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

We start in the 1 Thessalonians 5:17. The Lord says to you and I,

“pray without ceasing.”

In other words, pray in every situation you find yourself in, and the confirmation of that one is found in the Book of James 5:16:

”The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

Effective, fervent - that’s praying with sincerity, urgency, commitment and faith, avails much. Oswald Chambers was a Scottish preacher who wrote a book, (well his wife actually did it after he died. He died at 43 years old and his wife, Biddy Chambers took down all the messages that he ever preached and then she made books out of them). This particular book must be one of the most famous devotionals of all time, and in that book, he says, “Prayer is not a preparation for work, it is work.” Isn’t that profound? So we don’t pray as a preparation. No, we pray because it’s part of what Christians do. He says prayer is not a preparation for the battle, it is the battle! He says prayer is two-fold - definite asking and definite waiting to receive.

I want to say to you today, we need to pray continually and we need to believe in what we are praying. It does take some work. It takes time everyday for you to sit aside. Get on your knees, whatever position you find comfortable, and talk to God. “Oh but I can’t.” You can! Some of us are just too lazy to do it.

I want to tell you something. When I listen to a preacher, I can hear what his prayer life is like. I can pick it up in two minutes, and then I can hear others, like James Hudson Taylor. They said when he prayed, everybody came to a standstill because he was talking directly to his God who he knew so very well. Today, start praying effectively. Start praying without ceasing and remember, it’s work and there is a reward for that work, which comes directly from the throne of Heaven.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful prayer day,
Goodbye

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

If we go to the Gospel of John 14:5-6:

“Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him (to Thomas), “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

I’m talking to somebody today who is lost. It is a terrible feeling, is it not, when you are lost? I remember driving up to Johannesburg, just as the sun was setting, and seeing all the motorcars, tens of thousands of them, trying to get home from work. There were lights flashing on both sides of the road and I was trying to find my way, and I just could not get the right address. One feels totally helpless. That’s how Thomas felt. He said, ”Lord,…” After the Lord said He’s going ahead to prepare a home for him in heaven and then He’s coming back to fetch him, ”…but Lord, we don’t know the way.” And then Jesus said, ”I am the way.”

I want to say to you today that you need to sit down, you need to call upon the name of the Lord, you need to relax, and He will show you the way. Some of us, and I was one of them, were trying everything we could, and it’s chaos. Just pull over to the side of the road, sit quietly, pray, ask the Lord to show you the way and He will show you the way. He’s done it for me, many, many times - not only you, but your loved ones, your family, your workmates. Jesus Christ is the truth and the way and the life, and in this hectic life that you and I are living in at the moment, the only way that we are going to reach our destination is by listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and He will say, ”This is the way. Walk ye in it.”

Have a wonderful day,
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

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

We start in the Book of Ecclesiastes 3:11:

”He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

Then we go straight to Romans 8:28:

”And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.“

The Lord makes all things new.

A while ago, I was in Central Africa, in that magnificent, beautiful, tropical rain forest, and I was going for a ride down a path on my mountain bike, and I looked at the trees and I noticed something very strange. Just about all of these trees had a little bend in them at about waist height - big trees, small trees, just a little kink in them and I was wondering what it was. Then I realised what had happened was that many years ago, the local people, in order to make money, cut these magnificent trees down and made them into charcoal. Then they sell the charcoal and plant their maize and their ground nuts and their cassava in beds where the trees were, but because Jesus makes all things new, those trees sprouted and started growing again, and this particular area that I was cycling through was completely recovered. I was just thinking, “Lord, You are so special! You make all things new.”

Now, I don’t know where you are at the moment, in your life. Maybe you’ve done something that you really regret. Maybe you feel that there’s no hope for you. Maybe you’ve also been put on the ash heap as it were, but I want to tell you that Jesus Christ can restore and make new, whatever has been damaged in your life. All you have to do is to call out to Him and say, ”Lord, please help me. I’ve made some terrible mistakes. I’ve destroyed a lot of things, maybe my family, maybe my business, my reputation, and I feel that I am worthless.” The Lord says repent. Say sorry and start again, but this time do it God's way and He will make you into a brand new person.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 11th of July, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Gospel of Matthew 12:30:

“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.”

