A Mustard Seed

© Angus Buchan 2007 ISBN: 978-1-920363-07-9

Maranatha Christian PublishersPretoria, South Africa

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Original cover picture

I was recently sent a photograph taken at the Mighty Men Conference that was held at Shalom in April 2007, which shows a white light descending upon and spreading out over the tent. I can only describe it as looking like hot bu"er melting and #owing over the whole roof of the tent. I’ve not yet met Bruno, the man who took the photograph; he comes from Phalaborwa, a town in the northern part of South Africa. He wept when he $rst saw the photograph and he was reluctant to send it to me because he wasn’t sure what my reaction would be. I choose to believe that it was the glory of God which descended upon the tent, which was $lled to capacity, totaling seven thousand men. We were speaking about the light of God, about the glory of God’s presence at the very time this photo was taken.

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Original unedited e-mail concerning cover picture

Good evening Angus My apologies for not emailing this magnificent photograph to you. To be honest, I have been hesitant to pass it on, as I do not want people to “think” that this photograph has been fabricated. I am totally convinced this is “the light” that you mentioned in the Conference that some people had witnessed over Shalom MMC. I was overjoyed of what was revealed to me when I downloaded my photographs from my digital camera on Tuesday a&ernoon a&er the MMC 2007. I sat in front of my computer while the photographs downloaded; at first I thought the photograph was overexposed/poor quality. As I marveled at the photograph it became a reality to me that this is possible the Presence of our Lord. I wept, it was with u"er amasement what I was looking at ...the

manifestation of our Lord. We arrived a bit late on Friday night at Shalom Farm. As we approached the food tent I took photographs, this one was the first one. I DID NOT SEE ANY “LIGHT” WHEN TAKING THIS

PHOTOG!PH. (e Conference had just started and most of the flock were in the main tent. When analysing the photograph, the light came way above the natural

lights that were on top of the tent. I did a comparison with one of the other photographs that had been taken during the day. (erefore, I have no doubt that this is “the Light” of the Lord. Is this called a Glory Cloud? Some close friends have seen this photograph and have been skeptical? I have prayed about sending this photograph to you knowing that the Lord will bless you mightily!

For me it is a big AMEN.

God Bless Just another boy for Jesus

Bruno Bargiacchi Phalaborwa

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Acknowledgements (anks to:

Yvonne Ashwell, my faithful and dedicated typist; Ann Roux, my editor;

Laetitia le Roux for your cover design and layout. With our best wishes and special love

from Angus and Jill Buchan.

I am deeply grateful to the many others whose lives and writings have helped to shape this book.

Amongst others they include: Streams in the Desert by L B Cowman, (e Complete

Gathered Gold by John Blanchard, Glimpses of God through the Ages by Esther Carls Dodgen, (e Pursuit of God by

A W Tozer and Prayer by Philip Yancey.

Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture references are from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible.

Published by

SHALOM MINISTRIES PO Box 373, Greytown,

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 3250

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Dedication I would like to dedicate this book

to my grandchildren:

KYLA <E BUCHAN JAIMEE =TE BUCHAN =I REECE P<SCHMA

CALLUM GREGOR HULL EMMA JAYNE PORÉE

andCALEB JAMES PORÉE

My prayer for my grandchildren is that they will walk by faith and not by sight

(2 Corinthians 5:7),

and that they will trust the Lord Jesus Christ all of their lives.

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Preface

As I waited on the Lord before writing another devotional, God laid it on my heart that in these last days, we need to live by faith like never before. (e Lord led me to that beautiful Scripture which says that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we can tell a mountain to be removed into the sea (Ma"hew 17:20). (en I looked at the Gospel of Mark, where the Lord says to us very clearly, “Now the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed” (Mark 4:31). It is the smallest of seeds but when it is planted in good soil, it germinates and grows into a great tree. (e branches are so big that the birds of the air can come and lodge in it and rest in its shadow. God is showing us that if we walk by faith the kingdom of God will be very near us. We will walk and live in His strength. However, if we are determined to make a plan (“the farmer makes a plan”), we can rest assured that we are going to experience hell on earth. (is book of daily devotions is dedicated to the foot soldiers of the Lord – not necessarily the generals, oQcers and super-spiritual – but to those who say, “Lord, if You don’t meet me every day I’m just not going to make it.” It’s dedicated to those Christians who have to get up every morning and walk the talk, go through the daily grind and face the day-to-day challenges. (e Lord has laid it upon my heart that each one of us needs a mustard seed of faith to get through every day so that we can walk in the fullness of what God has prepared for us in His kingdom. May God bless you richly as you read these words every day and may it give you the strength and the stamina, the perseverance and the joy to see your mustard seed of faith moving mountains for you every day.

