I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the of 7th November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Isaiah 64:4:

”For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.”

Did you hear that, “Who acts for the one who waits for Him.” Then we go to the 1 Corinthians 2:9-10:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”

The only qualification required to succeed in this life is very simple. It is to love Him. That’s all. It’s not a doctorate in university. It’s not a fancy degree. No, it is just to love Him. The Lord says eye hasn’t seen, ear hasn’t heard, nor has entered into the heart of a man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.

That little boy with the two sardines and the five small barley loaves of bread, he loved Jesus. Jesus said, ”Has anybody got any food around here?” And he said, ”Yes, I have.” And he took his little lunchbox that his mother had made for him, enough for one little boy to eat. He gave it to Jesus and what did He do? He fed five thousand people. Today, God wants to use you.

When Moses met with the Lord at the burning bush and the Lord said, ”Go and set my people free.” He said, ”I’ve got nothing, what can I use” He said, ”What have you got in your hand?” He said, ”A stick.” He said, ”Good, use it.” He became probably the greatest leader in the history of the world. He took a whole nation through the desert for forty years and delivered them right to the edge of the River Jordan and then the Lord allowed Joshua to take them across. Today the Lord is speaking into your heart. My dear friend, pick yourself up. Understand that there is nothing too hard for those who would choose to love the Lord.

I’ve been doing a bit of research. I’ve been looking at ten of the wealthiest Christians in the world, and you’ll be surprised how they started. There’s a man in Scotland, his name is Robert Todd. He’s a strawberry farmer. He read a book called, ”Faith like Potatoes." He decided to close his shop on Sundays. He had a massive farm store. His employees said, ”You’ll go bankrupt.” He said, ”No, on the Sabbath, I’m going to rest.” You know something? His turnover doubled.

Today, open your heart to Jesus and let Him use you for the furtherance of His kingdom.

God bless you, goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 6th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Ezekiel 36:26:

”I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

Then we go to 2 Corinthians 5:17, a very well known scripture, one of my favourites, and this is what it says:

”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

A new heart! You know, fifty-two years ago, on the 3rd of December, 1967, the first heart transplant was performed by Dr Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town. The whole world was ecstatic. A man who was dying of heart failure, his old heart was taken out of him, and someone else who had donated their heart was put into this man and he lived. I want to tell you, today that’s still the greatest miracle of all, the most beautiful thing to see is someone who has had a change of heart, where the Lord Jesus Christ has performed spiritual surgery in a man’s heart.

I love the story of Zacchaeus, that little short man who climbed up the wild fig tree, the sycamore tree to see Jesus coming into Jericho. Jesus looked up into the tree and said, ”Zacchaeus I’m coming to your house today. I’m coming to have a meal with you.” Zacchaeus was overwhelmed. You see, he was a bad man, folks. He was a thief, he even stole from his own people. He was a tax collector. He called all the other tax collectors together. They came to Zacchaeus’ house and what happened? There was a heart transplant. A heart transplant took place in that feast. Zacchaeus found Jesus Christ. His heart was changed. He said, “If I’ve stolen anything from anyone, I will give them back four-fold, that’s four hundred per cent of anything that I’ve stolen from anyone.” That is a completely new man!

What about Saul of Tarsus, Paul? From being an arch-enemy of Christianity, he became its greatest ambassador. On the road to Damascus, he was knocked off his horse in the middle of the day and Jesus said, ”Why are you persecuting me?” He said, ”Who are You, Lord?” He said, ”I am Jesus.” A heart transplant took place at that moment on that road and that man became one of Christianity’s greatest ambassadors.

Today, open your heart, let the Lord take out that heart of stone and put in a brand new heart of flesh.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 5th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in 1 Peter 1:16 and I am reading this out of the Amplified Version:

“…because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY (set apart), FOR I AM HOLY,” “Isn’t that beautiful? “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

In bold italics, in capital letters - our God is a holy God and He says today that you and I must be holy, even as He is holy. We must have a deep respect for the Lord. That is what the word, “reverence” means - a deep respect for God. Oh folks, He is not our mate, He is not the man upstairs, He is not my buddy, He is God and we need to appreciate that and He expects us to live like He does. We cannot have one foot in the world and another foot in the Kingdom. He says very clearly in Matthew 12:30:

“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.”

We cannot serve God and mammon. We need to live a holy life. You know that people have died for their faith just because they will not deny that name. They have had their heads cut off. They have been told, “Deny that name, Jesus Christ and we will let you live. They say, “We can’t and we won’t”, and they die. They have been burnt at the stake, they have died terrible deaths because they will not deny the name of Christ. Do not use that name cheaply. Oh folks, it is a beautiful name, it is the most beautiful name that I have ever heard in my life.

