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.