Angus Buchan

Shalom Ministries PO Box 373 GreytownSouth Africa3250

E-mail: shalom@futuregtn.co.zawww.shalomtrust.co.za

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Foreword Part of the Lord’s Prayer is the petition we are to make for “daily bread”. Here Jesus, by implication, reminds us of the miracle of provision during the Exodus when the daily ration of manna rained upon the Israelites which they were commanded to consume on the day. (ey were prohibited from retaining any of it for the following day. (ey were to feed o[ God’s abundant, fresh and daily supernatural supply. (eir very survival depended on their obedience in this regard. Much like Moses, Angus has a deep passion and concern for God’s people to embrace both the gravity and glory of this principle – our profound need of God’s daily bread; time spent in His presence to hear His voice and sense His heart. (ere are times when, a&er meeting with someone, one could walk away from a potentially inspiring moment feeling somewhat de#ated. (e whole experience is made worse by the fact that one would approach the encounter with a raised level of expectancy. One of a few people with whom this is never the case, is the author of this treasure trove. Angus epitomizes the metaphor of the biblical broken vessel of grace whose intimacy with, and vulnerability before God, renders him an inspirational person in the best sense. He is, in a $gurative sense, a well of salvation from which so many thirsty souls have come to draw living water, freely. Spending time with the streams of life which God graciously causes to #ow through him is guaranteed to leave you not only challenged, but changed through the love of the Father, who would draw you near to Himself as you, through these meditations, would draw near to Him.

Fred MaySenior Pastor of Shofar Christian Church, Stellenbosch, South Africa

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Romans 1:17“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed !om faith to faith; as it is wri"en,

‘#e just shall live by faith.’ ”

opefully we all had a chance to sit down and rest during Christmas

season. But when faced by a new year, it is so easy to be $lled with anxiety as we contemplate the massive challenges awaiting us in this calendar year. (e only way to overcome fear and anxiety is with faith. When faith moves in, anxiety and fear move out. How do we get faith? Faith comes with a"entive listening, and listening should be rooted in the Word of God (Romans 10:17). John Wesley, a professional theologian, tried everything he could to live the life of a holy man. He tried to discipline his body, to fast, to go without the normal comforts of every day living but failed miserably every time. He was dejected and completely disillusioned with life. It was only when he discovered that the just shall live by faith (as stated by Martin Luther) that he was liberated and found total freedom. (e outcome of this year does not depend on you but on God and He promises you an abundant life ( John 10:10). Your ability to get through this year is not even dependent on your faith. It is only when you trust in God’s faithfulness that He will see you through. Not only will you get through the year but you will excel whilst doing so! You will $nd that if you walk by faith you’ll make very few wrong decisions. You will have more time on your hands and even be able to accomplish more. Towards the end of his life, when he became extremely tired, Spurgeon said that he was going to try and a"empt less and accomplish more. (is year God is telling us to strive less and trust Him more. If you do this you will see the di[erence in your life. “Expect great things from God and a"empt great things for God,” said William Carey, a man who made a decision to walk by faith and not by sight. He went to India with his young family, where he expected to be an evangelist. He failed miserably I don’t think he led a single soul to Christ. (e man was at the end

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of his tether a&er having buried most of his children, one next to the other, (they had died of tropical diseases), and his wife had gone insane. Maybe you are there today as you face this New Year? I encourage you to do what William Carey did. He remained faithful. He kept his eyes $xed on Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of his faith, and God honoured his faithfulness and he found his vocation in life. He had an incredible ability with languages and he began translating the Bible from English into Sanskrit, Hindustani and Chinese. He later started a huge printing press and became the chief interpreter for the British Government in the New Delhi High Court. As a result of William Carey’s faithfulness, there are countless millions of Indians today who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and the Bible is wri"en in all of their languages. So, as you face this New Year, do it with faith in God and get ready for an incredible journey of excitement, of challenge and most of all of ful$llment in God.

