Thought For Today

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.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 18th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Gospel of John 11:25-26:”Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” There’s a question for you and me this morning. Do we believe that if we are in Christ Jesus, we will never die?I remember a beautiful story written, I think it was by the great evangelist, Dwight Lyman Moody. He went on an expedition to Great Britain and in about two or three years, led something like two million people to Christ. He was a former shoe salesman, not very educated, not very well spoken, but he knew Jesus Christ.Now the scripture I’ve just read to you was Jesus reassuring Martha, the sister of Mary and their brother Lazarus, when he had been delivered out of the tomb where he had been dead for four days. Jesus said, ”I am the resurrection and if you believe in Me you will never die.”Well, DL Moody said, ”One day you will read in the newspapers that D L Moody has died. Do not believe a word of it.” He said, ”I will not have died. I will simply have changed my address.” Isn’t that beautiful? Maybe today you are mourning the loss of a loved one that has died. If they know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, they are not dead. They have just gone ahead of you to Heaven and they will be waiting there for you to come. Their prayer for you today would be, “Please, do not mourn. Do not cry over me. Make sure that you are a Christian, and then I will see you in Heaven.”One of the most beautiful little scripture verses I really love, especially at a time when we are mourning the loss of a loved one and maybe we are a little bit confused, is found in Psalm 116:15. It says:”Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” If your loved one knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, just like D L Moody, they have not died, they have simply changed their address. They are waiting for you in Heaven, and they are saying to you today, ”Please believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and you will be with me also in Heaven.” Have a wonderful day,God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 17th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Psalms 27:4, and David said: “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.” Then we go to the New Testament, to the Gospel of Luke 10:41-42: And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”We need to slow down. We need to listen to the Word of God. Jesus said to Martha, “Your sister Mary is sitting at my feet and listening to what I am saying and you are running to and fro, all over the place and wearing yourself out. I want to say to you today, as we are approaching Christmas time, and things are getting busier, I am speaking not only to young mothers but to young men as well, this is not a time to run to and fro. This is a time to settle down and be with your loved ones. You say, “No, I can’t afford to.” You cannot afford not to, sir!Do you remember the story, I don’t know whether it is true or not, but it is a good story that took place in England when the famous sea captain, Sir Francis Drake, was playing a game of bowls. He must have been on the white cliffs of Dover somewhere, and he could look out and see, and some of his men ran to him and said to him, “The Spanish Armada, hundreds of sea-going warships, are approaching Britain to declare war!” And Sir Francis Drake calmly said he would finish his game of bowls and then have time to beat the Spanish Armada.I want to say to you today, take time to be with your loved ones. Remember, Mary, according to Jesus, chose a better way. She sat at the feet of the Lord, and David, the apple of the Lord’s eye, said he wanted to sit at the feet of God. Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 16th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Gospel of Luke 20:38: “For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, …” Then we go to John 11:23: “Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” I want to speak to you today about the God of the living. Lazarus had been dead for four days in the tomb. In the Middle East, they have to bury the dead the same day because the body starts to break down with the heat, but Jesus told His best friend’s sister, ”Your brother will rise again.” Martha did not understand what He meant. She thought He was talking about the resurrection. No, Lazarus was about to be resurrected out of the tomb. As a farmer, I can see my living God every day of my life. When I see a crop coming out of the ground - you plant the seed and then one morning, early, you wake up and there it is coming up beautifully with life, living. A newly born calf, a newly born lamb - new life! Jesus is the God of the living! He is not the God of the dead. So I want to say to you today that He is the One who will forgive you, as He has forgiven me. He will heal you, as He has healed me. He will restore you as He has restored me. He is the God of the second chance. How many people have been cast aside by the world, as failures? They call out to Jesus, the God of the living, and He literally resurrects them. The Bible is full of those people, right from Adam, right through to the New Testament. Today, He wants to remind you. He is not dead, He is not in the tomb. He is alive and He is the God of the living and He wants to restore you and renew you completely. Let Him do it!Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,Goodbye.