Marianne's FLASH💥DEVOS Podcast

Psalm 36:5-6God’s love is meteoric, God’s loyalty astronomic,God’s purpose titanic, God’s verdicts oceanic.Yet in this largeness nothing gets lost;Not a person, not a mouse, slips through the cracks.+God’s intergalactic sweep contrasts with the quiet pace of Jesus coming alongside his broken-hearted brothers on the Emmaus Road. Yet we’re allowed to experience love’s mysteries. Love’s power, Huey Lewis sang, “Might make you sad. Might make you mad.”“But you’ll be glad, baby, when you’ve foundThat’s the power, makes the world go ‘round.”**Songwriters Huey Lewis, Chris Hayes, Johnny Colla. “The Power of Love,” 1985.Today’s devotion also appears on redletterchristians.org daily WakeUp newsletter.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

Ephesians 6:14-16Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.+Imagine you wear faith gear. Which shirt welcomes others? Like Jesus stepping through prickly desert brush, sandals can slow our pace to walk in peace. Would “taking up the shield of faith” release more vulnerability?Show lovingkindness in gestures that deflect “the flaming arrows of the evil one.”Today’s devotion also appears on redletterchristians.org daily WakeUp newsletter.Flash💥Devos + Podcast is a reader-supported publication. Subscribers enrich the beloved community through the arts and spirituality! Thanks for being here 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

Luke 8:38-39 Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you."+Two men crazed by demons lived in the tombs. When Jesus drew near, he restored their health and sanity, then showed mercy even to the demons, granting their wishes. The townspeople took fright at God’s power and fled. One of the healed men begged to follow Jesus but received a holy anointing for a tough assignment--to serve his community instead.Let your obedience embody the merciful presence of God.Today’s “Watcher” is from Maria’s series, Once Upon a Time When Women Were Birds. “These appeared as figures emerging from the clay, still grounded there, but also reaching to fly. When this one emerged, she made me think of the watcher angels referenced in the Book of Daniel, there to watch over humans. I named the series after a poem by Terry Tempest Williams with the same title,” Maria wrote.“Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.” Terry Tempest Williams, When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on VoiceI first met Maria Wickwire on paper in 1991 when a poem of hers so captivated me that I still love it today. We’ve become dear friends and share many mutual interests. Maria’s evocative sculptures reveal feminine archetypes. “I hope to encourage healing and forgiveness in our sometimes splintering world,” she commented. Her studio overlooks Big Lake in northwest Washington where, she adds, “I photograph Mother Nature’s reminders that if She can persist, so can we.” Find Maria and her award-winning work at mariawickwire.com and social media.Flash💥Devos is a reader-supported publication. We foster engaged spirituality through prayer, art, and action. Join us! 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

Galatians 4:16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?+The Apostle Paul sounds like an improvisational character actor, calling out to us through the millennia in every imaginable voice: lecturing, blaming, cautioning, pleading, teaching, testifying, whispering, persuading, sympathizing, lamenting, loving, and celebrating. He exhorts believers to walk a narrow path alongside Jesus. Can you help others thrive in that truth?May we love others as we all become “children of promise,” heirs to the kingdom of God.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

Hosea 10:12Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love,and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord,until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.+These poetic words challenge us to go boldly beyond a contemplative walk with the Divine. When we share the treasures of righteousness and work the unplowed ground together, the sweet fruit of unfailing love will sustain us.What activates your soul with wonder and Presence?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 Samuel 20:23 “And about the matter you and I discussed—remember, the Lord is witness between you and me forever.”+This covenant between friends is a divine sidebar about the meaningful bonds of affection, protection, and steadfast love we can create with others. To trust a friend for life is good; to pledge with a friend for eternity is even better.Call on Jesus to be your witness. Trust him to be fair. Ask him to be your friend.Sculptor Maureen Seamonds is a dear friend from Webster City, Iowa and a catalyst for community art. People looking around Mo’s rural downtown studio respond directly, she commented. “They’ll touch the work, or hug it, or drape an arm across it. They really know it.” Visit her at the Produce Station Pottery or through Legacy Learning Boone River Valley.Flash💥Devos + Podcast is a reader-supported publication. Your subscription is 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

