but it’s men and women who have been broken on the wheel of earth, the potter’s wheel of earth, that will fill heaven. You see, it’s in dying that we live. Even as our beloved Christ was broken on the cross, so too we must be prepared to be broken. Maybe this morning you feel that your dream, your vision, has failed miserably. It’s all been a waste of time. Oh no, oh no! Take heart Christians, many of those who have gone before us must have felt exactly the same way. Get up now, dust yourself off and get back into the fight.

I want to give you an example, Jim Elliot, I think he must have been 29 years old, he must have felt the same way when he was being murdered in the Amazon jungle. What a waste - but I want to tell you folks that through his death and through his friend's death, thousands of young men and women have gone to the mission fields to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are still going even today. That same young man said, ”It is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Today, you and I, let us keep on. You might feel broken, you might feel that you have disappointed others. Get up and keep going because heaven is filled with people who have been broken on the wheel of earth.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 22nd of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the last Book of the Bible, Revelation 22:12-13. This is Jesus speaking:

”And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

Then we go right down to verse 20 and the Lord says:

“Surely I am coming quickly.”

Oh, how many of us can say, “Lord, today would not be soon enough.” Jesus is our measuring staff. When we look at the chaos in the world today, we just see how things are disintegrating and we cry out, “Lord come, please come Lord. End these double standards, the dishonesty. Shatter the long nights of sin and of sorrow, of tears, of pain, despair and death.” We are to look up folks. Many of us are looking too low. We must look up because Jesus is coming back very soon. He who aims beneath the stars, aims too low. We must aim above the stars - we as followers of Christ. We’re not going back to Egypt. We’ve got no reverse gear in our motor cars. We are refusing to lower our standards for anyone. We are going to remain fearless and expectant for our soon-coming King.

One of the heroes of the early fathers of the church was Polycarp. Polycarp was a martyr, he died for his faith. He was the Bishop of Smyrna. He was 86 years old when they arrested him. The Roman soldiers that arrested him said, ”Listen old man, we don’t want to kill you. Just renounce the name of Jesus, follow after the gods of Rome and we’ll let you die in peace.” He said, ”No ways.” And so they took him to the arena and the crowds were waiting in anticipation to see a child of God be burned at the stake.

The Proconsul, the representative of Caesar, said to him, ”Do you know who I am? I have the power of life and death over you. Do you know who I am?” And the old gentleman said, ”Oh yes, I know who you are. You are the son of the devil!” Folks, we need some men like that who fear nothing but sin and desire no one but God.

Today, lift up your eyes. Get rid of all that sin in your life, and get ready for the coming of the King.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.