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Ma"hew 17:20“If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain,’ Remove hence to

yonder place’ and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

!hen considering history, especially in a Biblical sense, it is amazing

how the Lord has the habit of always taking the smallest, weakest and the most unimportant to glorify Him! (e mustard seed is the smallest of seeds. As a farmer, I’m familiar with seed. When buying seed to plant my crop, I normally pick big, healthy seed with the greatest potential for germination. I would never pick the smallest seed. But that is what Jesus does. He picks the smallest seed, people like you and me whom the world has cast aside, deeming us to be hopeless. (e good news is that the Lord promises that if our faith is but the size of a mustard seed we will be able to tell a mountain to throw itself into the sea. I have experienced this not once but many times in my own life and, as you start this New Year and sow that seed of faith, you too can expect a huge return. Why? Because that’s God’s principle! It’s the way He designed life. If you plant a grain of corn (maize) you can expect a three-to four hundred percent return, because that is how God created its genetic composition. If you plant a seed in earnest faith whether it is seeds of money, e[ort, your lifestyle or the amount of time you dedicate towards your family, your business and most of all, toward your Christian walk with the Lord, you can expect a four hundred percent return this year. In other words, what I am implying is that it is impossible to out-bless God. (e more you dedicate your time, your prayer, your reading of the Word and, yes indeed, your $nances to God, the more He will give back to you. Take heed though: don’t give it with the aim of receiving a return. Give it because you love and trust Him. (en you can tell that mountain to be moved into the sea and it will happen. Remember when the prophet asked the widow with a young child, to feed him though she only had enough oil and oatmeal to make one last cake? She was planning on lying down with her li"le son to die together a&er enjoying their last meal. However she sowed that seed of faith and made an oatcake

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for the man of God and fed him. When she returned there was enough ingredients to make food for her and her son. So the miraculous provision of meals continued until the new season arrived. God is no respecter of persons. If any man or woman choose to put their faith in God, even if it be the size of a mustard seed, He will multiply it a hundredfold. In closing, a li"le boy took his mustard seed of faith: two sardines and $ve barley loaves of bread, and gave them to the Master. (e Master prayed over the food, handed it to His disciples and $ve thousand men (this did not include the women and children) were fed a&er which twelve baskets were $lled with le&overs! Do you honestly believe that this boy was the only person amongst $ve thousand who brought food with him? I don’t believe that for a minute. He was, however, the only one who was willing to put his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord blessed him. (is year, start to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) and see what God will do with your mustard seed of faith. If you keep it in the storeroom, it will remain the same size until this time next year. In fact it will go moldy and probably die, but if you sow it in good soil you are bound to reap an abundant crop.

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Psalm 121“I will li$ up mine eyes unto the hills, !om whence cometh my help. My help cometh !om the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not su%er thy foot to be moved; he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. #e Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. #e sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

#e Lord shall preserve thee !om all evil; he shall preserve thy soul. #e Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in !om this time forth, and even for evermore. “

" t is early morning and I am si"ing looking at the Drakensberg

Mountains. I feel that Jesus is saying to me, “Have faith in Me, because I am as solid and as steadfast as these very mountains. I am immovable and yet I am alive.” Mountains fascinate me because although they are immovable, their appearance constantly changes. Early this morning they were lying in shadow. Now, as the bright sun has risen, the shadows have gone and one can see the beautiful green grass of summer covering them like a smooth carpet. (ere are very few shadows le&. Our heavenly Father is very similar to a mountain. He is solid. He is faithful. He is awesomely massive and yet He is so extremely exciting because He is constantly changing. He never falls behind. He is always up to date. He is very relevant to the circumstances and the situation that you and I are living in at the moment. He has promised us that He will never leave us, nor forsake us (Hebrews13:5). We may cry out to God this very morning: “Master, please increase our faith so that we can enjoy You, we can trust You and we can have con$dence in You alone. My help comes from Jesus Christ alone. Not from the mountains, nor from people, but from God and Him alone. Amen and Hallelujah!

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Hebrews 11:1“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

# od calls Himself “I AM”. (at means He is everything. He is the

past, the present and the future. (ere is no person, no creation, nothing greater than Him. He is “I AM”. He is life itself. Tomorrow morning I am going to dedicate a li"le girl at her mother and father’s home. (e family requested a private dedication and because they are involved in and members of a local church, I am more than happy to comply. For various reasons the ceremony will take place on a Saturday morning. I will encourage her dad and mom to have a family altar in their home. (e Bible says that if you raise your child in fear of the Lord, he or she will not stray from that way when they grow old. “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). We must speak God’s holy Word just like He did, for as we speak it and hear it, it becomes a reality in our homes. God spoke the Word and the world came into being ( John 1:1). We are not just speaking any word - we are speaking God’s holy Word from the Bible. For example, the Word of God says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). I had that experience when I was losing the ba"le against a terrible bush$re on our farm. (e $re was heading for my neighbour’s huge timber plantation. If it had jumped the fence and got into his forest, I would have lost every single thing I owned and would have walked from my farm with only my wife, my children and the clothes on our backs. I cried out to God that day and He heard my prayer. He literally changed the wind. (ere was a strong north wind blowing that was fanning the $re, pushing it towards my neighbour’s property in the south. (e Lord calmed the wind and turned it around. He roused a strong south wind and, as o&en happens, that south wind was accompanied by a cold front. As the wind died down, the cold front appeared and a gentle drizzle started to put out the $re. God de$nitely answers prayers!

