Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 23rd of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.We start off in the Book of Isaiah 9:6:“For unto us a Child is born,Unto us a Son is given;And the government will be upon His shoulder.And His name will be calledWonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”Then we go straight to the Gospel of Matthew 1:21:“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”Yes, we are talking about the Prince of Peace, we are talking about the Darling of Heaven. As we approach Christmas Day, the Lord has laid this beautiful song on my heart that I want to read to you. It was written by Mark Lowry, a Gospel singer from America. I am sure you have heard it but I want you to listen very carefully to the words that he has written, because they always bring me to tears every time. This is how it starts:Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?Mary, did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?This child that you've delivered will soon deliver youMary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?When you kissed your little baby you've kissed the face of GodThe blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live againThe lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the LambMary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?Did you know that your baby boy is Heaven's perfect Lamb?This sleeping child you're holding is the great 'I Am'Maybe you have listened to this and your heart is touched, and you say, “But Angus, I am really struggling sometimes to believe that that baby is God made flesh, Immanuel.” Well, I want to pray for you.Father,I pray for my dear friend. Maybe she is lonely, maybe he is missing his wife, maybe they are in hospital and they are struggling to believe. Please increase their faith today and let them know about the Babe who was born in Bethlehem, who is soon coming again to take us to be with Him, in glory forever, Amen.Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 22nd of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Isaiah 44:24:“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,And He who formed you from the womb:“I am the Lord, who makes all things,Who stretches out the heavens all alone,Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;…”Then we go to the Gospel of John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” I am so excited to share this with you this morning. Very, very early, as the sun was coming up, I took my mountain bike out for a ride, and as I went up the road to the end of the farm, I looked into a paddock, and there was a flock of huge storks, beautiful, majestic storks. Now the wind was blowing so hard, I thought it was going to blow me off my bicycle and I was struggling to stay on the road. Oh but my friends, I got quite emotional because these storks decided to take off and hovered above me and my bicycle, and the wind was blowing and they just hung there like they were standing still with their wings fully expanded, and then all of a sudden they would take a dive and enjoy the wind thermals, go right up into the air, come down again and then literally park all around me. And again, I thought, “Oh Lord, what a Creator!”We have an airstrip very close to us and there is a Big C company. They own quite a few aeroplanes, they even have a Lear Jet in their hangar, but with all due respect, not one of them look anything like these storks when they take to the wind and they start to soar - unbelievable! Then I carried on down the road. I rode about another 2 to 3 kilometres, I went around a sharp corner and there is a big forest, and just in front of the forest is a fence and I saw a family of vervet monkeys, all sitting on the wire fence, and all their little white faces, were facing the sun. They were catching the first heat waves of the day and again I said, “Lord, what a Creator You are.” Then I carried on a bit further, and I saw a flock of swallows, and they were catching the insects, flying back and forth, but not flapping their wings, using the wind thermals. And I thought, “Lord, You sent those swallows all the way, 6000 miles from the Northern Hemisphere, to come to our beloved South Africa and catch the summer! Jesus bless you today and open your eyes and you will see the Creator in action!God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 21st of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Gospel of John 1:11: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” Then we go to the Book of Isaiah 53:3: “He is despised and rejected by men,…”Are you feeling unpopular at this time of the year? It is the festive season, it’s the time that people say, “Let’s let our hair down and let’s have a party!” Now, there is nothing wrong with having a party. I am talking about the office party, the end-of-year party, and let’s go for it. And you say, “No, I don’t sleep around. No, I am not a drunkard. No, I am not part of those filthy pornographic jokes.” And all of a sudden, you are not so popular, are you? And somebody said, I don’t know if it was DL Moody or one of the great evangelists, he said, “If everybody has got something good to say about you, be sure Jesus has got nothing good to say about you!” It’s funny, but it’s not funny, is it?I am thinking particularly of the younger people today. When you become a senior man or a woman, people know who you are, whether you like