Thanks for praying with me during December! In gratitude, let me offer some reasons why a funny thing might happen to you, too, if you explore Visio Divina. When I took responsibility for my spiritual life, practices like Visio Divina enchanted me. May these Flash💥Devos enrich your experience of the Divine in 2025. Thank YOU!Seeing Anew with Visio Divinaby Marianne Abel-LipschutzToday’s image of the back cover of this handmade bible from the 8th Century astonished me — and made me wonder what the front cover looks like! Each time I examine it, my fingertips tingle as I imagine rubbing the smooth gems, tracing the twined filigrees, and turning the cover this way and that. Without a single word of text, I perceive a powerful impression of Almighty God. What do you see?I love picturing the monks’ workshop more than thirteen hundred years ago where skilled artisans brainstormed how to honor the world-changing prophesies inside. The cover’s elaborate patterning, gems, cultural histories, and spiritual energy merge into an order of the whole that’s saturated with time, place, meaning, and creativity. A Morgan Library entry on the Lindau Gospel covers describes some of its cosmological dimensions that may have already captivated your spirit. “The Greek letters alpha and omega are inscribed on the vertical arm of the cross and refer to the beginning and end of time. “Likewise, the mass of snakes and other creatures filling the four carved plaques between the arms of the cross establish a link between the Gospels and the primordial act of creation.” Once we open to revelation beyond the text, Presence lives. Turquoise, topaz, emeralds, gold, and moonstones speak of the glory of paradise itself. How does what you perceive connect or clash with who you are right now? That’s where Visio Divina begins. …people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of God’s divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. ~Romans 1:20 MSGFor several years, I participated in Visio Divina sessions once or twice a month at Prairiewoods, a Franciscan eco-spirituality center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, about an hour away from my home. Our ecumenical group of seekers included artists, writers, readers, and prayer warriors who collaborated in wide-ranging dialogues with the Word. God inspired us with creative interpretations, uncanny wisdom, and honest reflections about our faith. The Prairiewoods sessions, guided by Pastor Rodney Bluml, included two hours of prayer using an illumination and an accompanying verse from the St. John’s Bible. This edition offers exquisite testimony through terrific writing and remarkable illustrations inspired through community practice in the Benedictine tradition. Artists collaborated for more than a dozen years to reimagine the scriptural texts for our new century, blending the traditional crafts of the monastic scribes of the Middle Ages with the book arts skills of the modern era. Texts and images meld to communicate a true message from God.My sensory focus deepens with Visio Divina as foreground and background shift in a kaleidoscopic array. Some days my take-away was a silent knowing or a realization that no one answer prevails. I learned to align with vitality. I could see the hope in the world more clearly after simply being there. Scripture is beamed out to us on the same screen as ads and porn. What are we looking for? How do we recognize the Word or acknowledge when Presence is with us? Visio Divina, or divine seeing, joins prayer with Bible study in an active process of entering the presence of God with a teachable heart. Each encounter with a Bible story, even a familiar one, is a way God comes to us. Visio Divina offers a structured time of contemplation about an image and a scriptural text. Every person receives the Spirit differently.Studying a nature scene on different days or in the context of lectionary readings, I might see the water flowing or tall trees as guardians. The forest may loom as a wilderness that draws me into solitude. Maybe the immanence of rocks, the sky, or the vastness of creation would fascinate me another day. I invite the Spirit’s action within and welcome the community energy of focused prayer. God speaks to us through intuition, colors and sounds, even the sweet minty aroma from the porcelain teacup on the mahogany table. Our prayer becomes our conversation and we listen in while God gives individualized hope, encouragement, counsel, or direction. A logical extension of this spiritual practice is to see things in new ways. Scripture is beamed up on the same screen as ads and porn. How do we recognize the Word or acknowledge when Presence is with us? For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and d

Titus 3:3-5 For at one time, we too were foolish and disobedient, deceived and enslaved by a variety of passions and pleasures. We spent our lives in evil and envy; people hated us, and we hated each other. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, God delivered us.+Sometimes our troubled lives can take a detour and, by the grace of God, we stop and think. A wordless plea for mercy opens pathways.Turn to a friend or the mirror or the Spirit with hope.I’m so grateful that Flash💥Devos + Podcast is a reader-supported publication. We support community in the arts and spirituality together! Thanks for being here with me this year! 😁 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

