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.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 21st of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Book of Ephesians 4:15:

”…speaking the truth in love,…”

It is the truth that will set you and me free today. The truth cancels out all our mistakes. In other words, just own up and apologise and say sorry, and it sets us free. But as long as you and I continue to tell untruths - yes, that little white lie…there is no such thing as a white lie, we are held prisoner by the devil himself. You see, one lie leads to another lie. As they say, when you tell lies, you have to have a good memory because you have to remember what you said the last time, and slowly but surely, what happens is we get trapped in a spider’s web until we cannot escape. We need today to speak the truth in love.

That is what happened to Richard Nixon. He had the potential to be America’s greatest president. I mean, he made peace with China, he was a great diplomat. He had incredible natural abilities, but he told an untruth, he told a lie and then to cover that lie, he told another lie, then eventually he put his hand on the Bible and swore over the Bible that he had not made the mistake, and he was found out and it toppled him completely until he had to leave office.

Tell the truth today in love and Jesus Christ will back us up all the way and we will walk free because the devil will have no more hold over us. Folks, today Jesus Christ is saying to you and to me, ”Let us walk in honesty and the purity of God’s word.” And if we do make a mistake, and by the way, every single one of us have - Peter made three mistakes, he denied the Lord three times, he didn’t know him when he knew him very well, but he repented, he said sorry and what did Jesus do? He forgave him and used him to head up the church.

Today, let’s walk in truth and let’s be free. The Lord shall set you free - you shall be free indeed.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 20th of November, 2024 and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Proverbs 10:19. The word of God says:

“In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.”

Then we go to Matthew 27:14:

“But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.”

Now the Message translation says: “Do you hear that long list of accusations? Aren’t you going to say something?” Jesus kept silence—not a word from His mouth. The governor was impressed, really impressed.”

We need to watch what we say. We need to make sure that our words are sweet because one day we might have to eat them! The longer you speak, the more you dilute your point. Speak less, listen more and we will become mighty wiser people. Mom, those children don’t listen to you maybe because you talk too much all the time. Let your words be shorter and to the point.

I love the story of Sir Winston Churchill, the famous British Prime Minister, the “bulldog of Britain”. He went to Harrow School in 1941, in the middle of the Second World War and all the students were there, probably hanging on each word he was going to say. One of the greatest speakers ever to live, got up, walked up to the podium, looked at those young men and said, “Never, never, never give up!” And then he went and sat down. That was it. Do you know that that speech is the shortest speech he ever made, yet everybody knows it.

Today, be like Jesus. Let your words be few but let each one count.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 19th of November 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Gospel of Luke 23:3:

”Then Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered him and said, “It is as you say.”

Jesus Christ is the King of all Kings. Hallelujah. He’s the Lord of Lords. He’s the Lily of the Valley. He’s the Bright Morning Star. He’s the friend of sinners like you and I. Folks, I want to say to you that every single creature that has ever existed in Heaven and on Earth knows in their heart, that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Philippians 2:10-11 says every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Everyone knows this. You say, “How come?” Because God has put eternity into the heart of a man.

You can go to the Amazon jungle, you can go to the Congo jungle, you can go to the Artic Circle, and you can meet people who have never ever heard the name of Jesus and you can ask them, ”Is there a God?” And they will say, ”There is. There is a higher power”. They just don’t know His name because you and I haven’t told them, but they know that there is a creator! Albert Einstein regarded as one of the most brilliant men that ever lived, acknowledged that there is a God. This creation couldn’t have happened with a Big Bang. It is created.

I want to ask you a question, ”Do you know Him today, sir? Do you know that Jesus Christ is God in flesh? Immanuel, God with us?” I want to suggest to you, stop arguing with God and start believing. Do you know that there is more evidence that Jesus Christ walked on this earth than there is that Julius Caesar was the Emperor of Rome. Yet no-one questions the fact that Julias Caesar was the Emperor of Rome. Yet we are always questioning whether Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God. You know, Pontius Pilate asked Him, he said, ”Are you the King of the Jews?” He said, ”Yes, it is as you say.” Oh, my dear friend. I want to pray with you this morning.

Father,

This man, this woman, who is listening to this message this morning, they continue to doubt Your sovereignty. Please forgive them.

Pray this prayer after me:
I confess that I have doubted God but today,
I choose by faith, to believe that Jesus Christ is the soon-coming King.
Amen.

God bless you and have a wonderful day. Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 18th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Isaiah 42:3:

”A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.”

Folks, I want to say to you that the Lord will establish justice on the earth. “Gentle Jesus meek and mild” - that was a children’s hymn that was written in 1745. It goes like this:

Gentle Jesus meek and mild,
Look upon a little child,
Pity my simplicity,
And suffer me to come to thee.

They say in the early days that instructing little children to memorise and sing hymns was the most important way to keep truth in their little minds. I want to speak to you about the gentlest person who ever walked on the face of the earth. Yes, His name was our beloved Jesus. You say, ”What was His character like?” Well, let me give you an example. You know He was the one that was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, and you can read it in John 18:8, and yet what did He say, He said, ”Let these go their way,” the disciples, ”I’m the one that you want.” Isn’t that beautiful?

He was the one, when He was hanging on a cross, where spikes had been driven through His hands and through His feet and a crown of thorns rammed upon His head and blood pouring down His face, He could say, ”Forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Oh yes, this is the gentle Jesus I’m talking about. He’s the one who could tell Peter that he will see Him in Galilee. Why didn’t He say that to all the others? No, because Peter was the one who had denied Him no less than three times, but He still loved him.

He’s the one who, when He was hanging on the cross, looked down and saw the disciple John and He said, ”John look after my mother.” And then He looked at His mother and He said, ”Mom, look after my brother” - so gentle. Gentle means mild and kind. Moderate, not harsh or severe but kind, tender, understanding. Talk to Him today, He’s waiting for you. He says to you and I, ”I have come to give you life abundantly.” John 10:10.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day with gentle Jesus,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 17th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in Psalm 65:3:

“Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them.”

Beautiful! In the Amplified Version it says:

“Wickedness and guilt prevail against me; Yet as for our transgressions,You forgive them [removing them from Your sight].”

Oh beautiful! Then 1 John 1:9:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Isn’t that beautiful? Jesus provides a way of escape, a way out. Not only does He forgive us of our sins, but He also forgets our sin! When you go to the Lord and you say, “Lord, remember that thing that I did last week?” He says, “No, I don’t remember. When He forgives, He forgets, not like us - when the going gets tough we say to that person, “Remember what you did to me at that other time?” God never says that. That is why I love Him so very much.

Romans 8:1 (Amplified Version):

“Therefore there is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict, no punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus [who believe in Him as personal Lord and Saviour].”

Isn’t that beautiful? No fishing - okay, there is a big pool there, you want to go fishing - no! There is a sign up there that says, “No fishing!” When God forgives, it is done, therefore go, sin no more. It is like getting all those accounts at the end of the month. You don’t know how you are going to pay them, you start opening these accounts and there is a big stamp, right across those accounts, “Paid”, “Paid”, “Paid in Full” - “Paid By The Blood of Jesus Christ which was shed on the Cross of Calvary for you and for I.”

Go therefore today, knowing that your sins are forgiven and the Master says, “Go and sin no more.”

Jesus bless you and goodbye.