I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 28th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Book of Proverbs 18:24:

”But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Then we go to the Gospel of John 15:14, Jesus says:

”You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”

Are you lonely today? Christmas is over. Some of your loved ones, your children, maybe your parents, have been to see you. Now they have to go back, back to work. Some have got to go back overseas, and you say you don’t know when you will see them again, and you are feeling lonely. Well, I want to share something with you today. What you sow is what you reap. If you sow no seed, you will reap no crop, so in order to have friends, you need to be friendly. (Proverbs 18:24).

I want to tell you a story about a rich woman. She was a godly woman but she was very wrapped up with herself, but there was a maid who worked and stayed in a little room in the back of the house. She was a friend of Jesus, and Jesus was her friend, and she spent lots of time with the Lord, praying and reading scripture. When she got old, she died. She went to Heaven and God gave her a beautiful home in Heaven because He was so fond of her.

Then the rich old lady died and she went to Heaven and when she arrived in Heaven St. Peter took her down a street of gold and said, “I am going to show you your home.” She walked passed this beautiful palatial home, and Peter said to the rich old lady, “See that house? That belongs to your maid. That is where she stays.” The old lady was so excited, “Well, if my maid stays in a house like that, obviously I am going to stay in a palace.” But the golden road ran out, and then it was a silver road, and then it was a tarmac road, and then it was a dirt road, and then it was a path. No more houses, just little shacks with a few sheets of corrugated iron and some poles. And then eventually Peter said, “There is your home.” And the lady was shattered. She said, “How can you do this?” He said, ”You sent no material up for us to build your home.”

Folks, it’s just a story but I want to tell you, if you want to have friends and if you want to know Jesus Christ as your personal Friend, the secret is, you have got to spend time with Him, every single morning. 1 Timothy 6:6 says,

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain.”

Spend more time with Jesus and you won’t be so lonely!

God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 27th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Gospel of Mark 2:3:

”Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.”

Remember what happened? They brought a paralysed man to Jesus. There were so many people in the house, they couldn’t get into the house. There were so many people outside, they couldn’t get near to the Lord. They took the paralysed man; they loved him so much. These four men carried him onto the roof of the house, started taking the tiles away, let him down from the roof with ropes, on his bed, and put him right in front of the Saviour. That’s commitment, isn’t it, hey? But think of the scripture. If that man had not been paralysed, he probably would never have had an opportunity of meeting Jesus Christ, face to face.

Paul says in the Book of Romans 5:3-4:

”And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

That’s why we can say we rejoice in our tribulation. Maybe today you are going through a tough time, and you think Lord, why is this happening to me? Why am I not being healed instantly? Why has this got to be my lot in life?

I want to tell a story. There was a very famous hymn writer. Her name was Fanny Crosby. Fanny Crosby was blind. She became a hymn writer. She wrote over 8,000 hymns, and you know that over 100 million copies of her hymns were printed. Most of the famous hymns that we sing today were written by her. They asked her, when she was very old, would she not have preferred to have been born with normal eyes like everybody else? And she said, “No,” because if she had, she probably would never have had the ability, the time, or the imagination to write such beautiful hymns for Jesus. And then what she said, which touched me very deeply, she said, ”When I get to heaven and my eyesight is completely restored, the first face that I will see will be the face of my beloved Jesus.”

Today folks, let us finish strong for the Lord.
God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday morning, the 26th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of John 12:3:

”Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard (thats perfume) anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.”

We’re talking about Mary, who was the sister of Lazarus and Martha.

Today is Boxing Day. Some people call it the Day of Goodwill. It is that day of being grateful for the birth of our beloved Saviour and friend, the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s the day that we go the extra mile for Jesus. Mary took a very precious investment that she had. According to my Bible, the equivalent in value of a pound of this expensive perfume equals a full year's wages for a worker. Think about how much money you bring home every month, times it by twelve and that is how much it was worth. She poured the whole container over Jesus feet and then she wiped His feet with her hair. That is love. Undiluted love, holding back nothing!