Mark 6:51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down.+Setting sail with friends is a classic metaphor for a journey into the unknown. Then storms overwhelm the night. Lightning blasts the darkness. The sail rips like an old flag. Letting Jesus join you in the boat is a proven remedy for fear. Believe that God is always coming to rescue us.Look for Jesus in your community in the next storm. Expect peace!Flash💥Devos + Podcast is a reader-supported publication. Subscribers shape community in the arts and spirituality. Thanks for being here with me 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

2 Corinthians 7:11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.+We fear remorse and shame when seeking forgiveness. Yet the Lord shows mercy and grace. Reconciling with God opens hearts and doors so we can turn to others in peace.Seek the fruits of reconciliation through Jesus that create a flourishing life for all.Flash💥Devos + Podcast is a reader-supported publication. Your subscription is 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

Psalm 65:11-13You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.+Break off a piece of your daily bread and share the Creator’s gift of abundant life with someone new today.Celebrate the beauty and goodness our Creator lavishes on everyone.You're an inspiration! Thank you for joining me today on Flash💥Devos + Podcast! 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 27:38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.+With 276 people aboard a doomed ship headed for Rome, Paul showed faithful leadership. Passengers accepted Paul’s promise that his God would save them if they all obeyed. God made this an epic story that restores our hope on every stormy day.Believe this prisoner’s promise: Jesus assures us all our needs will be met when we trust God and cast our reserves overboard.My friend and fellow writer 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.”Flash💥Devos + Podcast is a reader-supported publication. Subscribers support community in the arts and spirituality. 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

Luke 13:18-19 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”+Jesus gives us an add-water-and-stir description of the kingdom. Everything is provided by God. What will you cultivate from this cornucopia in your kingdom garden?Tell someone something cool about the kingdom of God. How did they respond?Thanks for reading and listening to my Flash💥Devos! This post is public so feel free to share it. 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 17:14-15 Creator Sets Free looked at them and said, “Go to the holy men and show yourselves to them.” They did what he said, and as they were on the way, they were healed. One of the ten men, when he saw he was healed, returned to Creator Sets Free, giving loud praise to the Great Spirit.+Address and lament how we use racism and ethnocentrism like leprosy to justify shunning, enslaving, and killing millions of people.Join others in applying Creator’s healing gifts of forgiveness and reconciliation.Flash💥Devos + Podcast is a reader-supported publication. Thanks for encouraging creative community with your subscription! 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

Matthew 24:45-47 “Who will be the wise one, worthy of trust? Will it be the uncle who was told to feed and care for the family while the elder is away? A great blessing will come to that uncle when the elder returns and finds him doing so. I speak from my heart, he will invite that uncle to live with the family and share everything.”+Jesus promises the highest reward for obedience: the invitation into a family that shares everything.Be trustworthy, wise, and speak from Christ’s heart.Flash💥Devos + Podcast is a reader-supported publication > thank you for subscribing! 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 1:38 Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."+Mary spoke wisely at a young age. Deferring to the ultimate authority of God, she chose to embody the power of surrender. Setting aside her will for the life of another, Mary raised Emmanuel, God-with-us.Who can be set free to live through our surrender? Commit to begin today.Ceramic artist and metal sculptor Maureen Seamonds is a dear friend from Webster City, Iowa, who is also a celebrated teacher and catalyst for community art. People come into Mo’s rural downtown studio and ask what she’s making. They don't much care what she says, Mo commented, “but meanwhile they’ll touch the work, or hug it, or drape an arm across it. They really know it. It’s nice to think that you don’t have to have a specific vocabulary or training in the arts to understand it.” Visit her studio and public arts events at the Produce Station Pottery or through Legacy Learning Boone River Valley. Flash💥Devos + Podcast is a reader-supported publication. Subscribers encourage community in the arts and spirituality, a marvelous contribution! Thanks for being here 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

