Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 3rd of February, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go to the Book of Hebrews 13:8:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
What a powerful scripture! Do you believe that? I do, and I am going to prove it to you in a minute. If we go to Luke 7, and I want you to read it in your own time, from verse 1 to 10, you will see the Roman officer sent some of his people to Jesus to ask Him to please come and heal his servant who was very sick. Jesus was on His way, but halfway there, the Roman centurion sent a message, “Don’t come to my house. I am not worthy. Just say the word.” If we go to Matthew 8:13:
“And his servant was healed that same hour.”
Jesus was not even there. He said the word because that Roman officer had the faith.
Now, something quite amazing happened to us here at Shalom. Last week, a man came to see me. I will call his name, William (that is not his name). He came and shared a testimony with me that encouraged my faith no-end. He said a few years back, His father was very ill. He was in the ICU, and he was basically dying. He had been there for ninety days, 3 months, and they had said to him, they can’t keep him there much longer, and they had to take some of the machinery off him that was keeping him alive because other people needed it, and in desperation, he came up to the farm.
We prayed for him, that God would heal him. He went back to Durban. He went straight to ICU. He walked straight to his dad’s room, he knew exactly where he was, he had been visiting him daily, and the bed was empty. He called the nurses. He said, “Where is my father?”, thinking that he had passed away. They said, “He is sitting in the garden, eating an ice cream.”
Oh folks, what a Saviour! He was totally healed. But listen to the miracle. He said to his dad, “When did it happen to you, dad?’ He told him the exact time, let's just say, half past ten, and at half past ten, William and all of us were praying for his dad and his dad was healed. Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow - a modern day miracle, but a replica of what happened with the Roman officer and his sick servant. Totally healed!
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 2nd of February, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Joshua 24:15:
”…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…”
That’s Joshua speaking to the children of Israel. He says,
”… But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
What a powerful declaration by the leader who took over from Moses! Then we go to the New Testament, Matthew 3:11:
”He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.”
Then lastly, 1 Corinthians 3:11, which says:
”For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.“
- spoken by Paul, when some people who were saying that, ”We are following Apollos,” and some saying they were following Paul. Paul stopped them in their tracks.
I want to say to you today there is only one person who you can follow and be very careful. I’m talking particularly today to ministers and leaders. Be careful that you are not drawing people to yourself rather than leading them to Christ. It’s very easy to happen, especially when people gather around you and they say, ”We love you and we’re going to follow you,” and “you’ve got the answers”. That’s a dangerous place to be.
I remember a long time ago, we had a little coffee bar in Greytown and it was thriving. We had all the denominations there. Up to two, three hundred children on a Friday night. So much so that I couldn’t cope because I was farming at that time, so we got a man to come and join us. A wonderful man and he had an amazing way with children, and he continued the good work. Then one day he got a call from another church in another city, and he had to leave. Before he left, I said to him, “You know, the true worth of your ministry is now going to be tested.” He said. ”How can you say that?” I said, ”If you leave and the children don’t come back to the coffee bar, you have been leading them to yourself, and if they continue to come back, then you know you’ve done your job.” Of course, they did come back. He had done a good job.
Today do not draw people to yourself, draw them to Jesus.
God bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 1st of February, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for the day.
We go straight to the Book of John 11:9:
”Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day?“
Now I listened to a beautiful little reading from a Scottish preacher who lived in the 1800’s. His name, William Arnot. Now, William Arnot said something profound. He said, ”The very fact of a Christian still being here, and not in heaven, is the proof that some work awaits him.” Yes, if we are not in heaven, then the Lord still has work for you and me to do; otherwise, he would have taken us home. I remember hearing a man of God say that we are immortal until our work on earth is completed. What does that mean, young person? Immortal - it means you can’t die. You cannot die until you have completed the work which God has ordained you to do while you are here, and that’s very encouraging for me.
Now, as a farmer we get up in the morning, we milk the cows, we feed the pigs, we tend the crops and we do it every single day. Oh yes, everyday you’ve got to feed those animals, every day, and do it joyfully as unto the Lord, whatever you do, and enjoy your brief time here on earth. Yes, maybe the person I’m talking to now has only got twelve hours left on this earth, so what must you do? You must be sure that you do not have any unforgiveness in your heart, that you don’t have any unsettled issues you need to deal with someone. Maybe you’ve had an argument, whatever, deal with it while you are still here because when the Lord calls you, you are going home immediately.
