Faith and Obedience

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Thursday morning, the 14th of December, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of James 2:23: 

“And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.”  

Faith and obedience - that is what Jesus Christ requires of you and me today. You know, everyone wants to be known as the friend of God; even the devil himself will not take on God. Abraham was known by God as His friend. God looked down from Heaven and saw that farmer, Abraham, and because he obeyed the word of God and had faith to believe the Lord, He said “That man is My friend.” Faith is a doing word; it is a verb. It is not a noun. A noun is like this table that I am sitting next to. A verb that has feet is an active word. Don’t tell people you love them; show them you love them. 

Abraham gave God back the most precious possession that he had - his son, Isaac, that he had patiently waited for, for years, and the Lord tested Abraham and He said, “I want him back.” Abraham did not hesitate. He took Isaac up to Mount Moriah and was about to offer him back to God as a living sacrifice when the Angel of the Lord stopped him and said, “There is a ram stuck in the thicket. Take that lamb and use it as a sacrifice.” It touched the heart of God so much that He said, “That man, Abraham, is my friend. 

Many years ago, I came back home from overseas. I had been on a long tour. I was very, very tired. I had been invited to speak at some local churches in South Africa and I felt the Lord say, “You must please ask to be relieved from those appointments, and you must rest.” So I phoned them and said I couldn’t make it, but you won’t believe what happened. Just after that, the famous Irish gospel singer, Robin Mark, was coming to South Africa with his band and he was going to perform in one of the cities in South Africa and they phoned me up and said, “Would you do the preaching after he does the praise and worship?” Well, it was a dream come true; I had been waiting all my life to meet this man. Then I felt the Lord say, “But you have declined invitations from the other churches. You can’t do it.” And reluctantly, I said, “Unfortunately, I can’t make it.” But when God saw my heart, I believe He honoured me because we got a phone call a week later saying that Robin Mark is in Durban and has just had a cancellation. He wants to come to the farm, Shalom, and he wants to come and meet me. Well, I was blown away. He came to the farm, we had a beautiful church service. He did the praise and worship, came to my house, had lunch with me and we have become good friends since that day.

Just do what God tells you to do and He will reward you well above what you could ever imagine or think.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.