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Mark 6:41-44“And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed,

and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the

!agments and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.”

$ esus told the disciples not to send the multitude away but to

feed them. (en by raw faith, calling those things which weren’t as if they were, He took the li"le boy’s breakfast – two small sardines and $ve small barley loaves of bread. Jesus blessed the meal and multiplied the food! Five thousand men (not counting the women and the children who were there with them) were fed, and twelve baskets were $lled with the le&overs that very same day. We need to ask ourselves a question: have we ever really gone without food? Why is it then that we continually fret and worry? We are stressed to the extent that we are causing ourselves to be physically sick, su[ering from ulcers, high blood pressure or depression. Yet Jesus has always given us enough food and clothes for every day. Do you remember the story of the two li"le birds si"ing on the telephone line? (e one li"le $nch said to his friend, “Why are the people running to and fro, storing up food and goods in their houses and looking so worried and stressed out?” (e other li"le bird replied, “(ey probably do not know our Father in heaven who supplies all of your and my needs everyday.” (Mark 11:22.) Have faith in God!

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Ma"hew 6:33“But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added

unto you.”

% ny good farmer will tell you that in order to produce a healthy,

abundant crop the $eld has to be prepared in an orderly manner. First, in spite of the fuel prices shooting through the roof, you must plow deeply. Yes, you will use much more fuel but it will bene$t you in the end. Next a level seedbed should be prepared with a disk or cultivator, ensuring that it is nice and smooth. (en the best seed that money can buy should be purchased. Never buy second-grade seed if you’re looking for a bumper crop. Fertilize heavily. Make sure your plant population is planted exactly according the speci$c requirements. (e depth and the spacing of the seed must be exact. Ensure that your crop is not negatively impacted upon by weeds, grass, insects or soil de$ciencies. (en leave the rest to the Great Farmer Himself. His capable hands will carry the crop through drought, #oods, hail, or $re. He will not fail you. We shall reap u"er failure if we choose to live a life of sel$shness, greed, stubbornness, turning our backs on the advice of the greatest husbandman who has ever lived. But, if we choose to lead a life of holiness and obedience, we will be blessed a hundredfold: people will come from far and wide to see the goodness brought about in our lives as well as the lives of our families by the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the supreme farmer.

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John 3:3“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he

cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:7 Jesus said:” Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.”

" t is absolutely vital to be born again. A.W. Tozer said, “Like a

man going into the desert without a guide, or a man going to sea without a compass, it’s not only vital, it is a ma"er of life or death.” (ere’s got to be a signi$cant change in our lives. We can’t pray that prayer of commitment and remain the same. In the same way that the earth orbits the sun, we must orbit Jesus Christ. He must be everything to us. Not even one of the most important factors in our lives, but the most important one! His friends become our friends, His enemies our enemies, His ways our ways, His rejection our rejection, His life our life, and His future our future. In a nutshell, it calls for a complete lifestyle change, a one hundred-and-eighty degree turnabout. (e true Christian has met God and knows what he has been saved from. He has genuinely repented his former sinful lifestyle and started all over again. I can honestly tell you that the day that I did that on 18 February 1979, my life was transformed. I had a new horizon, a new beginning, a new awareness of sin. I didn’t want to hurt my Lord any more. I consulted Him on every single issue and He has never let me down since then. A new beginning awaits you if you will bow the knee and pray the sinner’s prayer with me this morning: Dear Lord Jesus, I acknowledge You as Lord and Saviour of my life. I repent of all my sin and I ask You today to take over full control of every aspect of my life. Amen.

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Jeremiah 32:27“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?”