Here’s a Thanksgiving gift to all who’ve been reading and listening to my Flash💥Devos in November. It’s an article I wrote after feeling challenged by my friend Mark Petersen who simply said, “Rejoice!” when it seemed to be the least reasonable option in his own life. I hope you’re inspired to use “Sunday Words on Weekdays.” Thanks for praying with me this month.Sunday Words on WeekdaysA recent text message from my friend Mark made me question if our feeling words fit our faith. Mark had prayed about a medical procedure for my husband and shared our pleasure when the feared tests proved the absence of disease. He wrote, “Rejoicing in the good news that they didn’t find any issues.” Mark was absolutely correct: rejoicing was the right response. Yet his message made me wonder about rejoicing. I don’t use that verb except when reading scripture aloud. How do we rejoice now? Our feeling words don’t often match the King James Version of life where people rejoice, sing praises, and beseech their Sovereign Lord whom they address in capital letters. My world doesn’t include people strolling along a boulevard or through the gritty streets of a Broadway musical at the moment they burst into song. I'd be enthralled by the dramatic procession parading out of the old city described by the prophet Isaiah but it’s just not where I live. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:12 NKJV)Rejoicing sounds like a Sunday word and a higher level feeling we save for church. Mad, happy, sad, glad describe most of our experiences. There’s nothing unbiblical about feeling glad; here the psalmist sketches excited gratefulness. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad. (Psalm 126:2-3 NIV) Yet our ordinary days seem far from the grand language of the Bible. High-fives and “You rocked it!” exclamations express rejoicing today. Shouting, “Yay, God!” may be the best we’ve got. Exciting news, the birth of a child, a marriage proposal, a resolution to a long-standing problem, these are common experiences of happiness kicked up a few notches into joy. “Man, that was epic,” conveys an exceptional moment but it hides a deeper personal reflection. Psychologists report that most people don’t even know if they’re happy. Which words capture your faith and reflect your experiences these days? Naming what makes us joyful and why can testify about the holiness in daily life. Recognizing and claiming our connections with God can blend biblical words with everyday speech. My friend Mark rejoices more than I do but his example teaches me how to plug into that everyday joy God wants for us. Our way of speaking on Sundays shouldn’t clash with how we talk every other day of the week. Rejoice means to intensify joy, an experience of rich pleasure and uncommon satisfaction. We receive permission to do just that in Ecclesiastes 9:7 (NIV). Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. This compelling poetry dignifies our ordinary days. The Bible constantly coaches us to be joyful, to not be afraid, to remember that God is always with us. In any translation, these loving words renew our faith when we can’t see beyond the world as it is.When we let go of joy, we lose the majesty in our everyday walk with God, no matter how hard that walk is. What’s a practice in your life that connects you to everyday joy? The Christian narrative doesn’t limit joy to positive experiences; in fact, the Bible calls us to rejoice in all circumstances. This is a tough message, especially when strong feelings mark a time of separation, loss, and grief. “Oh, I wish we could get together but …” people lament, filling in the blank with sadness or the silence of unmentionable hardship. The loved one is in prison, the hospital, hospice, quarantine, or serving abroad. Some extended families face all of these circumstances at once right now. Esther put it bluntly. For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family? (Esther 8:6 NIV) Yet the scriptures don’t avoid the expectation to feel joy. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,” James challenges us in his first chapter. When Mary learned the results of her pregnancy test, she offered a song of surrender to bear and raise Jesus. In Luke 1:47 NIV, she declared to Elizabeth and to every generation, “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” It took everything she had to launch Jesus and then he, too, pitched it all as sacrificial joy. Look to Jesus, Paul suggests, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne

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?Thank you for praying with me today. Sign up for a free or paid subscription to my Flash💥Devos + Podcast and listen on Apple or Spotify. 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.Give your spiritual life a boost with a free or paid subscription to my Flash💥Devos. Listen to the podcast on Apple or Spotify. 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

Revelation 22:1-2 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. +Revelation promises no more night and that the tree’s leaves would heal the nations.Invite others into the better paradise where Christ satisfies every hunger and thirst.My friend and fellow writer 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.” You might really enjoy becoming a free or paid subscriber to Flash💥Devos + Podcast. Try listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. 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 2:13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.+Righteousness and obedience are inseparable principles. “If you heard what I said, why didn’t you do it?” a parent or loved one may ask. “You say you care about me,” we plead with a close friend, “but how do you show it?” God’s love language is two-fold: trust and obey.Give your life a boost with a free or paid subscription to my Flash💥Devos + Podcast. 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 Corinthians 5:5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.+This verse gives a scriptural background for the common expression, “Trust the process.” God created us for a specific future. As our lives unfold toward that promise, we can tap the deposit of God’s Spirit within us. Trust the process of God’s Spirit shaping your life. It’s guaranteed to be good!Thanks for joining me to pray on Flash💥Devos + Podcast today. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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 Corinthians 13:5“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.”+It’s easier to give someone else a failing score on a faith test. The Apostle Paul is pretty clear, though. You’re either in or you're out. Don’t wait for a confession booth to name the ways you’ve strayed. Compare results on a faith test with a friend and encourage each other to grow. Commit to living more “in the faith” today.Thanks for letting Flash💥Devos + Podcast enrich your day! Let’s be encouraging. 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

