Thought For Today

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 22nd of March, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the first book of the Bible, Genesis 25:8 (Amplified Version)
Then Abraham breathed his last and he died at a good old age, an old man who was satisfied [with life];…”
Then we go to the Book of James 4:14:
”…you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
Life is very short. Now I had the privilege of reading a beautiful little description by the Scottish preacher, Alexander Maclaren, who lived some time ago, and I want to read it because I think it’s very special. This life is only a scaffolding for the life to come, which is eternity. Now this is what he says. He says, ”Scaffoldings are for buildings, and the moments and the days and the years of our earthly lives are scaffolding. What are you building inside it? What kind of structure will be disclosed when the scaffolding is knocked away? Days and years are ours that they may give us what eternity cannot take away. What is that? A character built upon the love of God in Jesus Christ and moulded into His likeness. Has your life helped you to do that? If so, you have got the best out of it and your life is completed, whatever may be the number of its days.”
Now this is very important. He says, ”Quality, not quantity, is the thing that determines the perfectness of a life. Has your life this completeness?” Beautiful reading! I want to say to you today that you need to have a good look and say to yourself, and I need to do the same - are we spending more time on the scaffolding than the building? Now the building is our nature, our character, our love for our fellow man and mostly for God, our patience, our endurance. Are we spending more time on the scaffolding - that’s going to fall away?
The temporal things that we are building - building our empires, building our future in money and in reputation, or are we building a building that will stand and soon as we are finished building it the scaffolding will be taken away, and then we will die and we will go to Heaven, and the Lord Jesus Christ will meet us there.
Spend more time building in eternity and less time building on earth.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 21st of March, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We go straight to Exodus 17:2:
“Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.”
Then we go to Psalm 95:8:
“Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,…”
The Lord says, “Do not contend against Me, do not argue with Me, do not challenge Me.” Never, ever fight with God. He has never lost a fight.
Folks, I really want to say to you today, don’t challenge God. Remember Job the farmer? After he had been arguing with God, the Lord said, “Stand up like a man and answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” Exactly! It is almost ludicrous to challenge God. I have heard some people thump the table. It scares me, “When I get to Heaven, God is going to answer some questions that I have got for Him.” Oh my dear friend, you have no idea Who you are even talking about! If you want to fight, fight with the devil, but never, ever challenge the King of Glory. You know, He is for you, He is not against you. If Christ is for you, no man will stand against you. Why are you arguing with the only One in the world that can help you? “Yes, but I asked God to do this but He didn’t do it,” and “I asked God to do that and it hasn’t come through.”
I want to say something to you. He has never, ever let me down in over fifty years. It brings a tear to my eye when I hear people say, “God is going to answer some of my questions.” Don’t contend with the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Go to Him now, today, and repent and say, “I am sorry, Lord, I didn’t mean it. Please forgive me.” Do you know what happened to the Children of Israel, when they contended with God? Not one of them, except Joshua and Caleb, actually entered into the Land of Milk and Honey. They all perished in the desert. Only their children crossed over the Jordan. Do not do it today. I want to pray for you:
Heavenly Father,
I pray for my dear friend, that young girl, that young man who are contending, questioning Your authority, questioning Your love for them. Lord, please today, reassure them that You are in their corner, that You will stand up for them, and that they will have the victory if they have patience and serve You with all of their hearts.
I ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.
God bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 20th of March, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Jude 21:
“…keep yourselves in the love of God,…”
Then we go back to the Book of Romans 8:26:
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.”
Remember, it is Christ in you, Christ in me, that is the hope of glory. It is not us, it is Christ in us. I read a beautiful little reading from an unknown writer, and this is what he says: ”Fruit ripened in the sun is the sweetest.” Isn’t that right? A lovely sweet apple, a beautiful sweet plum, is the sweetest when it is ripened naturally in the sun, not using a chemical ripener, but in the sun. Fruit ripened in the sun is the sweetest.