Then we go to the Gospel of Luke 11:23, and Jesus says exactly the same thing. He says:

“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”

We cannot serve two masters. Either we are for the Lord or we are against the Lord. There is no middle ground. The Lord says in the Book of Revelation, “If you are lukewarm, a compromiser, I will spew you out of My mouth.” Strong words, and like never before in the world, we have got to be definite and intentional when it comes to our faith. I am thinking of children at school, particularly, under tremendous pressure to compromise and say, “Yes, all roads lead to Heaven.” According to our Bible they do not. Jesus says, “I am the way,…” John 14:6. We need to stand tall for the Lord like never before. So, by doing nothing, the Lord says we are actually against Him.

When somebody asks you, “Are you a follower of Christ?”, you have to say “yes” or “no”. You can’t say, “Well, you know, I believe in all gods.” We don’t actually, and that is why we get persecuted so much. I think again of those incredible men, those migrant workers who were working in Libya when they were caught by ISIS, marched to the edge of the Mediterranean Sea and given an opportunity to deny Christ. If they had relented they would have lived, but they didn’t, and one by one they were killed. But what really touched me was that one of them was a migrant worker from Ghana, from Africa, and they said, “Who are you serving?” And this is all on video, folks. He said, “I am with them.’

Understand very clearly, if you want power and peace and joy in your heart, you need to stand for Christ. You need to be definite, and that will give you the peace, the ability and the power, to walk this road with Jesus. Have a blessed day as you stand tall for the King of Kings, the soon-coming Saviour of the world.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 10th of July, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the first book of the Bible. Genesis 21:6:

“God has made me laugh,…” This is Sarah speaking, ”…and all who hear will laugh with me.”

Then we go to a very well-known scripture in Nehemiah 8:10:

”Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

How are you feeling this morning? Are you sad, are you disappointed, are you fearful? I want to tell you that Sarah went through all those things and even more. Then, eventually, the Lord gave her a son, and Abraham named him Isaac. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was in her late 90’s and she laughed and they all laughed with her. I want to say to you today, “Laugh at your problems because the devil is a liar, a thief and a bully, and he will pull you down as much as he can and he will tell you, 'It can’t happen, you have lost it, it is too late.” Its a lie, laugh at him in his face, and I want to tell you something now. That will give you strength. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

I think of that movie, The Sound of Music. I am talking to young people. If you haven’t watched that movie, you need to watch it. It is a good story, its a true story about a girl named Maria. Maria just loved singing, she was always on the mountain tops, she was appreciating God’s creation, but Maria was also late. She was late for the church services. She always had to ask for forgiveness from the Mother Superior, and Maria makes me laugh. Despite of all her shortfalls, in spite of all her mistakes, when she ran into a place, everybody started laughing. I want to say to you today, laugh at your problem, because you know something? God has got a solution for you and He has got an answer, and if you do not lose heart and if you keep your faith in Him, He will bring it to pass, just like he gave that old lady, Sarah, a beautiful baby.

Jesus bless you and have a happy day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 9th of July, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Gospel of Luke 11:2-4:

“So He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.”

We are talking this morning about the Lord’s Prayer because I can hear somebody saying, ”I don’t know how to pray.” Well, that’s exactly what the disciples said to Jesus, “Lord, teach us how to pray like John taught his disciples.” And the Lord says, ”and this is how you shall pray.” It’s not about the eloquence. It’s about the heart.

I remember when Jill and I first got saved, yes, not far off fifty years now! We were counselled in a counselling room after we’d made our commitment and they said, ”Come back next Wednesday night and we’re going to start. We’re going to have a Bible study.” We all sat in a circle. I’ll never forget it. I was so nervous. The leader, I don’t even know who the man was, I can’t remember, said, ”We are going to start off by praying. How many of you know how to pray?” And of course, we went very quiet, all of us. There were about twelve of us there and he said, ”I’m going to start on this side and just pray. Now praying is speaking to Jesus, so speak to Jesus.”

