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 one
Count your blessings, see what God has done
Count your blessings, name them one by one
Count your many blessings, see what God has done

Isn’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.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 15th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

If we go to the Gospel of Matthew 8:3:

“Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”

Jesus healed the leper! Jesus was always found with the sick, the poor, and the rejected of society. As I read this account this morning, my mind went back to my dear wife, Jill’s, mother and father, who came out from England after the Second World War to Nigeria and then to Northern Zambia, and what they did was nurse the lepers. They ran leprosy colonies. How many people know about that? Not many, but I want to tell you one thing, the lepers know about it and so does Jesus.

Today, maybe you are thinking, “What is it that I have done which is of any worth?” Oh my dear friend, that cup of water, that piece of bread, that visit, that smile - they all count. An old lady came to Shalom Ministries, but before she came, she stood up in front of her family, on her 70th birthday and said, “I am going full-time for Jesus!” Then she came, and she said, “I am coming to join you, Angus”, and she came to stay with us until Jesus took her home.

Jimmy and Moira arrived in their little car on the farm one day. I will never forget it. I was clearing some land, and they informed me that they had been sent by God to come and help us on this farm. What a lovely couple! They stayed with us until Jesus took them home.

Today, just give the Lord what you have got. The Lord built this ministry on this farm, not by the famous, not by the rich, not by the influential. No, but by the whosoever’s, the widows, the people who are old, the people that maybe no one knows their name, but I want to tell you, I know their names, and more importantly, Jesus knows their names. Today, I want to encourage you again to use what you have for the Lord and do it with all of your heart, and that is all that He requires of you, and He will do the rest.

Have a wonderful Christmas Season and Jesus bless you,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus precious name. It is Sunday morning, the 14th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Gospel of Mark 8:36:

”For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? “

Where are we putting all our effort? What are we doing in this life? What are we trying to build up? What legacy are we leaving for our families? I looked up the dictionary to find out the literal meaning of the word “legacy.” It means “an amount of money or property left to someone in a will.”

Casting Crowns is a very, very popular Christian band, and they have made many hit songs. They are one of my favourite groups and there is one song that they sing, it is called, “Only Jesus - take everything else I have just leave me Jesus.” There’s a little video goes with that song and I watched it and the lead singer, Mark Hall, is driving an old pick-up to the rubbish dump, to the pit, and he stops in the middle of the pit and of course his whole band is playing in the background. He opens the back of the jeep and brings out a box full of trophies that have been won in sporting and different disciplines in life, and he throws them into the rubbish bin. “Take the world but give me Jesus!” I want to say to you today that we need to have a good look at what our priorities are in life.

I met a gentleman a while back, a very good friend of mine, he’s a very senior gentleman at the moment, and we were sitting talking. I was just encouraging him on the great job that he has done with his family, with his children. They are all serving the Lord - but he got a bit tearful and he said to me, ”But I haven’t left anything for them in terms of a legacy. I haven’t left them any money, any possessions because I don’t have any.” And I said to him, ”You have left them the best thing you could have ever left them. You have left them Jesus Christ. They know Him as their Lord and Saviour, and they are serving Him.”

There are many others who leave vast fortunes to their children but their children have never met the Man from Galilee. Today, let’s throw all this worldly stuff aside and let us concentrate on leaving a legacy for our families that will last forever.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 13th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Gospel of John 11:17:

”So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.”

We are talking here about Jesus’ friend, Lazarus. He had already been buried for four days. In the Middle East, in the early days, when somebody died, they had to bury him the very same day, because of the heat in the Middle East, the body starts to decay. Lazarus had already been buried for four days. Remember Mary and Martha? ”Oh Lord, if only you had been here on time you could have healed him.” Of course we know what happened. Yes, Jesus prayed and Lazarus came out of the tomb. I have been to Israel, I have been to the place where the tomb is, and I’ve actually climbed down into that very tomb where Lazarus lay and the Lord called him out and he was instantly resurrected.

Folks, death has lost it’s sting. I’m talking to somebody today who’s afraid to die, if you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, you have nothing to fear. If we look at 1 Corinthians 15:55, the Bible says:

“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

There is no victory for the devil. I want to say to you that if you are walking with the Lord as your Personal Saviour and your Best Friend and you are having communion with Him every day, then you’ve got nothing to fear.

Paul said in Philippians 1:21:

”For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

In other words, what we always say here, tongue in cheek, you cannot frighten a Christian with heaven, can you? No, no! If we live, we live for Christ, if we die we go home to heaven, and I want to reassure somebody that is very afraid of death. You don’t have to be afraid of death. It’s a continuation of the life that you are living. It’s only going to be so much sweeter and so much more full of love and peace. So if you are living in the Spirit, if your everyday affairs concern the Lord, whether you’re driving a vehicle, whether you’re building something, whatever you might be doing, if the Lord is constantly with you, when you die, that’s just going to continue. There is no big jump, no big movement, no, a continuation of a simplistic life lived in the Spirit of God.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus precious name! It is Friday morning, the 12th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Leviticus 12:8:

”So the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’ ”

What does that mean? “Make atonement” - I looked up the Oxford Dictionary and the literal meaning of the word “atonement” is “reconciliation of God and man.” Father God did it once and for all, for you and for me. He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, down to earth from heaven as a sacrifice, an ultimate sacrifice for all of our sins.

Now that, my dear friend, is real love - Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice for our sin! If you read in Leviticus, you will see that the Israelites had to keep going up to the Temple to offer sacrifices for their sins. They took bulls, they took rams, they took goats, they took turtledoves to pay for their continual sins but eventually it wasn’t enough, so Father God sent His own Son to be the ultimate sacrifice for your sin and for my sin.

John 15:13 says:

”Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

That is what Jesus did for us. Do you remember that novel written by Charles Dickens, the famous writer? It was called “The Tale of Two Cities, and basically, it is the story of a friend dying for his friend. These were two identical men, and the one went to the guillotine in France in place of his friend, and the famous line in that whole story, that novel, goes like this, ”It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done. It is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

I want to say to you today, we too must be prepared to die to self so that Jesus can live through us.

Have a wonderful day, God bless you and goodbye.