" f there is one thing that annoys our God more than anything else, it

is unbelief. For example, the children of God constantly disappointed Yahweh by doubting Him in the desert. (ey built the golden calf because Moses didn’t come down from the mountain soon enough. (ey continually complained because they had no food, no water, no clothing, and yet their clothing never wore out and their food and water lasted for forty years in the desert. (eir unbelief resulted in every single one of them dying in the desert. (e only two men who crossed the Jordan to enter into Canaan, the land of milk and honey, were two men of faith – Joshua and Caleb. Why? Because they had a di[erent spirit! In Numbers 14:24 God says, “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him (faith), and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereunto he went; and his seed (family) shall possess it.” So, due to their unbelief, approximately two-and-a-half million Israelites perished in the desert without seeing the Promised Land. We have to believe that nothing is too hard for God. All we have to do this very morning before we go out to face the new day is to ask God to increase our faith. “And the apostles said unto the Lord, ‘Increase our faith’” (Luke 17:5). Let that be our prayer today – and nothing will be too hard for God.

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Mark 6:46-47 “And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.

And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he was alone on the land.”

Ma"hew 14:23 “And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray:

And when the evening was come, he was there alone.”

Luke 6:12 “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray,

and continued all night in prayer to God.”

$ esus withdrew from the crowds on a regular basis to spend time in

prayer. It even appears that the busier He became, the more time He spent on His own in the presence of His Father God. If that was necessary for the very Son of God, how much more so for you and me! For it is in the quietness that the still, small voice of God can speak to us. It is then that our strength can be restored to equal that of an eagle (Isaiah 40:31). (at is the time that we can receive clear instruction from God as to what we must do next. It is in solitude “up the mountain” in the presence of God that our faith grows, simply because we gain perspective on our priorities and He can speak to us. (en we realise how huge God is and how small we are; we see how powerful God is and how negligible our problems appear. (is fundamental realisation becomes quite a"ainable in God’s presence and the so-called obstacles become totally insigni$cant. Priorities become obvious and we start pu"ing things in the correct order: God $rst, then our wives or husbands, the family, the ministry followed by our business and other concerns. (en we $nd that we actually have more time at hand because we received the blueprint on organising our lives directly from God. God says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). An old blind preacher named George Matheson said that in the hour of distress we cannot hear the voice of God but, in the stillness of waiting on God His voice sounds loud and clear. Matheson says, “God’s voice demands the silence of the soul. (erefore, my soul, in order to hear from God, you must

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rest to receive your heart’s desire.” It is only when you allow your heart, palpitating because of personal concerns, to slow down and let the pe"y problems of this humdrum world pale into insigni$cance, that you can hear the Almighty God clearly. (e following extract is quoted from Streams in the Desert:

Tread in solitude your pathway, Quiet heart and undismayed.

And you will know things strange, mysterious, Which to you no voice has said.

While the crowd of pe"y hustlers Grasps at vain and meager thingsYou will see a great world rising Where so$ sacred music rings.

Leave the dusty road to others, Spotless keep your soul and bright

As the radiant ocean’s surface When the sun is taking flight.”

(From the German of V. Scho%el)

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John 14:14 “If ye ask anything in my name, I will do it.”

&here is so much power in the spoken Word of God that when

Jesus Christ was tempted in the desert for forty days and forty nights, He did not tell the devil to leave Him alone. And He could quite easily have done that, because He is God! Instead, every time the devil a"acked the Lord with words, He answered with Scripture, “It is wri"en: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God” (Luke 4:4); “It is wri"en, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Luke 4:12). Jesus knows the power of the spoken word. Remember, the ba"le is in the mind, not in the heart. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). As we speak the Word by faith, God answers it. Last week I visited a town called Middelburg situated in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. It was absolutely incredible what God did. I spoke to a group of about a thousand people on the Saturday, followed by a meeting in the local Dutch Reformed Mother Church on the Sunday morning. (e church is a hundred years old and apparently it was the $rst time that English was spoken from that pulpit! God is a miracle-working God. We saw people’s lives change forever. In the evening, at the culmination of the weekend, people were literally hanging from the balconies in a Corpus Christi Church (Afrikaans charismatic church). (e place was packed to capacity. (ere was an excitement, a sense of expectancy. (e presence of the Holy Spirit was tangible from the onset of the meeting. At the end of the meeting we were reminded that the maize farmers in that area were experiencing the plight of a dry spell. (ey asked us to pray for rain. We prayed together as a group and applied the Word of the Lord, “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it” ( John 14:14); and “If you love me, keep my commandments” (v 15). (at’s very important. Our Lord only responds to holiness; to holy men and women. (e following day the international weather report on the internet forecasted

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no rain anywhere in South Africa. However, as soon as I arrived home, I received the most beautiful phone call to say that close on 25mm of rain had fallen on the farms in the Middelburg area!

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