AB

And the greatest of these is LOVE

[KTLA @KTLA]

A hospital needs help identifying an elderly patient who was found injured in downtown Los Angeles.
https://t.co/WgkjKGUoQC

[Chad Bird @birdchadlouis]

Psalm 107 contains a wonderful Hebrew expression that describes what it's like to be at the end of your rope: וְכָל־חָ֝כְמָתָ֗ם תִּתְבַּלָּֽע

Literally, it says, "All their wisdom was swallowed up."

The psalm describes several situations in which people find themselves in desperate need. One of those is a group of sailors caught in a violent storm.

We read that they "reeled and staggered like drunken men." The waves tossed them to and fro. They were at the brink of destruction. And then comes that line: "All their wisdom was swallowed up."

As Augustine wrote, "Sometimes all human counsels fail; whichever way one turns himself, the waves roar, the storm rages, the arms are powerless."

In other words, there is nowhere else to turn. Every ounce of these sailors’ experience, skill, and know-how had failed them. Nothing they could do would save them from the danger they faced.

So what did they do? The best thing they could do: "They cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress."

What a perfect picture of our lives when all our wisdom has been swallowed up. Renowned doctors face situations where nothing they do can stop the storm of mortality from overtaking their patients. The best of parents sometimes struggle with a daughter on drugs or a son who has walked away from the faith.

In real storms or the proverbial storms of life, we reel and stagger like drunken men. All our resources, all our tricks, all our know-how, will do no good anymore. All our hope is swallowed up.

In such desperate situations, when we realize Jesus is all we have, we finally come to realize that Jesus has always been all that we need.

When all our wisdom has been swallowed up by forces outside our control, we realize God is our life, our hope, our wisdom, our salvation, our everything in Christ.

He holds us when storms rage. He guides us through the aftermath, as if to say, “Come to me, all you storm-tossed, confused, bewildered and burdened souls, and I will give you rest.”

Let us “thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!” (Ps. 107:31).

[KTLA @KTLA]

Police and family members are asking for the public's help in locating an 80-year-old man who disappeared two days ago in Los Angeles' Exposition Park neighborhood. https://t.co/sg60XjRU4y

[Kelly O'Donnell @KellyO]

In the summer of 1946, three US presidents were born within 67 days. Donald Trump on June 14. George W. Bush on July 6. Bill Clinton on August 19. Each man is now 80 but their two terms in the highest office span more than 33 years. Same generation. Different eras of influence.

[Chad Bird @birdchadlouis]

In “Revelation,” a short story by Flannery O’Connor, the main character is a racist, holier-than-thou who spends her days judging others. In the end, she is granted a “revelation.”

She sees “a vast swinging bridge extending upward from the earth through a field of living fire.” Upon it are souls, ascending into heaven. Ahead of her are the people she thinks are beneath her, whom she labels white trash, blacks, freaks, lunatics.

In the very last group are folks who resemble her, the ones who, in her opinion, act with great dignity, common sense, and respectability—people who can actually sing on key.

In the most memorable line of the story, this woman realizes “by their shocked and altered faces that even their virtues were being burned away.”

Psalm 100 functions as lyrical fire. It burns away our prideful penchant to think that while God may love everyone, he loves us respectable people just a little more.

“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!” (100:1). Not all you with a certain skin color, not all you who vote a certain way, not all you who keep your moral ducks in a row. Rather, all the earth.

There is no social, economic, or spiritual ladder-climbing in the kingdom of God. There is never a reason for praying, “God I thank you that I am not like other men and women, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like so-and-so” (cf. Luke 18:11).

Who are we? All of us are “his people, and the sheep of his pasture,” (100:3). We graze side by side with Christ shepherding us to green pastures and still waters. To him, all together, we make a joyful noise.

Though we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), it was the glory of God to save us, to wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14).

All this he does, for he “is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations” (100:5).
____
From my book, Untamed Prayers: 365 Daily Devotions on Christ in the Book of Psalms, https://t.co/OfMeSOPBZ7

[Gary Sinise @GarySinise05]

More than 16,000 first responders and military personnel are battling wildfires across the Pacific Northwest. We’re standing with them, providing critical equipment, supplies, and support for families of fallen firefighters. DM to donate today.

[Chad Bird @birdchadlouis]

Grace is a constant embarrassment to the prim and proper religiosity of the squeaky clean.

The grace of God in Jesus Christ doesn’t tiptoe around puddles in its shiny new shoes but slogs ankle-deep through the stinking muck of the pig pen to raise up the poor souls who’ve tripped over temptation and face-planted themselves in the rotting mud.

Grace doesn’t hire P.I.s to sniff out the backstories of potential recipients to ensure no impropriety might disqualify them from full acceptance. Grace tramps through alleys and divorce courts and rehabs and prisons to press into unworthy hands an invitation to live for free under God’s roof.

Grace doesn’t sit cross-armed behind its desk and tsk-tsk you from across the room when you blush to confess your darkest secrets, but wraps its arms around your quaking body and lets your tears and snot drench its shoulder as it whispers, “I love you. I forgive you. You are mine.”

For that reason, grace makes enemies. Enemies like the Judaizers of Paul’s day—and our day—who twist the Gospel message from Christ’s “It is finished” to “Well, there are a few things you still must do….”