Judges 2:10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. +What a frightful world it would be where the Lord becomes forgotten. God is always encountered: in the ever-shifting skies, in love shared across time and space, in the gifted labors of our hands and hearts. Give Jesus a chance to grow in your life. Introduce Jesus to your family and friends! Let your witness bring his light into others’ worlds. Your presence means a lot to me! Thanks for reading and listening to my 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

Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.+We experience the undeniable presence of God physically. The curtain is torn. The turmoil in our lives flutters down like leaves falling onto water. We feel mysteriously comforted. Love comes through.Let a whisper from the heart of God shake your world. Others will notice when your prayers are answered. 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 Peter 3:8-9 “Be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”+Divine restraint is an appropriate response to evil and insults. Bless the person, condemn the act, and amplify peace.Choose to act like Jesus so you too will inherit an eternal blessing.Thanks for joining me in prayer today! Subscribe for new posts and podcasts. 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

Philippians 2:14-15 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” +Translations for “grumbling or arguing” show how we cleverly negotiate with God. Can we thrive without complaining, disputing, murmurings, reasonings, arguments, or questioning the providence of God? Reach for becoming “blameless and pure” in various translations: clean, innocent, harmless, uncontaminated, without blemish, sincere. Model acceptance, harmony, and thrive in diversity as you grow through life’s challenges. Delighted you’ve joined me for today’s Flash💥Devos! Subscribe for new posts or follow this podcast on Apple or Spotify. 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 one who has my word speak it faithfully… Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”+Quoting scripture to make a point requires discernment in the right use of our authority. The wise consider silence. It’s a solemn responsibility to draw on the power of sacred speech.Let your humble life be your witness to the transforming power of Christ.I’m delighted to share this lakeshore still-life by my long-time friend and fellow writer Jill Hinners. Jill lives in Duluth, Minnesota where she directs a non-profit youth mentoring organization. She 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.” 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

To thank you for reading and listening to my Flash💥Devos in October, I offer my article “Take Me to the Border with You” about my week serving at the Mexico/U.S. border. Sharing ministry of presence and welcoming migrants humbled me with valuable perspectives about the plight of immigrants worldwide.Today is National Immigrants Day which celebrates the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty in 1887. I honor those who seek new lives in the United States, including my ancestors who emigrated from Poland, Ireland, Germany, and Alsace-Lorraine. 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

Luke 21:3-4 He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”+My friend Jay once asked me if the gigantic “Jesus Saves” billboards on urban banks advertised where Jesus saves. It’s a powerfully mixed message. Decide what kind of savings you value most. Is it worth enough to give it all away?I hope you’ve enjoyed reading and listening to my Flash💥Devos! Subscribe for new posts and podcasts or follow on Apple or Spotify. 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 126:5-6Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow,will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.+Sometimes the songs of joy remain silent in the hymnal, tucked in the pew for another day. Grief dribbles from our eyes. No tune carries sadness far. Yet we live as children of promise for that coming day. Sorrow matures in our walk toward new seasons. Listen for radiant harmony as new songs emerge.This devotional also appears on Red Letter Christians WakeUp newsletter today. redletterchristians.orgSubscribe for free posts or follow the podcast on Apple or Spotify. Thanks for stopping by! 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

