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Seek First the Kingdom
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 18th of November, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Gospel of John 6:27: “Do not labour (do not work) for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life,…” This is Jesus speaking. Then we go back to the Old Testament, to the Book of Ecclesiastes 1:14. They say it was written by Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. He says it is “grasping for the wind” Are you grasping for the wind today? Are you on the wrong track? Are you spending all your time, all your effort, in building up things which will perish, maybe even before you die, and have no everlasting benefit to anyone or anything? We need to be like Jesus and get our priorities in order. Mark 8:36, the word of God says: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” I want to say to you today, be careful that you’re not putting all your effort into something that has no eternal value. Yes, we have to put food on the table for our families, we have to be responsible citizens, but we have to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these other things will be added to us.Today please, listen to what the Lord is saying to us. Stop chasing after the wind and start seeking Jesus Christ, and He will undertake for you in every area of your lives. Jesus bless you and goodbye.
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2:03
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2:03
Giving
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, 17th November 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Exodus 36:7:” …for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too much.” The people were bringing in the material to build the tabernacle but they brought in so much, eventually Moses had to say, ”Stop, there’s too much.” What a beautiful attitude! I think many of us need to take a good look at ourselves and ask if we are doing that very thing when it comes to the things of God. Then we go to 2 Corinthians 9:7:”So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” Today we want to speak about giving. When the Children of Israel began contributing to the building of the tabernacle, before the temple was constructed, God provided them with exact specifications. The people brought in the materials, and the artisans constructed the building. Here, I believe God is saying to you and me, we need to check our motive for giving. Why do we give? It’s so sad when I hear some men talking more about money than about anything else. Now it is a fact that you cannot out-bless the Lord. Our Father is a giver by nature. He gave us His only begotten Son so that we might have eternal life through faith in Him, and He gave His Son willingly, but if you are giving to the Lord expecting a return, like an insurance policy, that is not acceptable to God. We give to the Lord because we love Him, and God says He loves a cheerful giver. We give because He’s given us so much. Zacchaeus, remember the little man up the tree, when Jesus came to his house, and all the other tax collectors, the thieves were together, Zacchaeus said, ”I’m going to give up to 400 per cent of anything I have taken from anyone”. - just in gratitude for the salvation that he has received. You know, it’s not even the amount you give. Look at the widow, she only had a couple of cents. Jesus said she's given more than the man with the bag of gold, who had so much money.We slaughtered 40 oxen to feed the men at the Mighty Men Conference in 2008, when we had the biggest tent in the world, for one meal folks. I can’t believe it either! We fed them for a whole weekend, but you know something? We never went short, and at the end of that event, everything we gave to the Lord, He gave back to us. We owed nobody a thing.Today, give with a cheerful heart and the Lord will do the rest,God bless you and goodbye.
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3:34
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3:34
Use Your Gifting
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 16th of November, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Book of Exodus 35:10: ”All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded” - they were building the tabernacle for God. Then we go to Mark 6:3: ”Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary…”Who were they speaking about? Jesus Christ. Jesus was an artisan. Jesus was a tradesman. Yes, the Greek word “tektōn” means “carpenter-builder,” so He probably worked with wood and stone. We need to use our gifting to glorify God. We have a widow who stays with us here at Shalom, and she is a very godly woman. She is a quiet woman, she’s not a preacher, but I want to tell you something now, she preaches with a paint brush. Yes, she is a talented artist. Just hanging behind my chair right here in my prayer room is the most beautiful painting that she painted for me, many many years ago of the Holy Nativity and even as we are approaching Christmas, it is very important to me again, to see the little Babe in a manger with His mother and father, literally looking onto Him. She preaches with a paintbrush.I also have a grandson here at Shalom. I have many grandsons, this one is very young. He is a gifted worker with leather. He’s not shy, but he’s a quiet cowboy. With his hands, he makes leather belts, he makes bridles for his horses, he makes halters to catch his horses in the field, and he expresses his love for Jesus through the gifting that God has given to him. Today, I want to say to mom and dad, let your child express their love for Christ through the gifting that the Holy Spirit has given them, whatever it might be, because through it, God will get the glory.Do you remember Saint Francis of Assisi? He was a member of a very wealthy family. He gave it all up and went out to live with the poorest of the poor. He built a monastery basically with his bare hands. Now, I don’t know if it is an actual fact or not, but it is attributed to him as having said, “Preach the Gospel at all costs, and if you really have to, use words.” Very interesting!Today, use what God has given you. We can’t all be evangelists, we can’t all be teachers, we can’t all be ministers, but we can all use the gift that God has given us to glorify His Son.Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, Goodbye.