Holiness is the end product of obedience. That is what holiness means. When we are obedient people then we are holy. You see, there is power in that name, there is healing in that name, there is forgiveness in that name, there is peace in that name. When people are dying and they hear that name, Jesus Christ, it gives them peace and absolute joy. There is hope in that name and most of all, there is salvation in that name. At that name, the Bible says, “Every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess.”

Today, let's go out and let's use that name very carefully, and let us magnify Him.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 4th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Book of Hebrews 13:8:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

The Lord is looking for consistency. This is what the world is desperately looking for and they can’t find it. I looked up the Oxford Dictionary, to find out the literal meaning of the word, “consistent”. It means, “always behaving in the same way.” It means, “unchanging, steady, stable.” This young man, is what a young girl always looks for and this is what the employer always looks for in his employees, trustworthy, consistent people, and by the way, that is absolute character of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You know folks, this world is so up and down at the moment, isn’t it? It is like a yoyo, it is like a roller-coaster. One minute you are up in the sky and the next minute, you are down in the dumps. You can’t live like that. This frantic, desperate world is looking for stability and dependable people and situations, something that they can trust. Well, I want to tell you about my best friend, my most trustworthy friend, yes - I am talking about my Bible, I am indeed. The other day I was in the shops and a young girl came up to me and she said, “I see that big red Bible of yours. It looks so big, why is that?” I said, “So I can read it easier.” You see, you can’t change the Bible. No, it has been there from the beginning of time. You can’t upgrade it, no. It doesn’t tell lies, that’s for sure. It cannot be persuaded this way or that way. It has all the answers that we need. It doesn’t tell lies.

Matthew 5:18 says very clearly,

“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”

Jesus is so steadfast. Today, consult Him. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He never changes and He is there for you. He loves you. Call upon Him, spend time with Him. Read Him, He is the Word and He loves you so much.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

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

We go to the Gospel of Mark 14:11:

“And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.”

We are talking about Judas Iscariot who betrayed the Lord for 30 pieces of silver. You know, folks, when you are betrayed by someone you don’t regard very much, it is painful, but it is not that painful, you kind of expect it, but when you are betrayed by someone who trusts you - and Judas was entrusted by Jesus to look after the money bag. He was from the inner circle. He was one of the twelve.

That is why divorce is such a painful thing. When people don’t regard you very much then it is not so hurtful, is it? But I want to tell you something now - when it is someone you love and you trust, then it is extremely painful. You know, when Judas Iscariot took the soldiers of the high priest into the Garden of Gethsemane in the darkness of night and betrayed the Master, he walked up to Jesus and he kissed Him. Folks, so painful, very painful! Maybe you are there today. Maybe someone has really hurt you and let you down. You need to stand because Jesus will never betray you.

Do you remember that movie, The Cross and the Switchblade? There was a book written as well about that skinny preacher, David Wilkerson, who had a heart for the gangs in downtown New York. The leader of one of the main gangs was a man by the name of Nicky Cruz. He was the leader of the Mau Mau Gang, a fierce gang. His own mother called him “the son of satan.” He was an evil young man but he came to Christ. David Wilkerson preached the Gospel and he accepted Jesus, and one night he was tested. They had had a meeting in a movie house, or some place like that, and they took the collection and they asked Nicky Cruz to take the collection. Some of David Wilkerson’s men said, “Don’t let him do that. Don’t trust him with that money.”

David Wilkerson allowed him to take the collection. He went right down the aisles and then he had to go up onto the stage, behind the curtain and there was a door, an open door there. He could have run away with all the money, and then he had to come around the curtain and down the other side of the steps to collect the money on the other side, but he didn’t run away. He carried on. That man has become one of the greatest evangelists of the modern era.

Let’s not betray Jesus today by selling Him for 30 pieces of silver. Let’s be bold and stand up and say, “Yes, I am a follower of Jesus Christ.” Let us not turn our backs on Him. He has promised you and me in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you and I will never forsake you.”

He won’t betray you.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name. It is Saturday morning. The 2nd of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan with a thought for today.

We start in the book of Ezekiel 34:11:

“For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.”

Then we go straight to the Gospel of John 10:11:

”I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”

Beautiful scriptures!

The Good Shepherd, He will search for them and He will find them and He will save them because they belong to Him. They do not belong to you or to me. I’m speaking particularly here now to mothers and to fathers, and maybe you’ve got a son or daughter who has gone into the far country, a prodigal child that is rebellious, that is not listening, that does not want to have anything to do with the Lord, and they’ve gone into a foreign place. The Lord is reminding you today, mother and father, just pray for that child.

Maybe it's young people, and they are worried about their parents. Their parents are digging their heels in and they will not bow the knee to Jesus, and you can see that hometime is close for them and you are desperate for their salvation. The Lord says, “They are my sheep and I will find them and I will save them.”