Hebrews 6:11-12 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.+We need companions who can reorient us when we stray. Pulling up our bootstraps fixes some needs but relationships knit us together better. Loving each other the way Jesus loved counts. Stay the course with allies in committed faith.Today’s devotional also appears on Red Letter Christians WakeUps at redletterchristians.orgThanks for joining me on Flash💥Devos + Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new posts or follow on Apple or Spotify. 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 24:17, 19 Make sure that orphans and foreigners are treated fairly. … If you forget to bring in a stack of harvested grain, don't go back in the field to get it. Leave it for the poor, including foreigners, orphans, and widows, and the Lord will make you successful in everything you do.+Each of us bears responsibility for our neighbors and for fair distribution of earthly abundance. Justice and righteousness become real when whole communities experience the good life God gives us.Glad you could join me today. Thanks!My Flash💥Devos Podcast plays on Apple & Spotify or subscribe for free emails. 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 24:17,19 Make sure that orphans and foreigners are treated fairly. … If you forget to bring in a stack of harvested grain, don't go back in the field to get it. Leave it for the poor, including foreigners, orphans, and widows, and the Lord will make you successful in everything you do.+Each of us bears responsibility for our neighbors and for fair distribution of earthly abundance. Justice and righteousness become real when whole communities experience the good life God gives us.Thanks for reading FLASH💥DEVOS! It’s good to pray in community. Subscribe for new posts. Podcasts play free on Apple and Spotify. 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

Mark 10:49-51 Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.’ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked him. +Be conscious of the constant reconciling presence of Jesus. Tell others, “Guess who called me today?” Flip the script. Call Jesus and ask, “What do you want me to do for YOU today?”Thanks for stopping by today! Subscribe or follow for free posts or podcasts. Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 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

Mark 10:49-51 Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.’ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked him. +Be conscious of the constant reconciling presence of Jesus. Tell others, “Guess who called me today?” Flip the script. Call Jesus and ask, “What do you want me to do for YOU today?”Good to be with you! Thanks! Subscribe for free new posts and to learn along with me. 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 Corinthians 8:11 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 Corinthians 8:11 Be as eager to finish this journey as you were when you started, and give as much as you are able. If you have a willing heart, it is accepted that you give from what you have and not from what you do not have.+A journey seems adventurous and desirable, launched with anticipation and yearning. Finishing well can be just as gratifying. We live like Jesus when we love completely.Discover fulfillment in becoming who you are through loving relationships.It’s been a pleasure to pray with you today. Subscribe for new free posts or listen on the podcast. 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

Luke 24:39Thanks for praying with me today on Flash💥Devos Podcast! Subscribe for free new posts, podcasts, and other contributions. 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 24:39 “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”+Being only “the hands and feet of Jesus” limits God’s desire for healing. Why bypass heart, mind, soul, and strength? Christ resolved all suffering with holistic love. We may not choose to suffer. Jesus calls us to freely love.“Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” ~ Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582)Thanks for stopping by to pray with me on FLASH💥DEVOS! Subscribe to receive new posts, podcasts, and grow your spirituality. 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

James 4:8 Come near to God and God will come near to you. +Reciprocity identifies our universe. Made by a Creator who freely shares love and delight, we yearn for community by nature. Drawing closer to others enriches us the way a complex environment fosters a diversified life. When we invest in the flourishing of our neighbors, everyone enjoys the rewards. Choose to live close to God so everyone and everything around you will also experience God’s love.Thanks for praying together on Flash💥Devos! Subscribe for emails or listen to the podcast. 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

James 4:8Thanks for listening to Flash💥Devos Podcast! Subscribe for new posts and podcasts. I look forward to praying together 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

Proverbs 30:15-16 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

Proverbs 30:15-16“There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’+The forces of nature and the forces of human nature share perplexing similarities. Relief seems impossible for the suffering and terror caused by disasters. Relentless conflicts within ourselves and our communities also seem irreconcilable. Through Christ, we can choose redemptive solutions.Team with others who say, “Enough!” Help restore pathways to peace.So glad you’re here, reading or listening along! Subscribe for new posts or podcasts. 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

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

Genesis 17:13 My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.When everlasting began, God included us in the kingdom. God promised a commitment beyond time, place, or works. Abraham surrendered. He received a new name and a reshaped body that marked him for an eternal future. +God wants us to become one to each other through such profound attachment that our bodies reflect the new spirit within us. God offers a new covenant through Jesus.Worship, pray, and flourish in authentic relationships with others.Thanks for reading my Flash💥Devos! Imagine how we’re growing together through prayer. 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

Thanks to everyone who has subscribed, read, commented, and listened to my FLASH💥DEVOS for its first month! As a tenfold gesture of gratitude at just over 1000 words, I’d like to share this piece about how scripture, obedience, and love in Guatemala changed my old grief into surprising joy. As writer Etty Hillesum once said, we should “clear a decent shelter” for our sorrow. “Then you may truly say: life is beautiful and so rich. So beautiful and so rich that it makes you want to believe in God.” 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

