Marianne's FLASH💥DEVOS Podcast

Dear Readers, Listeners, and Supporters: thank you for coming along with my Flash Devos for the past 180 posts. I need to step away from the computer for now. Unexpected health challenges prevent me from writing and producing these devos. Please help yourselves to the archives. I pray that I will be able to return to this work of my heart. I leave you with a prayer calling in the vision of equanimity in today’s reading from the lectionary.2 Corinthians 8:13-15 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”May we share what we have gathered and ask for what we need, so that in every season we may all feel whole.Dear friend *Deirdre Purdy is a digital creator in Chloe, West Virginia who posts “Pillion Viewpoint” from the back seat of a BMW regularly on “Adventure Rider” magazine. “I can see all the way down the road, like the driver, and anticipate the curves and traffic,” she writes. “I also ride with the clouds, the farms, barns, and churches, 100 year old banks, and county courthouses. Sometimes I make a 1/3 turn and take a shot over my shoulder, aiming without looking, and once in a while catch gold.” See her posts at advrider.com and Facebook. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Psalm 126:1-2When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.+Cheer out loud when rescue becomes real. Not maybe he will save us, or maybe he’ll help us, or if we do what’s right he’ll stay. Here and now, no matter what, in this and that and in everything, life changes when the Lord arrives.Tall, heartless, brutal, kind, earnest, every color, shape, location, and time. Jesus is coming for every one of us.My friend *Lily DeCort is an Ethiopian American painter based in Chicago. Her work, ranging from luminous landscapes to evocative abstracts, reflects the liminality of her experience. Through dark skies, peaceful paths, and vast waters, her paintings explore themes of beauty, vulnerability, healing, and the human journey from wonder to loss and hope reborn. Learn more about Lily’s art at https://lilydecort.com/Readers support Flash💥Devos with prayer, tips, and subscriptions. Thanks for your gift! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Malachi 3:17-18“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”+“They” means the faithful remnant of believers. As far as we know, God hasn’t changed the stark outcomes for servants or the wicked.Free will allows us choices and forgiveness. Your decision?*Allison May Kiphuth is an artist, sternman, and collector of things who lives in a tiny house in Monhegan, Maine. Her dioramas in antique boxes, unboxed diorama scenes, and watercolor and ink studies of natural objects enchant viewers. Discover her current work at linktr.ee/alliemaykiphuth or her website https://www.allisonmaykiphuth.com/Thanks for subscribing! 💥 Sounds simple. Means a lot! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Psalm 90:1-4, 12 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.+Christmas is an offer to engage with God because giving and receiving matter. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. [v.12] Reset with a spiritual break and feel restored. Subscribe to Flash💥Devos! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Readers, listeners, and followers alike--Thank You! I appreciate your support for my Flash💥Devos + Podcast! As a thank-you gift for November, here’s my review of my friend Andrew’s latest book, just published in October. Andrew’s years of researching and writing “Reviving the Golden Rule” created this remarkable work of scholarship that relates to our world today. The content here could be a life-changing present for a loved one--or someone who’s hard to love.A Review of Andrew DeCort’s Reviving the Golden Rule: How the Ancient Ethic of Neighbor Love Can Heal our Worldby Marianne Abel-LipschutzAndrew DeCort’s latest book, Reviving the Golden Rule, explores the many reasons why we love or hate our neighbors. It’s an encyclopedia of the ways love wins. “Neighbor love is the core and culmination of God’s will for humanity,” DeCort believes. You can come back to this book repeatedly for encouragement, strategy, and lessons in the subtle ways we all fall short.Building on literature of visionaries across faiths and centuries, DeCort traces human detours along with stories of nonviolent love and humility, transformational spiritual practices that change communities. “My hope is that this book can serve as a school for love and revive neighbor love as the most healing movement in human history.”He has done his own fearless moral and ethical inventory and been transformed by devastating personal experiences to come to a truer sense of self as a passionate believer in Jesus. DeCort’s studies of the nuances of othering and dehumanization are insightful and are themselves devastating, as these warped beliefs shape the horrors we see today.For example, he talks about how we dehumanize others – even parts of our own nature– and reject them with our words and actions. These habits of othering act as gateways to such behaviors as what philosopher Judith Butler named “ungrievability.” DeCort explained, “ungrievability means that if you’re grieving, I don’t care. Your pain doesn’t matter to me. What happens to you doesn’t matter. We begin to tolerate levels of suffering that are actually seen as necessary.”Othering heightens the paradox of neighbor love. “When we see others as morally related to ourselves and equally worthy of love, the whole purpose of divine revelation has come to life in us. There is nothing more important than neighbor love for Christian ethics, and everything else flows in and out of it.”In fact, there’s been a significant misunderstanding of what we call the Great Commission, DeCort asserts. “This final invitation from Jesus to continue his work on earth is all about neighbor love, baptism, and belovedness. It’s an invitation to actually embody and practice what he taught across every boundary of identity and difference… That’s not a list of doctrinal statements.”