Now, I can hear somebody saying, ”But I would love to do that for Jesus as well but He’s not here now.” Well, if we go to Matthew 25:40, Jesus said: “

Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

So yes, we can do it. We can find someone that we love dearly, we can find someone who has nothing, someone who is lonely, and we can give them something which is very precious to us, and that is the equivalent of doing it for the Lord.

So this day let us go out and let us find somebody who is very lonely, somebody who is very poor in spirit, not necessarily financially, and give them something which will touch their hearts deeply, and Jesus will be very happy with us. Today is the Day of Goodwill, let us share the goodwill of Christ wherever we go!

God bless you and have a wonderful day.
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 25th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, wishing you a very, very happy Christmas. Yes, we made it again - what a wonderful day, a very blessed Christmas! I want to thank you on behalf of our whole team whom I never mention. I’m talking about my producer, Gary, I’m talking about my editor, Candice, I’m talking about my beloved wife Gill and all our family at Shalom, and the Shalom fellowship. I want to wish you a very blessed Christmas Day!

It’s a time of mixed emotions, isn’t it? Some of our loved ones have already gone home to be with Jesus and they won’t be sharing Christmas Day with you, but I want to tell you something, by the Grace of God, they are waiting for you in Heaven and that’s something to look forward to. So there is only one scripture verse today which in my humble opinion is appropriate for Christmas Day, which sums up the whole Bible, which consists of no less than 66 books, and I’m going to read it to you out of the Amplified Version. Yes, I am talking about John 3:16.

“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son…”

Dads, how would you like to give your only son to die for the sins of others, even while they are still sinners? It’s hard enough to give your son up for fellow believers, but to give him up for other sinners. That’s what our Heavenly Father did. I cannot even comprehend the pain that must have taken place when they said farewell to each other and Jesus came down from Heaven to Earth in the form of a little baby. We carry on:

”… so that whoever (now whoever means whoever) believes and trusts in Him (in God) [as Savior] shall not perish (shall not die) but have eternal life.”

That’s what Christmas Day is all about! We are remembering the tremendous price that was paid for you and me so that we could have eternal life.

Today, let us do that to one another: ”Greater love has no one than this,” the Bible says ”than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” John 15:13, and that’s exactly what took place 2000 years ago in a little town called Bethlehem. Jesus bless you today as you have a peaceful and a happy Christmas.

Merry Christmas!
God bless you and goodbye

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 24th of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

Yes indeed, it is Christmas Eve, a very special birthday. It’s the birthday of the greatest human being that has ever lived, but I’ve got a very interesting thought for today for you. God put it on my heart early this morning. Psalm 19:14:

”Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”

Now, those of you who know me well know that I will not start preaching until I have prayed that prayer and preferably on my knees. “Why?” You say because it is a wonderful but great responsibility to bring God’s word to people. This tongue of ours over this Christmas period must be harnessed correctly and that’s not a joke. I belong to a very big family myself and I want to tell you there are people that are coming from very far. You’ve got members of your family coming from overseas, they have been waiting for this time. Be careful what you say.

If you go to the Book of James 3:6, this is what it says:

”And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.”

Wow!

How many world wars have started because of something that has been said? How many families are in divorce because of words spoken that you wish you’d never said them? How many disasters have taken place, bad business deals, broken relationships because of a word said in anger? Don’t do it. Today, count to ten before you say it and then you probably won’t say it. You can’t bring words back once they are out. They are like that pillow full of feathers. You take it out into the wind, you open up that pillow, the feathers go all over the place. You will never put those feathers back in that pillowcase.

We need to speak Jesus. He is all that counts and if you speak Jesus today, you cannot make a mistake. Let’s be gentle, let’s be loving with each other. Let us not be part of an unruly fire that can destroy a relationship. Today, let us be as gentle and as kind as we can to each other.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful Christmas Eve,
Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 23rd of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start off in the Book of Isaiah 9:6:

“For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Then we go straight to the Gospel of Matthew 1:21:

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Yes, we are talking about the Prince of Peace, we are talking about the Darling of Heaven. As we approach Christmas Day, the Lord has laid this beautiful song on my heart that I want to read to you. It was written by Mark Lowry, a Gospel singer from America. I am sure you have heard it but I want you to listen very carefully to the words that he has written, because they always bring me to tears every time. This is how it starts:

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you've delivered will soon deliver you

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

When you kissed your little baby you've kissed the face of God

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb

Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy is Heaven's perfect Lamb?