it or not, you have been branded, but when you are a young person, you want to be in with the crowd, but you don’t want to drop the ball, then you start getting tempted by the devil and he uses people. Matthew 12:30 says, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.” Basically, you can’t serve two masters. Either you are serving the Lord Jesus Christ or you are serving the world. You don’t have to try and become unpopular. All you have to do is stand up with a Bible and what it stands for, and you will automatically become extremely unpopular and criticised for lots of things that you have never even said. Tell me about it!Oh, but my dear friend, it is worth it all because that great day when the Lord comes again, it’s not too far away, it will be wonderful when He can identify you from the crowd, when He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come, come and enter into your rest.”Have a wonderful Christmas time without compromising your faith.Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 20th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go straight to the Gospel of John 11:35: ”Jesus wept.” Jesus cried. Compassion is what the world needs. Do you know, He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead? He knew that. So why was He weeping? Because He had compassion on the people when He saw how they were mourning because of the death of His friend, Lazarus. This world needs compassion. Compassion is another word for understanding, it’s another word for being concerned, for kindness, for being sensitive.William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, sent his soldiers out all over the world to tell people about the love of Christ. He sent some to far-off countries. He got a letter back from one group of these salvationists. They said, “We have tried everything here. We have tried preaching the Gospel from Genesis to Revelation, but we are hitting a brick wall. We are not getting through. What must we do?” He wrote a letter back and there were two words on that letter, “Try tears.” Not so long ago, I had the privilege of being the speaker at a campaign in one of the most dangerous places on the Continent of Africa. I’m talking about the Cape Flats in Cape Town, where there are gang wars and the men are killing each other, up to twenty men getting shot dead in a weekend. Some people told me not to go there, “You’ll get killed.” I said, ”No, Jesus has opened a way for us and we are going.” I will never forget the love that I experienced in that place, the love, the desperation, the tears. I haven’t seen tears like that at an event for a long time. I walked off the platform and I walked up to the barrier just to hug these men. They were kissing me on the neck. They were telling me they loved me and as we were trying to get out of the stadium, we had people around us to try and make a way for us. There was one young man who would not take no for an answer and he was so desperate to speak to me that one of the organisers said, ”This young man wants to speak to you.” So we stopped. I said, ”Bring him,” and I said. ”What can I do for you son?” He looked at me, tears running down his face. He said, ”I just want a hug from you, Uncle Angus.” That was all. I took him in my arms and I hugged him and I loved him and he loved me and the love of Christ, I believe, was all he needed and that is what he received. Today, go and love somebody and be quick to cry and don’t be too quick to point fingers.Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day. Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 19th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Psalms 105:2: ”Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;Talk of all His wondrous works!” Then we go straight to 1 Thessalonians 5:18: ”In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God…” I read a beautiful little reading this morning by the famous hymn writer, Francis Ridley Havergal, and this is what she says. She says, ”We talk about the telescope of faith but I think we want even more the microscope of watchful and grateful love.” She says, ”Apply this to the little bits of our daily lives, in the light of the Spirit and how wonderfully they will come out.” Yes, we want to look through the telescope of faith and see all the big things in life, but she says maybe we need to get that microscope out and thank God for all the little things He has done for us.You say, ”What little things?” Well, maybe you passed your exams. “Yes, but I didn’t get a hundred percent, Angus!” No, but you passed your exams and surely that’s worth praising God for, and that farmer, ”No, I didn’t really get a bumper crop this year.” But maybe you are able to pay your costs and that’s worth thanking God for. Counting your blessings and naming them one by one, and then all of a sudden, things won’t look so hopeless, will they?Do you remember that little song, it’s a hymn, that goes something like this;Count your blessings, name them one by oneCount your blessings, see what God has doneCount your blessings, name them one by oneCount your many blessings, see what God has doneIsn’t that wonderful? Today, count those blessings! Thank the Lord that you woke up this morning and you can see a brand new day, and who knows? This may be the day that the Lord will come and take us home to be with Him in paradise forever, but until then, count your blessings!Jesus bless you and goodbye.