But grace will put up with none of those bewitching lies vomited from the bowels of hell.

Grace is more than cheap; it is free. Free for us because Jesus paid it all, in blood no less. And this grace of Jesus cannot be stopped, shut up, or shamed into a corner. Grace reigns triumphant in the scarred but resurrected body of Jesus Christ.

That grace is yours in Christ. And he, the love of God incarnate, will keep on doling out that grace to all of us undeserving yet beloved sinners whom he has redeemed.
_________
We began reading Galatians today in Bible in One Year. In that letter, Paul addresses the false teachings of Judaizers. For more information and to sign up, visit https://t.co/XxNvEtNH7e

[Matt Finn @MattFinnFNC]

New: Federal tip line offering $5,000 rewards for prosecution of animal abuse along Skid Row and in SoCal 🐾

[email protected]

The US Atty's office says 'under federal law, animal abuse is defined as serious bodily injury. Lesser abuse and negligence are the responsibility of local law enforcement.

Helpful tips include specific evidence: photographs, videos, dates, times, locations, and description of who is committing these crimes.'

[AB @ABM88314705]

@EagleNestLive Oh no. Such sad news. RIP, Jackie. ❤️ 🦅

[AB @ABM88314705]

@JesseBWatters You’re a classless punk, Jesse.

[Billy Graham @BillyGraham]

"Jesus Christ can give mental rest to those who are confused and bewildered. He can quiet your heart and give you inner serenity and joy if you will let Him have control of your mind and heart." —Billy Graham

[Chad Bird @birdchadlouis]

O God, who is like you? You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.

Psalm 71:19–20

[KTLA @KTLA]

A resilient 3-month-old kitten who survived more than two weeks trapped in a South Bay storm drain while rescuers worked to free him is now available for adoption. https://t.co/vFM6Mm6Aea

[Chad Bird @birdchadlouis]

I am usually out the door of our home at 5:45 or 6:00 in the morning to stretch my legs and clear my head. I cover four or five miles, during which I listen to my Bible chapters for the day, pray my Psalms and other prayers, and finish the walk with whatever audiobook I'm listening to (Cormac McCarthy's Cities of the Plain at the moment).

This morning, about halfway through my walk, I had finished my prayers and was thinking about hope. I do that a lot these days. Maybe it's a byproduct of my graying beard. Maybe it has something to do with certain graves in which large chunks of my heart remain buried. Whatever the reason, you might say Hope has become my middle theological name.

Chad Hope Bird. Nice to meet you.

Many years ago, I noticed that the Hebrew verb for trust (בטח) is frequently translated in the Septuagint by the Greek verb hope (ἐλπίζω). At first, it struck me as a curious oddity. Anymore, I realize what a ginormous truth that is.

This morning, I stopped on my walk and wrote down these words that came into my mind: "What is hope? The hand of faith that reaches into the future and clings to the promises of God."

How's that?

Hope is trust, and trust is hope. The two have become one. And what God has joined together....

I have not always been a man of hope, but the fissures that have formed in my weathered heart, and the dark clouds that growl and rain hot tears, have made me one.

Hope is that confident smile that stares into the glowing eyes in the darkness, into the fangs that seek to devour, and smiles and laughs at the foes crouched in the shadows because it knows the Lamb has won. And soon, oh so soon, the hand that has reached into the future and clung to the promises of God will see the victory of the resurrection in real time.

I'm ready. Come Lord Jesus.

[Hope News @HopeMediaFR]

🇪🇸 Au cœur des incendies qui frappent l’Espagne, des pompiers de la Communauté de Madrid ont sauvé une petite chatte retrouvée intoxiquée par les fumées à Almorox. ❤️🐱

Terrifiée et en détresse, elle a immédiatement été prise en charge et soignée. Les secours l’ont baptisée Calima, un nom qui symbolise la fumée à laquelle elle a échappé, mais aussi l’espoir qui renaît au milieu des cendres.

Au-delà de leur combat contre les flammes, ces pompiers sauvent aussi des vies silencieuses, souvent oubliées. Un geste d’une immense humanité. 👏❤️

[Antidepressant Content @depressionlesss]

Be kind to street animals, they have no one

[Masih Alinejad @AlinejadMasih]

They hanged them in public

Allahu Akbar….That was the sound filling Isfahan's sky this morning when the Islamic Republic hanged three young protesters in public.

Abolfazl Sepahi. Amirhossein Safari.

Three of ours. Gone.💔

[ABC7 Eyewitness News @ABC7]

Punch, the orphaned monkey at a Japanese zoo that stole many people's hearts by clinging to an orangutan plushie, is marking his first birthday with a flood of well-wishing messages from his fans around the world - even though he now has friends and is no longer holding on to the toy. 🎂🥳🐒

Read more: https://t.co/IuTPo1qanq

[AB @ABM88314705]

@ABC7 Happy birthday, Punch. You’re so loved. Thanks for bringing hope and laughter to so many and for uniting us. ❤️🐒

[The Associated Press @AP]

Punch, the baby Japanese macaque that captured hearts around the world after going viral earlier this year, turns 1 on Sunday.