Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 15th of October, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Gospel of John 15:13:
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
Then we go straight to 1 Corinthians 13:1:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”
Very powerful words! 1 Corinthians 13 - known as the chapter on love. This is a very special chapter for me.
I have done many weddings. In fact, I have married two of my own daughters to their husbands in the little chapel on Shalom Farm, two sons and another daughter. I have many children, and it is such an honour and a pleasure, but I want to say to any young, budding preacher, if you are ever stuck at a wedding and you don’t know what to say, just read the full chapter of 1 Corinthians 13, and there is your sermon, there are your instructions for the young couple. It is the most beautiful and challenging chapter. The Lord speaks through Paul, but He speaks very clearly. He says, “If I have no love,” he says, ”though I bestow all my goods, feed everybody, and I even give up my body to be burnt, if I have not love, it profits me nothing.”
A wedding is a very sacred time, and we make vows. We make a promise to God, “Till death do us part, we will stay together." That is a huge commitment. I made it myself, not far off 50 years now, and I want to tell you, I remember the day like yesterday. Count the cost before you ask that young lady to be your wife. Count the cost before you accept that proposal because it is very serious, and then put into action everything in this chapter, and even if you are a young married couple, I want to encourage you to read this chapter often. It really does challenge us and God will enhance and make your wedding day all that much more purposeful.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day, goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 14th of October, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go straight to Matthew 8:16:
”…,and healed all who were sick,… “
Then we go straight from there to Isaiah 53:5:
”And by His stripes we are healed.”
Then we go right to the back, to 1 Peter 2:24:
'”…by whose stripes you were healed.”
I want to speak to you this morning about divine healing. As I’m talking, I know it’s a very sensitive subject and there’s a lot of controversy, but my dear friend, I can tell you from experience that our God still heals.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 3:8
I want to tell you two miracles…and I can tell you miracles until the cows come home, and then I want to pray for you, for healing for your body, your mind and your soul because I believe in the power of faithful prayer. The first one, in the northern part of KwaZulu-Natal, it was a very big meeting, we had a big tent. The tent was full. By the middle of the week we had to get more chairs. We had to bring in more trucks, the people were coming in. One night, a man came up to me. He was a Sikh and he said, ”My son is mute, he cannot speak. Can you pray for him?” I said, ”Of course we can pray for him.” They brought him up to the platform in front of everybody. I told the people what the problem was. I took the mic, I put it by his mouth and I said to him, ”Say “Jesus,” straight away he said, ”Jesus.” The whole tent erupted. Instantly healed!
Another time in Durban at a big meeting, we prayed for the sick. A deaf man came up, but I didn’t know that this man had hearing aids, one in each ear, and when I said, Can I pray for you for healing?” he took out two hearing aids from his ears, I got a big shock. We anointed him with oil like we always do, prayed the prayer of faith. I told him to walk away from the platform, about ten, fifteen paces, turn, face the crowd. I said everybody must be quiet. I whispered his name, ”Johan.” He spun around. People went ecstatic. I said, ”Hang on. Go to the other side of the auditorium maybe fifty metres away. Face the wall. When I call your name, turn around.” He walked there. It was absolutely quiet. Folks, I called his name and he spun around like a top, completely healed.
Today, Father, I pray for my dear friend who listens to this thought for the day every single morning. They are struggling, Lord, with sickness. They are struggling with physical sickness, some mental, some spiritual. Jesus Christ, You said, “Call unto Me and I will answer you”. I’m praying divine healing now over my friend. In Jesus name, be healed.
Please write to us and tell us about your miracle.
God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 13th of October, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening (discipline) of the Almighty.” Job 5:17
Then we go to Psalm 94:12:
”Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law,…”
I want you to focus on one word in both of those Scriptures, “happy”. Why is he happy? Because he has been disciplined? Because he or she is secure, safe, respectful, confident, trustworthy and polite. Discipline makes him or her obedient and so dependable. You’ll find that when those children grow up, they will climb the corporate ladder very, very quickly. Why? Because people can trust them, because they are respectful.
