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Just Obey
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 9th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Leviticus 10:3 (Amplified Version): “Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord said:‘I will be treated as holy by those who approach Me,And before all the people I will be honoured.’”So Aaron, therefore, said nothing.”What had happened was, the two sons of Aaron had decided to make a plan. They had decided to bring an offering of fire to the altar in the Tabernacle but God did not receive it because they did not do it with respect towards Him and they died on the spot. Then we go to John 2:5. and the servants came to Mary, Jesus’ mother and they wanted to know, “What must we do?” Mary said, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”I want to say to you this morning, God has really laid this on my heart, for me as well - a good idea is not always a God idea. The Lord does not want you and I to help Him. He wants you and I to obey Him. Don’t try and help God, rather obey Him because He is a Holy God. Commandment Number Five, which the Lord gave Moses to give us to obey is “Honour your mother, Honour your father, so that your days may be long in the land.” Now that is a commandment. It doesn’t matter what they say to you, do it for God’s sake so that the Lord will honour you. Do you know, that is the first commandment in the Bible with a promise added to it. “Honour your mother and your father so that your days may be long in the land.”I want to tell you a quick story before we close. I remember reading many years ago of a man sitting in his office, and on the windowsill of his office, there was a cocoon, and in the cocoon was a pupa, and this little worm was trying to get out of the cocoon so that it could turn into a beautiful butterfly, but it was struggling, and he watched it as he was doing his work at the desk and eventually he thought, “I will just help it.” He had a little knife on his desk, he took the knife and cut open the cocoon. He tried to help the butterfly. What happened? The butterfly just fell out of the cocoon and onto the ground. You see, when a butterfly comes out of a cocoon, it needs to exercise and strengthen it’s wings and it’s body so that it can fly.Do not try and help God, just obey Him! Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,Goodbye.
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3:22
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3:22
Know His Voice
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 8th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Gospel of John 10:4 and this is Jesus speaking. He says:”And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” I want to ask you a question this morning, I’m asking myself the same question. Do we know His voice? It is vital in these last days that you know the voice of the Good Shepherd because there are other shepherds who are not good and you can so easily be misled.I’ve just come back from visiting my great-grandson. I am now a great grandfather. He is a small little baby. He’s one year old and he is still suckling from his mother’s breast and I want to tell you, it is so wonderful for me and my wife Jill to see the communication that that little baby has with his mother. Why? Because he knows his mother’s voice, and most of all because he spends all day with his mother. Jesus says that we must know His voice.The shepherds in the Middle East don’t herd their sheep with sheep dogs as we do in the West. No, the sheep follow the shepherd, and how is that so because the shepherd spends all day long with his flock of sheep, because in the Middle East, they don’t have fences to hold in sheep. We have fences in the west to hold in the sheep. We put them in the paddock and we leave them there and then when it’s time for them to come out, we get our sheep dogs and they work very gently with the sheep, don’t get me wrong. My son has got working dogs but in the Middle East they don’t have fences so the shepherd is sitting under the tree with his sheep all day long like the Good Shepherd. It’s because of spending time. I have seen where a number of shepherds will come down to a watering point on a hot, hot day with their respective flocks of sheep. Maybe five or six shepherds with six flocks of sheep and all the sheep are mixed up together. A nightmare for a shepherd in the west and they drink together and the shepherds sit under the tree and they talk to each other and when it’s time to go they call their sheep, folks. It’s a fact, and those sheep will leave the mixed up flock and they will follow their shepherd. Then the next shepherd will call his sheep and they’ll move off in another direction because they know his voice.I want to encourage you to get to know the voice of God. You say, ”How?” by spending time with Him, by reading your Bible every morning, by praying and talking to Him every day, in the workplace, when you’re travelling and by listening to Christian music and spending time with other Christians, you will hear the voice of God.Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day. Goodbye.
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3:24
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3:24
Love One Another
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 7th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Numbers 6:22-26: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:“The Lord bless you and keep you;The Lord make His face shine upon you,And be gracious to you;The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,And give you peace.” ’What a beautiful blessing from God, spoken by Aaron, the High Priest! Then we go to the Gospel of John 14:27. Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” What a beautiful blessing from the Master, Himself! Now, I remember many years ago, I don’t know if this is true, it probably is, or just a legend, but when John, the last apostle, was a very old man they would bring him in to the different meetings and as he would walk in, the first thing he would say was, ”Little children, love one another.” And often they would say, “But John, you always say that when you come to visit us - the first thing you say, ’little children love one another’.” Then tears would fill his eyes and he would say, “Because that is what the Master used to say to us.” Yes, John was the last disciple, and he quoted Jesus.I want to say to you over this Christmas period, “Little children, love one another and bless each other in a world that has gone upside-down, where it is all about “me”, and “give me this!” and “give me that!” and “this is mine!” Just love one another. There is nothing more powerful in this world, especially in the family. When family come home, be patient with them and love them. When there is turmoil in the family, just love one another and the Holy Spirit will do the rest.Jesus bless you and have a wonderful Sunday,Goodbye.