Well, I want to tell you, I was very nervous and I prayed a prayer, a simple prayer, but there was one man sitting in the circle, his name was John. You could see had been through fire of life and his prayer was, ”Oh God, please help me!” That’s all he prayed. I’ve never forgotten that prayer, from the heart, desperate, calling out to his newly found Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Today, just speak to the Lord. That’s what prayer is. Tell Him your troubles, tell Him about your successes, tell Him about your ambitions, your visions, your future, and I want to tell you, it becomes a wonderful relationship. As I finish this message, I’m going to get on my bicycle and I’m going to go for a ride and I’m going to speak to Jesus, thank Him for His beautiful creation, the bush around us, the wild birds, the animals. That is what prayer is about and I know, when I come back from my ride, I will be like a new man. Do it today - in fact do it every day!

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 8th of July, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Gospel of Luke 10:37:

And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. Remember how he took care of the man that was stranded? He put him up in a hotel, paid for him, made sure that all his wounds were healed, gave him his own donkey to get to the hotel, and then told the inn keeper, ”And by the way, if you are short, on my way back from Jerusalem I’ll square you up.” That’s literally the story in a nutshell.

Now, my dear wife, Jill, and I have been in Central Africa and I want to tell you, I am so excited to know that there are many Good Samaritans in this world. Not everyone is out to do you down. We were driving in a very isolated area on a Sunday afternoon, heading towards our destination, which we didn’t even know existed, and a car came up alongside us and waved us down. There were young men in that car - well dressed, in a very fancy car. They said, ”Stop! You have got a blowout in your camping vehicle.” I couldn’t believe my eyes. I stopped and they stopped as well. I said, ”Could you please help me?” They said, ”No problem.”

They took off their fancy clothes. They got underneath the camper, they jacked it up. They took off the wheel which was blown completely. They took the other wheel off the back of the camper and they carefully bolted it onto the vehicle and they made sure that everything was put back correctly, the jack, the spanners - and they did it just because they wanted to help us. We were able to give them a beautiful Bible, just as a token of our appreciation.

That is an act that I believe Jesus Christ wants to see you and I doing, not turning and looking the other way. We went on and a few days later, yes, we had another problem with the camper. We went into a little garage and there the man was busy stripping an engine. I said, ”I’ve got a problem, sir. Can you please help us? We are from South Africa.” No problem. He took us into his little coffee shop, made us at home, told the man to make us a meal, got underneath the camper and in no time he had replaced that broken part and wished us well. We were so grateful and thankful.

Folks, today, let’s be Good Samaritans. Let’s not always want payment for what we do. Let us do good as unto the Lord and Jesus Christ will reward us just like He did the Good Samaritan.

Jesus bless you richly today, have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 7th of July, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go to the Book of Exodus 6:7. The Lord says:

“I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

Then we go to that very well-known scripture that I love so much found in Romans 10:13. The Lord says:

For “whoever (that means you sir, that means you madam)…whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

We serve such a merciful God, such a forgiving God, it makes me weep sometimes. I read very recently the account where Abraham said to the Lord, “Lord, if there were 50 righteous men in Sodom and Gomorrah, would You save the city?” The Lord said He would and he said, “What if there were 30? What if there were 20? What about if there were 10 righteous men in that city, would You save the city for the sake of those 10?” And He said He would.

I don’t know who I am talking to this morning but I feel I am talking to someone who is very burdened and heavy-laden who feels not worthy to call upon the Lord because you have disappointed God, you have broken some commandment, you know it, you did it willingly and now you’ve realised what you have done. I want to say to you, own up, say sorry, truly repent, and God will forgive you. I don’t care who you are, and then there might be some Pharisees, some self-righteous, “No, no, you can’t do that.” Yes, you can.

The Lord said, in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world…” Who is the world? It’s you, it’s me, it’s the one who dropped the ball, it’s the one who told that lie, it’s the one who has taken something that doesn’t belong to you. Take it back, say sorry, repent and get on with your life. The Lord says that He would save a whole city for the sake of 10 righteous men. There is not one person listening to this programme today who is righteous in their own strength, no, not one, but it is by grace. What is grace? Undeserved, loving kindness, unmerited favour, that is what grace means. We don’t deserve it but because He loves us and He says, “I am your God and I will help you, and I will take you out of your predicament.” But we must do it God’s way and then He will be free to set us alive, to give us new hope and a new beginning.

Jesus bless you richly! Remember, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Just say sorry, ask God to help you, and He will see you through.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.