“I’ve written this book to revive the dead dogma of neighbor love and to reawaken us to the living truth that it was since the beginning—a radical vision and practice of being human,” DeCort claims. “If that belovedness and that practice of radical love isn’t crossing every boundary like Jesus said, then we’re no longer extending the movement that Jesus launched.”DeCort’s desire for honest witness inspired him to invite famous atheists to review his book. They commended it. “It was essential to me for the book to be tested, so I looked for someone who has deep disagreements with what I’m writing,” he explained. “I wanted someone to sniff it out and see, is this book actually talking about authentic neighbor love or is it still this pious game that Andrew is playing?”This book is no intellectual game. It’s a serious endeavor, a remarkable work of scholarship, and a generous gift to all who want to live more fully and love the world into a better shape. “Neighbor love makes humanity shimmer and shine in full color like precious diamonds as if for the first time. How was it that I went through life and couldn’t see the glory all around and within me? I am born again, and neighbor love sets me free.” These words close his book, opening a new door for our collective future. Keep this mighty book handy in the days and years ahead.Paperback: IVP Academic, 2025Buy Now: [ BookShop ] [ Amazon ] [ Kindle ] [ Audible ]First published in the Englewood Review of Books, November 12, 2025https://englewoodreview.org/andrew-decort-reviving-the-golden-rule-review/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Psalm 118:19-21Let the doors of Creator’s right waysopen to me. I will go through themand give thanks to Grandfather.This is where Grandfather’s good roadbegins, the upright in heart willenter here.I will give thanks to you, for youheard my prayers and came torescue me.+Thanksgiving celebrates the reciprocal nature of God’s love. Doors open; we enter with grateful praise. We wander; Grandfather finds us. It’s our choice to accept rescue.Everyone’s been saved from something. Who or what obligates you to deeper commitment today? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Deuteronomy 3:27-28“Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan. But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”+Next generations might be older or younger. Everyone has a future. By discipling and coaching others now, you can co-create the future you can imagine but will not see.Help others cross their Jordan in good faith.Through their artistic and community based practices, *Olly Costello explores themes of interconnectedness, spiritual ecology, emergence, accountability, Prison Industrial Complex Abolition, Transformative Justice and belonging. “I hope my work can be a small contributing part of creating our new culture, grounded in honoring the inherent sacredness of all beings and pushing us beyond violent cultures.” Discover their inspiring work on Substack @ollycostello and their website https://ollycostello.com/Your prayers, tips, and subscriptions 💥matter! Thank you! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Psalm 51:10-12Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.+This beautiful prayer remains “the classic example of repentance in the Old Testament.” Later, Jesus modeled these truths and explained the rewards. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”Look around when you’re in trouble. Who do you see?“Dreaming of Home,” Maria explained, “contains a nest inside a thicket of branches forming her torso. Her head is balanced upon the branch tips and is open (empty?) allowing for something alive to be planted inside. The little birds perched upon her and the nest inside remind me that life goes on for the other life forms that don’t consume the news about the goings on of those weird mammals that seem to control everything.” The piece is part of “Hope in High Branches,” her new series that is “a product of my grappling with the concepts of ‘home’ and ‘nesting’ in these scary times.”*Maria Wickwire creates ceramic sculptures in northwest Washington. Her works reveal feminine archetypes, she writes, “hoping to encourage healing and forgiveness in our sometimes splintering world.” Find Maria on socials and at Mariawickwire.com Subscribers support Flash💥Devos as a gift to the arts and spiritual communities we share. Thanks! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

1 Thessalonians 5:14-15“Now, my sacred family members, we call on you to give firm and wise counsel to those whose hands do nothing. Comfort those whose hearts are on the ground. Help the ones who are weak, and be patient with everyone. Make sure no one gives back to anyone evil for evil. Seek to walk in a good way with each other and with all people. “+Pray for the well-being of everyone in your life.What would shift if you regarded everyone as your sacred family members?How cool that readers support Flash💥Devos enthusiastically. Thanks a ton! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Acts 5:38-39“For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these people; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”+God’s action can be obvious, like a turquoise sky or the flight of a skimmer along the crest of an ocean wave. Sparring with God’s creative nature proves exasperating.It’s not an easy way out but obedience can generate a wise collaboration with God.Your prayers, tips, and subscriptions💥matter! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Romans 2:3-4“Tell me, when you do the same kinds of things that you judge others for, do you think what you have done will be hidden from the eyes of the Great Spirit? Or do you hold bitter thoughts about Creator’s kindness, patience, and willingness to bear with others?” +We silly humans judge our Creator for excessive patience, unreasonable forgiveness, and outrageous mercy.Accept Creator’s kindness. Allow yourself to be drawn back toward the right path today.Dear friend *Bruce Swanson snapped our image for today’s Flash💥Devo. “On the final portion of my morning’s hike, I was hitting about three miles an hour when my eyes caught this lying on the forest floor. Our leaves have changed and some soul found these and arranged them,” he wrote. “It gladdened my heart.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