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2:44
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2:44
Keep the Fire Burning
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, 6th December 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Leviticus 6:13: “A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.” Now that fire was made in the tabernacle, which was the portable temple of the people of Israel. It was never, ever allowed to go out. As over a million people wandered through the wilderness, the tabernacle went with them and the cloud, but inside the tabernacle, there was a fire on the altar. That fire was never allowed to go out. The priests would carry it from place to place. Then we go to the Book of Jeremiah 23:29: “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Oh, my dear friend, this morning, remember as we approach the Christmas period, do not let the fire of the Holy Spirit go out in your life because of all the stress and all the running around. Keep the fire going! I was born in Central Africa and many times I’ve gone into the rural areas where there are not many people. Small groups of tribesmen - they don’t have access to lighters and matches to start a new fire every day. They keep the embers glowing all the time. They choose a special wood which is extremely hard and they keep the fire smouldering. I’ve seen them moving from one place to another and they would carry a handful of red hot coals in a piece of bark, shaped into a container, and they would put those coals in there and when they got to their new campsite they would just blow on those coals, put some grass on top of the coals and the fire would just burst into new light. I want to say to you today, we must carry God’s word with us wherever we go. We must take it with us in our hearts, hide it in our hearts. Keep the fire going. You say, ”There are certain places that I’m going to, I can’t take God’s word.” I want to suggest to you, maybe you don’t need to go to those places. Wherever the Israelite nation went, the altar which was glowing with coals of life, went with them. Take God’s word with you and He will direct you and you will not make a mistake.Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,Goodbye.
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3:16
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3:16
Unashamed
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 5th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Gospel of Matthew 10:27. Jesus says: “…preach on the housetops.” Then we go to Romans 1:16. It says: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” There is power when we are not ashamed. I will never forget that on the 18th of February, 1979, in the little Methodist Church on the Main Street of Greytown, Jill, my wife, myself, and our children went to church that Sunday because I was desperate and didn’t know what to do anymore. There were a group of laymen there. The minister wasn’t preaching that day. They were builders, farmers, electricians, and sportsmen. They were just ordinary working folk. They were just getting up, one after the other and sharing their testimonies, and telling people what Jesus Christ meant to them. I was absolutely amazed because they were weeping, and I hadn’t seen people weep from the pulpit before. Then the altar call was made and we went forward and we gave our lives to Christ. When we went home, we were sitting in the garden and a car drove in and a man got out of that car and he walked up and he said, ”I was in the church service this morning and I saw you go forward and give your life to Christ. Did you mean it?” And of course, there was still a bit of the old man there, I said, “Of course I did. Do you think I would do it if I didn’t mean it?” He said, “Well then, I want to challenge you. The first three people you meet tomorrow morning, tell them what you did today.” After a cup of tea, he left us. The next morning, I was on my way to a cattle sale in my pick-up, and I went to pick up my neighbour next door. He was a dairy farmer and as we were driving down the road, I will never forget it, this was the first time in my life that I had the opportunity of not being ashamed of the Gospel. I said, “Ian, I want to tell you something.” He said, “Ja, what?” I said, “Yesterday I gave my life to Jesus Christ.” Well, his face went pale and he looked across and he said, “Angus, I am so pleased for you.” I said, “But what about you, Ian?” He said, “No, no, that is not for me.” But I want to tell you, about a couple of years went by and on a Saturday morning, I was sitting in my farm office doing my accounts when the phone rang. I picked the phone up and it was Ian on the phone. He said, “Angus, I need you and I need you now.” I said, “I am on my way.” I got in my pick-up and I drove straight across to his farm. I walked into his house. His wife was sitting there and his three beautiful daughters, and he said, “Angus, I need Jesus.” Well, we knelt together on the carpet in his sitting room and Ian gave his life to Christ. He has since gone to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, and I have never stopped since that day telling people about Jesus Christ. Today, stand up, be bold and be counted.God bless you and goodbye.
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3:16
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3:16