For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Paul, the apostle, said that. So let us live today as if it were the last day we had on earth, but let us continue to prepare as if we were going to live here for a thousand years. Most of all let us not waste the precious twelve hours that the Lord has given us today!
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful, fruitful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 31st of January, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in Isaiah 59:19:
”When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.”
Are you lifting up your standard today, am I lifting up my standard today? Does the enemy recognise who we are? I hope so.
Then we go to Romans 1:16:
”For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
When we stand up for the Lord, He stands up for us. I really want to say, especially to young people who are starting out in a new career, maybe this year you are going to university for the first time, maybe you’re starting an apprenticeship in a company, maybe you have just become a professional sportsman or woman. I want to say to you today, please listen to me, it is vitally important that you start the right way. Yes, you lift up your standard!
In the Book of Numbers, when the Children of Israel were travelling to the promised land, they marched in their different clans, following an order. We are Christians, we need to make sure that people know who we are. We must not be ashamed of the Gospel, in fact I want to go one stage further. I have found in my life that a man or a woman who is not really prepared to lift up the standard of Jesus Christ. In other words, they are believers, they say they love Jesus, but depending on which company they are found in. So if they are found in the pub where the boys are getting drunk and they are speaking about immoral things, and then if you want to join with them, then they look at you sideways, but you’re the person that’s in church on Sunday with your hands raised up shouting, “Hallelujah”, and they despise you for that.
You see, my dear young friend, people don’t have to like you, but they must respect you, and they will respect you if you stand firm in what you believe. I’m not saying you must point fingers. I’m not saying you must judge or criticise. I mean, who are we to criticise any man, but our standard must be clear. People must understand who we are and who we stand for and you know, when we get into trouble and we all get into trouble, all of us, they will come to you for help.
Today, raise the standard!
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 30th of January, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in John 16:8-9:
”And when He has come (that’s the Holy Spirit) He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment of sin, because they do not believe in Me; …“
We want to speak this morning about the Holy Spirit. Oh, I love Him so much and the last thing I want to do is to offend Him because He has done so much for me. He is also the One who convicts me when I step out of line. He is like a proverbial heat-seeking missile. He’ll find you out. It doesn’t matter where you go. You can go into the deepest mine, He’s there. You can go to the top of the highest mountain, yes He’s there.
He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Now if He’s a friend, then He’s going to tell you the truth because that’s what friends do. So what He’s saying to you and me this morning is for example, if you owe money, pay your debt. You say, ”I can’t, I don’t have the money.” Well, then go and speak to the debtor and explain it to him. Say, ”I’m not leaving the country. I’m not running away. I will pay you as soon as I can. Even if it’s just a couple of dollars a month, I will pay you. I’ll pay you interest as well.” Then he’ll be happy, otherwise, he will throw you into jail.
Watch out for familiarity. What does that mean? You have to work in an office with another lady, make sure it stays a business arrangement. Do not become familiar! My son told me a long time ago, he said, ”Dad, an affair doesn’t just happen in an instant. No, it takes lots of time. You start to know each other, then you start to have a cup of coffee together, then you take each other home, saving petrol, and then you don’t go home for lunch because you can just have lunch at the canteen and then the next thing, you are having an affair and that is tragic.
Accountability is so important. What does that mean? I will not go on a campaign overseas or even in the country on my own. Why? Because if I go with someone else, they can always hold me accountable, so it doesn’t matter where I go they go with me. Into the restaurant, when we’re waiting at the gate to board the aeroplane, at least one man because the devil is a thief and a liar. If you get yourself into a compromised position with another person, there is no-one to stand up for you. It’s her word against yours, or it’s his word against yours, but if there’s two of you the other person can say, ”No, he didn’t do anything wrong. That person threw themselves at him.”
Beware of a seared conscience that gets you used to breaking the law a little bit, then a little bit more, until you end up in jail. Don’t do that. Listen to the Holy Spirit! He will convict you and then you listen to what He is saying.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.