This sleeping child you're holding is the great 'I Am'

Maybe you have listened to this and your heart is touched, and you say, “But Angus, I am really struggling sometimes to believe that that baby is God made flesh, Immanuel.” Well, I want to pray for you.

Father,

I pray for my dear friend. Maybe she is lonely, maybe he is missing his wife, maybe they are in hospital and they are struggling to believe. Please increase their faith today and let them know about the Babe who was born in Bethlehem, who is soon coming again to take us to be with Him, in glory forever, Amen.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,

Goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 22nd of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Isaiah 44:24:

“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
And He who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who makes all things,
Who stretches out the heavens all alone,
Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;…”

Then we go to the Gospel of John 1:1:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

I am so excited to share this with you this morning. Very, very early, as the sun was coming up, I took my mountain bike out for a ride, and as I went up the road to the end of the farm, I looked into a paddock, and there was a flock of huge storks, beautiful, majestic storks. Now the wind was blowing so hard, I thought it was going to blow me off my bicycle and I was struggling to stay on the road. Oh but my friends, I got quite emotional because these storks decided to take off and hovered above me and my bicycle, and the wind was blowing and they just hung there like they were standing still with their wings fully expanded, and then all of a sudden they would take a dive and enjoy the wind thermals, go right up into the air, come down again and then literally park all around me. And again, I thought, “Oh Lord, what a Creator!”

We have an airstrip very close to us and there is a Big C company. They own quite a few aeroplanes, they even have a Lear Jet in their hangar, but with all due respect, not one of them look anything like these storks when they take to the wind and they start to soar - unbelievable! Then I carried on down the road. I rode about another 2 to 3 kilometres, I went around a sharp corner and there is a big forest, and just in front of the forest is a fence and I saw a family of vervet monkeys, all sitting on the wire fence, and all their little white faces, were facing the sun. They were catching the first heat waves of the day and again I said, “Lord, what a Creator You are.”

Then I carried on a bit further, and I saw a flock of swallows, and they were catching the insects, flying back and forth, but not flapping their wings, using the wind thermals. And I thought, “Lord, You sent those swallows all the way, 6000 miles from the Northern Hemisphere, to come to our beloved South Africa and catch the summer!

Jesus bless you today and open your eyes and you will see the Creator in action!
God bless you and goodbye.

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 21st of December, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Gospel of John 1:11:

“He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.”

Then we go to the Book of Isaiah 53:3:

“He is despised and rejected by men,…”

Are you feeling unpopular at this time of the year? It is the festive season, it’s the time that people say, “Let’s let our hair down and let’s have a party!” Now, there is nothing wrong with having a party. I am talking about the office party, the end-of-year party, and let’s go for it. And you say, “No, I don’t sleep around. No, I am not a drunkard. No, I am not part of those filthy pornographic jokes.” And all of a sudden, you are not so popular, are you? And somebody said, I don’t know if it was DL Moody or one of the great evangelists, he said, “If everybody has got something good to say about you, be sure Jesus has got nothing good to say about you!” It’s funny, but it’s not funny, is it?

I am thinking particularly of the younger people today. When you become a senior man or a woman, people know who you are, whether you like it or not, you have been branded, but when you are a young person, you want to be in with the crowd, but you don’t want to drop the ball, then you start getting tempted by the devil and he uses people.

Matthew 12:30 says,

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

Basically, you can’t serve two masters. Either you are serving the Lord Jesus Christ or you are serving the world. You don’t have to try and become unpopular. All you have to do is stand up with a Bible and what it stands for, and you will automatically become extremely unpopular and criticised for lots of things that you have never even said. Tell me about it!

Oh, but my dear friend, it is worth it all because that great day when the Lord comes again, it’s not too far away, it will be wonderful when He can identify you from the crowd, when He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come, come and enter into your rest.”

Have a wonderful Christmas time without compromising your faith.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.