Now, we don’t spell that Son, S-U-N. We are not talking about that sun. No, no - we are talking about the Son of God, Jesus, S-O-N and you can see it, can’t you? People who spend time in the presence of God are very sweet people. Why? Because God ripens them through His Son, Jesus. I want to encourage you to spend more time with the Lord. Try and get up a little bit earlier in the morning and sit there quietly and read the scriptures, listen to Christian music and most of all, pray, speak to the Lord, and He will give you that sweetness that nothing else in this world can give you.
Take time out today to allow yourself to become sweet as the Son shines upon you and ripens you for His work in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus bless you and have a wonderful, sweet day today.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 19th of March, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in the Book of Acts 3:6-8:
Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
Then we go to verse 8:
“So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.”
Ja, I’m laughing because, oh, oh, my dear friend, I love Jesus so much. I have had the privilege and the honour of seeing many, many miracles with my own eyes. Now, that man had been lame from his mother's womb. He had never walked in his life before and they laid him at the temple gate everyday to pick up alms, which is money gifts so that he could live, and he had asked Peter and John for money and they said, “Silver and gold we do not have, but in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
We have a very special saying here at Shalom: one genuine miracle equals a thousand sermons. Isn’t that right? You can’t dispute a miracle. The man was lame from birth. He never walked in his life. He jumped up and he started leaping and walking and praising God.
I remember, we had a crusade. It was a big tent, and we were bussing in people every single night, and the crowd was growing because people were being healed and set free. I remember us hanging a wheelchair from the roof of the tent as evidence that a lady had been supernaturally healed. There was a Sikh of the Sikh faith, he had a turban on, a very dignified man, and the Sikhs, they don’t cut their hair, and they brought him to the front and onto the platform when they saw the miracles that were taking place, and they said, ”This man cannot speak, he is mute, he is dumb, he cannot talk and he wants you to pray for him.” I said, ”No problem.” So we prayed over him. I anointed him with oil in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Then I laid my hands on him and I said, ”In Jesus name, be healed.” I took the microphone, I put it to his mouth and I said to him, ”Say Jesus.” He opened his mouth and he said, ”Jesus.” The crowd went berserk. They all knew him.
One genuine miracle equals a thousand sermons. Folks, go out and pray for the sick and Jesus will raise them up.
God bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 18th of March, 2026, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.
We start in that very special psalm, Psalm 23:3:
“He leads me in the paths of righteousness...”
Then we go to Proverbs 22:6:
“Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
We need to understand that we have a responsibility as parents, even as young people, to lead our fellowman in the ways of the Lord. Do you know the old matriarch elephant? Yes, the bull protects the herd and breeds with the females, but there is a matriarch in the herds of elephants, and she is the dominant animal in that herd. She is the one that teaches her young their way and she leads them, and she leads them because her mother before her has shown her the right way to walk.
Now, in Africa, we have some terrible droughts. The rain goes away, the rivers dry up, the waterholes start drying up, and that is where the matriarch remembers. The elephant has an incredible memory that her mother showed her the way when she was a young elephant, the way to go and find those sources of water in the time of drought. She will lead the herd, all the way, sometimes forty, fifty, a hundred kilometres, and it will be something that she was taught when she was a young baby elephant. She never, ever forgets the way.
Now, Jesus Christ said in John 14:6: “I am the way”. Please parents, teach your children the way of the Lord, and they will never forget it, even if they go into the far country (I have been there myself), they will remember! "Granny used to nurse me on her knee when I was a small little girl or boy and she used to read Bible stories to me." She used to sing Christian songs. We have a little book called “Snowy”. It is all about my horse, and I want to tell you, little children love that book. They sit and they look at the pictures and then granny will tell them the story about Snowy.
I want to say to you today, please, take time out. Maybe you have a friend at university who has lost the way. Tell them the way because Jesus will lead them in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Have a wonderful day,
God bless you and goodbye.