I want to tell you something, in the Afrikaans tradition. Any man who is older than you by ten years, you call him, ”Oom” which means “Uncle” or “Mister”. You treat him with respect. You take your hat off when you speak to him, and folks, I’m telling these things are serious because if you get someone who’s arrogant, a little child who comes up and calls you by your first name without you telling him to, straight away he’s losing brownie points big time.
We need to respect one another. We need to respect God. He is not “the man upstairs”. No, no, no. He’s the Saviour of the world, and this is what the Lord is saying. Happy is the man or woman who is disciplined and chastened, because then we respect other people, their property, and who they are, whether they’re black, white, coloured, or any other colour, old or young. It’s a wonderful way to live. I’ve always told the young preachers, ”When you preach from that platform, you preach up to people. You never preach down to people. Never think of people inferior to yourself because if you’re a minister, the word “minister” means servant. You are a foot-washer, you need to act like one.”
So today the Lord says, ”Happy are you when you are put straight.” So when somebody comes and gives you some good advice, don’t be proud, don’t be arrogant. Just say, ”Thank you very much, sir.” Eat the meat and spit the bones out.
Have a wonderful day.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 12th of October, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go straight to the Book of Psalms 32:8. The Lord says:
”I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.”
Then we go straight to the Book of Romans 5:3-4, in the New King James version:
”And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Jesus allows us to go through tough and difficult times. Why? Because He wants to teach you and me a lesson, because He has greater things for us to do as we achieve each and every one of those tests. I want to tell you a little story. Many, many years ago, I was twenty-three years old, actually, and I got a job in Central Africa. Two partners, two old gentlemen, had a huge farming operation. These men ran 1500 beef cattle, 1000 acres of commercial maize, 160 acres of seed maize, and 40 acres of vegetables. These men were operators. Two Englishmen, the one came from Yorkshire, he was tough and he was rough. The other man was an absolute gentleman. He was soft and he was gentle.
These men said to me at 06h05 in the morning (we started work at 06h00), “I don’t want to see one worker standing in the yard.” We had 150 workers. I was the only manager. We had to get the work done. He taught me to carry a notebook in my pocket, this gentleman, and he had a mind like a scalpel. He would ask me any question about the farm and I had to give him the right answer. Three times I tried to resign, walked into the office, said, ”I can’t take it anymore, sir, I’m leaving.” He took the resignation, tore it up, chucked it in the waste paper basket and said, ”Come on, my boy, you can do this. Get back to work.” But folks, I tell you what, that man taught me more about life and staff management.
He was an absolute blessing, but at the time - I could have killed him, but I want to say to you today, young man, young lady, you’re going through a tough time, don’t worry. God is teaching you a lesson through that situation, and when you overcome it, He’s going to take you to the next level.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 11th of October, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
Romans 12:4: “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, …”
Then we go straight to 1 Corinthians 12:14:
“For in fact the body is not one member but many.”
In the Kingdom of God, there is no superstar, there are no one-man shows. Take a football team: there are 11 players. Each one has a specific job to do. A football team is not 11 defenders. If they were, no one would ever score against them, but they would never win a match because there would be no one to put the ball in the other net. They are not all strikers. Why? Because if they were strikers, the match would probably be about 20 goals, but the opposition would have 25 goals because there is no one to defend the team. They would lose on goal average.
I want to tell you a true story. Many years ago, I am not going to tell you which team, because they were so wealthy they bought all the best players they wanted, so they had 11 superstars, and each one had his own idea of what he wanted to do. It got so bad that, in desperation, the manager, a very brave and famous soccer player himself, did something drastic. He dropped the first team completely and brought in the youngsters, the under twenty’s. They were young men, full of talent but raw, and completely dedicated to whatever the manager said. With that young team, they won the triple crown. They won all the different competitions. Why? Because these young men listened first to the manager and only did what he told them to do.
Now we have a manager. His name is Jesus Christ. He has made us all differently. We need to start to pull together as a team and then the world will hear the Gospel.
Today, work in the area God has gifted you for, and you will see the difference.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day. Goodbye.