2 Thessalonians 2:15-17So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Parent, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope,comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.+What we write or speak--rightly or wrongly--launches gospel traditions into the future.Good news strengthens the beloved community for everyone’s benefit.*Marcia Milner-Brage creates in the San Francisco Bay area. “Mostly, I draw from direct observation--people, things, and places. (In art lingo: portraits, still lifes and landscapes.) Thus, I name my world.” For “Bus Garage,” she explained, “It was Sunday, so the open garage was totally filled with yellow school buses. Schools had been in session for 3 weeks.” Find more of her great work on https://www.flickr.com/photos/marciamilner-brage/Thanks for subscribing! 💥 Sounds simple. Means a lot! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Psalm 17:3-5Though you probe my heart,though you examine me at night and test me,you will find that I have planned no evil;my mouth has not transgressed.Though people tried to bribe me,I have kept myself from the ways of the violentthrough what your lips have commanded.My steps have held to your paths;my feet have not stumbled.+This confession shows how to set our spiritual life aright in a frank conversation with God.Everyone notices when our actions align with our beliefs.Your prayers, tips, and subscriptions💥matter! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Jeremiah 23:28-29 “Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”+Straw makes a good sleeping mat or mulch but only matured grain grows life. Be discerning when you speak God’s word. Lives are at risk! Futures are at stake!Swinging a hammer at hardened hearts vandalizes souls. Breathe hope!*Jill Hinners searches for peace and inspiration on or near Minnesota’s lakes and smaller waterways. Jill writes, “I collect iPhone images to document all the natural beauty in this place I’m so fortunate to call home.”Reset with a spiritual break and feel restored. Subscribe to Flash💥Devos! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Romans 14:12,19So then, each of us must give an answer to the Great Spirit for how we have walked on this earth. So then, let us walk the path of peace in a manner that lifts up and strengthens the heart of each person.+There’s a spiritual dimension to how we walk, where we’re going, and what the path means. Let Christ lead the way.Do all you can to strengthen hearts for peace.*Lily DeCort is an Ethiopian American painter based in Chicago. Her work, ranging from luminous landscapes to evocative abstracts, reflects the liminality of her experience. Her paintings explore beauty, vulnerability, healing, and the human journey from wonder to loss and hope reborn. Learn more about Lily’s art at https://lilydecort.com/Prayers, tips, and subscriptions matter! Thanks!💥 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Jeremiah 10:5Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,their idols cannot speak;they must be carriedbecause they cannot walk.Do not fear them;they can do no harmnor can they do any good.”+People expect gods to perform. Gods of our own creation must give us more than we have. Consider if your devotion to money, power, screens, work, substances, or something else competes with your spiritual commitments. Lord have mercy if we worship a broomstick scarecrow!Consider how your life measures up in light of God’s promises.“Initial D: The Fool with Two Demons” is credited to the Master of the Ingeborg Psalter. After 1205. “An enthroned man wearing a fool’s cap illustrates the opening verse of Psalm 52-”The fool says in his heart ‘There is no God.’” The scroll he holds proclaims this heresy: Non e[st] Deu[s] (There is no God). Two mischievous demons incite him to this thought, while an angel above attempts to warn the fool against such a notion.” from the Getty Museum Catalog. Public Domain.Thanks for being here!💥Great to be with you! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Thank you for reading and listening along to my Flash💥Devos this October. In gratitude, let me offer “Take Me to the Border with You,” my most popular article from 2024. The week I spent at the Mexico/U.S. border in 2019 radicalized me. Sharing ministry of presence and welcoming migrants humbled me. The realities of worldwide immigration, refugees, asylum, and exile scorch my heart. I pray we may all become more faithful neighbors wherever we are. Take Me to the Border with Youby Marianne Abel-LipschutzThe Del Rio area looked simple from the airplane window. The river cut a path, paralleled by a fence, between two mirrored cities that were surrounded by vast, open brushland. Questions prickled the edges of my awareness as I watched the land come into view: How did our society get to this point? Whose border is this? What can we do? Will we do what we can?So many migrants congregated along the Rio Grande between Texas and Mexico in 