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3:24
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3:24
Humble
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, 15th November 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in the Gospel of John 6:15:”Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.” The most humble person who has ever lived! He said if you want to be the best or the greatest, you must become the least. They wanted to make Him king. He knew it was not His time. He withdrew to the mountains by Himself. Oh folks, we need to be more like Jesus. There are too many of us clamouring to become famous and popular. I looked up John Lennon. He was the leader of probably the most famous rock and roll band in the world at the time, The Beatles. He made a statement and he did apologise afterwards. He said that they were more popular than Jesus, but at the age of 40, he was gunned down and he died.Elvis Presley - I’ve been to Graceland in Memphis Tennessee, I went with my good friend Tommy. We went to that beautiful house to go and have a look. It was one of the saddest places I’ve ever been. They said he was such a generous man. Elvis Presley was regarded as the most popular man in the world. They called him “The King of Rock and Roll,” but he could never sleep. He used to play the piano into the early hours of the morning and he would sing hymns they said. His kitchen was open 24 hours a day. He was thronged with friends, well I don’t know if they were friends or hangers-on, so much so that his wife and his little daughter eventually left him, and then at the age of 42 years old, in the newspapers, the headlines, “The king is dead.”I want to say to you today, don’t seek after the popularity of men, of society, of this world, rather seek after the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, a Friend who sticks closer than a brother, Jesus Christ. Rather be like Him, and you will live a long time and you will live a peaceful life because when you follow Jesus, He gives you life eternal! Jesus bless you and have a wonderful and quiet day,Goodbye.
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2:46
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2:46
Like Jesus
I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 14th of November, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Book of Exodus 34:29: ”…Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.” Moses had just come down from Mt Sinai with the Ten Commandments. He had spent 40 days and 40 nights in the presence of our Heavenly Father, and his face was shining like the sun. Isn’t that amazing? We go to Matthew 17:2: ”…and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.” That was Jesus, our Saviour, when He went up the Mount of Transfiguration. He shone like the sun when He met with His Heavenly Father. Folks, that can happen to you and me as well if we spend time with the Lord Jesus Christ, then we start to become more and more like Him. Moses had to wear a veil over his face. The people were too scared to come near Him because of the presence of God in His life. Surely that’s how we should be as well. People should want to come and be with us because they see the love and the presence of God in our lives, not so much by the way we look, but rather by the way we act and live. You know, little children are very good judges of people who know God. They are drawn to people like that. I’ve seen them. They’ll hang around and stand around and be close to people who spend time with God.I want to tell you about a man that made a big impression in my life when I was a new Christian, many many years ago. His name was Reverend Tom Parker and his dear wife, Gladys. They came all the way from Yorkshire, England and they became the ministers of the little church here in Greytown, one of the dearest men I think I’ve met in my life. He had a hard life. He was in the Second World War, serving on submarines. He never complained and was always gentle. He wasn’t the greatest preacher that I’ve ever heard but he gave off the presence of Jesus wherever he went. I used to love just sitting, listening to him talking and he would get so caught up in the Holy Spirit, that you battled to follow him when he was preaching, but I want to tell you, he gave the presence of God wherever he went.You and I today as well, people just want the love of God and they are desperate to meet with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.Today, let’s be Jesus to them. God bless you and goodbye.
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3:13
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3:13