What do we have to do? We have to pray, and we have to take our grubby fingers off because sometimes we mess up so badly. Maybe there’s a lady who is so desperate for her husband to come to Christ and she’s leaving those magazines on the coffee table, and she’s sending messages to him on the telephone, on the cell phone, maybe even my message. The Lord says, “Lay off.” You need to pray for him. Maybe it’s a wife that's rebellious - you need to pray for her and let God take care of His sheep because they are actually His creation and He paid the ultimate price for their lives.

It’s like when I was actively cattle farming, my sons are doing it now, we would have a large herd of cows in the mountains and we would be bringing them home because they were starting to calf down, they were starting to have babies, but there would be one calf and we just could not find it. We had been out on the horses looking in the krantzes, valleys, and forests; we cannot find that calf. We have had our workers walking over the fields looking for them. We cannot find that calf. Then what do we do, we bring the whole herd back home, and we take the mother of that calf, on her own and we let her go into the forests, into the fields and the next morning we go out and there she is suckling that beautiful baby calf.

Oh friends, I’ve seen it before, a mother at a creche, a whole lot of little children all shouting and playing and her little baby falls and hurts itself and starts to cry. She recognises that voice above all the other children and she goes straight to that baby.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He will save your loved one.
God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus' precious name. It is Friday morning. The 1st of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan with a thought for today.

We start in the book of John, the Gospel of John 13:14:

”If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

It's the little things that count. If you look at Matthew 25:40, the Bible says:

”And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

It’s the little things in life that really count, isn't it? You know, that cup of cold water for somebody that's thirsty, Matthew 10:42, doing something for someone who cannot repay you. I think of all the nurses in the hospitals and the doctors. We salute you. We really do. We love you. When I go into a hospital and I see the love that these nurses and doctors give to people that they don't even know, it touches my heart deeply. When I see a policeman trying to help someone who has been hurt, it touches me deeply.

The people that have really impacted my life and the situations, are not the big massive splitting of the Red Sea, walking on the water, calling fire down from heaven. No. The things that have really impacted me is like old Uncle Jimmy, who stayed on our farm with his dear wife Moira for many, many years. He wasn't very well. He'd had TB that he got in the Royal Navy in the Second World War. He had a very weak chest. He didn't sleep much at night, spent most of the night on his knees praying. Jimmy would come down every morning to the farm with a little piece of paper and a scripture verse for me, touched me deeply. I miss him a lot. Old Aunty Peggy, she came and she stayed with us. She told her family on her 70th birthday, I'm going to join Shalom Ministries full time. She had sugar diabetes. They amputated one of her legs beneath the knee. She had blood pressure and all kinds of problems, but what a prayer warrior. I miss her terribly. There's a security guard in town that works at one of the hardware stores. He impacts me every time I go to that store. You know that that gentleman's shoes are shiny. They look like mirrors. I can almost see my face in his boots. His uniform is immaculate. He's got one of those old-fashioned moustaches that I'm sure he waxes that turn up at the ends and his bright and happy demeanor impacts me. Old Oom Johannes Nell came to us and started preaching underneath the trees to a handful of Zulu people. That was the beginning of the church that we have today, which can seat 500 on the farm and we have two pastors doing a wonderful job. It's the little things that really touched me deeply.

Today don't underestimate your opportunities to help people.
That's what Jesus did.
God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 31st of October, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Book of Matthew 28:16:

”Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.”

Then we read on to verse 19 and Jesus said:

”Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,…”

Small beginnings - don’t despise small beginnings. Eleven disciples took the Gospel right around the globe. There weren’t hundreds of thousands, no, just eleven, and they were obedient. I want to say to you today, do not despise small beginnings.

A man by the name of Charnock said, ”The biggest actions in the world have usually started from very small beginnings.” He says, “Of a few letters of the alphabet, how many thousands of words are made? Of ten figures, how many thousands of numbers have been made? A point, one point, is the beginning of all geometry. A little stone flung into a pond makes a little circle and then a greater one until it enlarges itself to the sides.” So from small beginnings, God causes huge things to happen right throughout the world.

I remember in 2003, in a game reserve in the north coast of Kwazulu-Natal, sitting, having a rest with my dear wife, Jill, and the Lord impressed upon my heart to mentor young men. That was the birth of the Mighty Men Conferences. The first one we had at Shalom, there were 240 men that came. The last one we had at Shalom, approximately 450,000 men came and now I can report with great joy and humility that we have over 20 Mighty Men Conferences taking place in this year alone, and I’m talking about places like Canada, places like Australia, Namibia, all over South Africa, and they are starting one in South East Asia and Nigeria. They are wanting them all over the world - started by one word from the Lord! And you know the amazing thing folks? I’m not going to be at any one of those Mighty Men Conferences myself this year. The Lord is doing it! Do not despise small beginnings, just do what He tells you to do and He will do the multiplying.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.