2019 that I felt compelled to go too. The hundreds, and thousands, and then hundreds of thousands of people migrating northward astonished me. I wanted to witness that yearning for change among so many people from so many places, those who escaped terror and trauma as well as those who saw their only hope for a future on the other side of the border.I wanted to feel swept along in that human vortex from over fifty countries—pushing strollers, walking side by side, riding buses, hiding behind trees, waiting in food lines, moving ahead, seeking a future, everyone breathing at once. I quickly said, “Yes!” when a Christian crisis-response team asked me to join them as a bilingual chaplain in Del Rio, Texas, for a week. I wanted to stand with others in their struggle for a new life. My voice rose with a thousand yeses in many languages, like uncountable monarchs released to the open sky. “Yes,” we cried. “Take me to the border with you.”***I live and work in both Iowa and Guatemala, and I’ve listened to people in both places describe their quest for the border. One year ago, a slight boy named Elver approached me in a rural church. We were volunteering with a mission team on a hilltop overlooking Guatemala, the farthest we could get from a border without trying. There was hardly any work or water. A robin’s-egg-blue, button-down shirt draped lightly and formally over this boy. Eleven years old, Elver had an elegant air, even when giggling and scampering around the churchyard with friends. He had studied me all morning while mothers and children coloured pages on the pews. Finally he sat beside me and confided a raw and tender worry. “Will my father ever make it to the United States?” His dad hadn’t left town yet, but the threat of his absence already affected him profoundly.Elver had probed the options as thoroughly as an adult, seeing danger overflow with impossibilities. “Will my father come back?” “Why can’t I go with him?” His persistent questions ached both his heart and mine. “How far away is your country?” There was no easy answer, though the distance could be measured. A factual reply would only sting. We coloured the same page for a while, the scrape of the pew shifting on the floor the only sound between us. Guatemalans had welcomed me into their country. I didn’t believe this child’s dad would find the same welcome in my country. Our hearts were united, but our countries were worlds apart.***The community shelter where our team volunteered had opened in the spring, organized by city, business, and church leaders. The Border Patrol had requested assistance with the extraordinary influx of people across the international border, so these community leaders had formed the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition to offer hospitality and hope. The Coalition converted an old municipal building a mile from the river into a resource and respite centre for migrating children and families. Other organizations and people from all over the state and country donated thousands of hours and supplies.Coalition volunteers and staff intentionally welcomed people for months from countries as diverse and far-flung as Angola and Chile. These men, women, and children had come across the bridge or “through the water,” as they called it. Once Border Patrol determined that individual migrants and families could be released into Texas with provisional documents, officers delivered them to the shelter. Over the summer, the shelter averaged 60 people a day. One day Val Verde served 226 people.Anticipating new federal laws restricting migrants’ passage, the daily average dropped to two dozen people by the end of August. The Migrant Protection Protocols that took effect in late September effectively closed the border. The change at the Val Verde shelter was dramatic: The well-organized camp had more volunteers and staff than migrants needing respite. Thousands of people were still leaving their home countries daily. But most of these people were nowhere to be seen—with thousands more held in detention, a

Psalm 145:6-8Every tongue will speak of the fearsome power you have shown. I will tell stories of your greatness.All people will retell the stories of your far-reaching goodness and shout for joy at your just ways.Grandfather is kind, merciful, and slow to anger. His greatness is shown by his love, which remains faithful and true.+Give thanks for life itself! Reach across whatever bridge can bring Christ’s hope to others.The power of God’s goodness fills your neighborhood everyday.Your prayers, tips, and subscriptions💥matter! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Luke 11:33-36 “Your eye is a lamp, lighting up your whole body. If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a musty cellar. Keep your eyes open, your lamp burning.“+Jesus offers practical advice for homemakers even though he had no home of his own. “Keep your life as well-lighted as your best-lighted room.”When Jesus comes to dwell with us, he chooses to dwell within us.Flash💥Devos is reader-supported with prayer, tips, and subscriptions. Thanks! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com

Job 4:2-6“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?But who can keep from speaking?Think how you have instructed many,how you have strengthened feeble hands.Your words have supported those who stumbled;you have strengthened faltering knees.But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;it strikes you, and you are dismayed.Should not your piety be your confidenceand your blameless ways your hope?+Cultivating our neighborhoods invests in our future.Invite others to flourish in beloved community.Flash💥Devos is reader-supported with prayer, tips, and subscriptions. Thanks! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com