The Still Hour by Stillwater for Monday August 17, 2026

“The following is a daily devotional from the book, My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chambers.

(Links to scripture references have been underlined.)

August 17
ARE YOU DISCOURAGED IN DEVOTION
“Yet lackest thou one thing; sell all that thou hast … and come, follow Me.” Luke 18:22

“And when he heard this . . .” Have you ever heard the Master say a hard word? If you have not, I question whether you have heard Him say anything. Jesus Christ says a great deal that we listen to, but do not hear; when we do hear, His words are amazingly hard.

Jesus did not seem in the least solicitous that this man should do what He told him, He made no attempt to keep him with Him. He simply said – Sell all you have, and come, follow Me. Our Lord never pleaded, He never cajoled, He never entrapped; He simply spoke the sternest words mortal ears ever listened to, and then left it alone.

Have I ever heard Jesus say a hard word? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened? Not something I can expound or say this and that about, but something I have heard Him say to me? This man did understand what Jesus said, he heard it and he sized up what it meant, and it broke his heart. He did not go away defiant; he went away sorrowful, thoroughly discouraged. He had come to Jesus full of the fire of earnest desire, and the word of Jesus simply froze him; instead of producing an enthusiastic devotion, it produced a heart-breaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, He let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly that when once His word is heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. The terrible thing is that some of us prevent it bearing fruit in actual life. I wonder what we will say when we do make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain, He will never cast anything up at us.”

Wall Street Apes
@WallStreetApes

More than 2,500 Tyson employees were told they are being laid off and will be receiving final paychecks. Tyson made the decision to close its Joslin, Illinois beef processing plant

Workers arriving for shifts were directed to the cafeteria and given letters confirming the permanent shutdown

“Tyson told shareholders they expect losses around $650 million this fiscal year in its beef processing sector alone. Company officials claim cattle shortages and high livestock costs are to blame for that massive loss. But that reasoning doesn’t do much for the workers who now only have a few weeks to find where their next paycheck is coming from”

Tyson cited “one of the most historic cattle shortages the country has ever experienced.” Recent USDA data showed supplies will stay low. The U.S. cattle herd is near a 75 year low

As the workers came in the scene was described as chaos, yelling, crying and a sense of betrayal from long term employees

Beef prices have gone up roughly 80% just since 2016

Pretty ironic that beef prices skyrocket and there is a cow shortage as soon as globalists start their push towards not wanting us to eat beef…. This is all coordinated

https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/2088771656475119711?s=20

Pres Trump was 100% correct

China Expands Its Arctic Foothold With New ‘Polar Silk Road’ Through Russia

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/china-expands-its-arctic-foothold-new-polar-silk/

Terry Moran Says ABC News Sent His Lab-Leak Story to Fauci For Approval – The Fifth Column

A GENUINE SCANDAL: Former ABC News Journalist Terry Moran Claims 2021 Story About COVID Being a Lab Leak Was Spiked by Anthony Fauci (VIDEO)

Thread

MORE NEWS:

Today, @SenRandPaul and I released additional context to Dr. Fauci’s message to Drs. Vivek Murthy and Rochelle Walensky expressing concerns about mRNA COVID shots “theoretically” resulting in “miscarriage in the 1st trimester.” 

On January 25, 2021, Dr. John Mascola, the then-Director of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, texted Dr. Fauci: “I am corrected on pregnancy studies. Initial Studies avoid vaccination in first trimester due to possible fever and higher rates of miscarriage in first trimester[.]” I am hoping Dr. Mascola will fully cooperate by talking to us and clarifying what this text means.

THERE’S MORE: In addition to the texts, @SenRandPaul and I released an email from Dr. Janet Woodcock from May 2021. Dr. Woodcock emailed Dr. Fauci about personally receiving reports of patients experiencing hard to classify adverse events: “no one takes them seriously, no one knows how to treat them, and there is no effort to study this.”

Oddly, Dr. Anthony Fauci seemed reluctant to respond to her but felt he couldn’t ignore her. Why wasn’t the public alerted to their concerns? Why did they continue to push and mandate the COVID shot? Why weren’t Americans allowed fully informed consent?

https://nitter.net/SenRonJohnson/status/2088994277380554909

I’ve got no problem standing with our allies. But friendship between countries can’t mean America brings the wallet, the military and the muscle every damn time while everybody else gets to pick and choose when they help us.

South Korea has benefited from American strength for generations. That matters.

So when America asks an ally to stand with us, expecting something in return isn’t bullying. It’s called a partnership.

Protect America. Respect our allies. But never let anybody mistake our generosity for an unlimited credit card