I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 6th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Isaiah 64:6:

“And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;…”

Wow! That is a powerful statement made by God. Our good works, He says, are like filthy rags.

Then we go straight to the New Testament, to the Book of Philippians 3:9:

”…and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;…”

We will never get to Heaven by doing good deeds or by doing good works. Now, I am going to say something that is controversial and a lot of people don’t like it when they hear it, but it is the truth, and that is that good people don’t go to Heaven, believers go to Heaven. If it was good people who went to Heaven, I want to tell you that people from other faiths would get to Heaven before most of us Christians. It is not by our efforts. It is purely by faith in Jesus Christ that we get to Heaven. You say, “Well, prove it.” Do you remember the thief on the Cross? He wasn’t a good man, he deserved to die and go to hell, but just before he died, he said to Jesus, “Lord, please remember me in Heaven.” He believed that Jesus was the Son of God, and Jesus said to him, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”

I remember officiating at a funeral of a man. He wasn’t a good man, he had made many bad and poor choices in his life. His family was in a bit of a mess, he had done lots of things that he wasn’t proud of, but that man loved the Lord Jesus Christ, and at his funeral, we were standing by his grave. I said to the people, “This man is going to be with Jesus in Heaven, because I knew him and he loved God and he repented of his evil ways, and I really believe that he is going to Heaven, because good people don’t go to Heaven, believers go to Heaven.” After the service, a man who was furious, came up to me and said, “How can you say that good people don’t go to Heaven?” I said, “Because it is in the Bible, our good works are like filthy rags before God, that is what He said. We go to Heaven because we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and because we repent of all our sins.”

Today, remember it is faith in God that will save us, nothing else.

God bless you and have a good day,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 5th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in Psalm 31:19:

“Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!”

Then we go straight to 1 Corinthians 2:9:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Why do you and I always seem to settle for second best? The Lord has stored up such good things for you and I. He has stored up such good things for those who reverently respect God. Jesus has prepared so much for those who hold Him in affectionate reverence. Isn’t that beautiful? I got that out of the Amplified Bible (affectionate reverence), for those who obey Him and for those who recognise the benefits that He has given to us.

We think of the Prodigal Son. He had so much prepared for him, he had an inheritance. His father was a wealthy farmer. He was going to inherit part of that farm with his brother, but what did he do? He went and squandered everything he had, and if you look at Luke 15:16, he ended up thinking to himself, “I will gladly eat the food that the pigs are eating.”

It’s like a little child. Have you ever seen a little baby who gets a beautiful Christmas present or a birthday present with all that shiny bright paper and big ribbons around it? The baby undoes everything, and there is a beautiful gift awaiting that baby, but the baby ends up playing with the paper and the ribbons and doesn’t even look at the gift.

You know, a very sad story - King David who killed Goliath, I think he was only about 13 years old, he traded in his glorious future for a lustful affair with another man’s wife. Oh, it cost him dearly. Yes, he repented and yes, God forgave him, but he paid a terrible price after that. You never hear of David killing any Goliaths after that affair.

You and I today, rather let’s wait for the beautiful promises which God has prepared for us, and He will bless us immensely.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 4th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Hebrews 10:19:

”Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,…”

Boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies in the temple of the Lord. You know, for 15 centuries—that’s one thousand five hundred years—there was no access to the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem. But since the death and resurrection of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ, that curtain has been torn in two from top to bottom, and you and I are free to enter.

Listen to this beautiful scripture in Hebrews 10:23:

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

The Lord has made a way for you, my dear friend, and for me. He has made a way for us to enter into the Holy of Holies, whereas before it was only the High Priest who could enter once a year. It was such an absolutely holy place, they would tie a rope around the ankle of the High Priest because they could not go in there, and they would put bells on the edge of his garment and while he was in the Holy of Holies, ministering to the Lord, the bells would be ringing. If the bells stopped ringing, that would mean that the High Priest had collapsed or died and they would pull him out, backwards, by the rope. It was such a very, very precious place. There would be signs up there, “No Entry!” Have you ever seen those signs? “No admittance. Danger!” The skull and the crossbones, “High voltage electricity!”

Dangerous, but Andrew Murray says the sign has been changed since the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It now says, “Enter in, the veil is torn, free access anyone, come in!” The holiest of holy places in the world is open, and you know God is waiting for you and me. He is waiting to welcome us, my dear friend, “Come in”, He says, “And I will take you in my arms, into my ample bosom, and hug you and love you and have intimate fellowship with you.”

You don’t have to be lonely, you don’t have to be left out in the cold any longer because Jesus has made a way that we can have fellowship with our creator, our Heavenly Father.

Today, go in and spend time with Him. He is waiting for you. Jesus bless you and have a lovely day,

Goodbye.