Thanks to everyone who has subscribed, read, commented, and listened to my FLASH💥DEVOS for its first month! As a tenfold gesture of gratitude at just over 1000 words, I’d like to share this piece about how scripture, obedience, and love in Guatemala transformed my old grief into surprising joy. As writer Etty Hillesum once said, we should “clear a decent shelter” for our sorrow. “Then you may truly say: life is beautiful and so rich. So beautiful and so rich that it makes you want to believe in God.”Living with 100 SistersThere’s nothing new about becoming a Christian missionary in the 21st Century. The offer remains the same. Jesus still invites us to “Come, follow me” after more than two thousand years. The harsh reality of how to become a disciple hasn’t changed either. Scripture says simply, “You must die.” Die to our life, hate our family, leave our brothers, forsake our sisters, walk away from our sons and daughters, abandon our land and everything else and just, “Follow me.” Thanks for participating in my Flash💥Devos! Subscribe to receive new posts and podcasts.The prospect of such a reversal haunted me for years. I felt kin to the rich man who questioned Jesus about access to the kingdom, a place that appealed to both of us. That guy received instructions that still work today: sell everything, give to the poor, and “Follow me.” My life has indeed been rich, maybe similar to that man’s good life--a generous family, a spacious home, clear purposes, meaningful work, loving relationships, and natural beauty all around. I felt confused that the rewards of living right and loving well--blessings from God--had little actual value. Maybe the rich guy in the Bible story made a different decision later in life, but in that moment he walked back home rather than follow Jesus empty-handed. I had done that many times, too, but God kept following me. Eventually I gave up trying to make sense of becoming a missionary. As I turned away from one family connection and place and then let the next ones slide by without grasping, I turned toward things and people that had previously been invisible. Becoming a new person is more than we can imagine from where we are. “Come, follow me” also means “Come into the vision I have for you alone.”Once I shifted my line of perspective, sacrifice took shape as a familiar norm. My Uncle Jim served as a monk in Ohio, teaching at inner city high schools for 55 years. He lived at a remove from the daily world, yet he was still emotionally invested in the people near him. Selfishly, even though we didn’t live nearby, I felt slighted as his niece and longed for his attention over the years. We both had to sacrifice my part in his life because he chose to follow Jesus unconditionally. Now my own family and friends might suffer for my service, regardless of their willingness or their faith journey.Jesus encourages us to seek our place in the kingdom by imagining a camel slip through the eye of a needle. We can’t see how a camel or a human could get through, nor can we picture life on the other side. Who will we become when we leave everything behind? What happens to those who pass through the needle’s eye? Easier for the camel, Jesus added, and just as transformational. “Come, follow me” also means “Come into the vision I have for you alone.”Check off your list of things as you forsake them for the kingdom: houses, brothers, sisters, parents, spouse, kids, lands. Our attachment to all this has to go. Even his disciples asked, “What then will we have?” One more promise in the uncluttered space between us and Jesus: you shall receive a hundredfold in this life, and life everlasting in the next. An astounding goodness can come from our choice to sacrifice what we love dearly for what we do not know. *****I couldn’t have pictured a less likely room for revelation than a makeshift beauty salon. After a year serving at a children’s home in Guatemala, I joined a dozen women who helped fourteen teen girls do their hair and makeup in an upstairs classroom for a Quinceañera fiesta on our campus. I had grown up with four brothers, hair that resisted curling, and a mother who was allergic to most makeup and jewelry. A beauty salon is foreign territory to me, a place I can visit but will never belong. The other women and girls thrived with the pampering, the garish colors, the elaborate gowns and, for those girls who chose indigenous formal wear, the muted weaves of gold-laced, multi-colored patterns from their home counties. Bobby pins cluttered the floor, taffeta shreds drifted to the corners, tiny bottles of fingernail polish in glitter rainbow shades covered a desktop. Sisters and friends chatted and giggled, holding a mirror or waiting to see who was next. Excitement and anticipation crested in the moments before the event as each girl gathered her skirts and clunked down steep stairs in unfamiliar heels.Right before our very eyes we see dreams become real--dreams we forgot we once had. When J

Psalm 19:7-8The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together.The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road.The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy.The last words of each line attract me: whole, clear, right. Together, road, joy. Different combinations address life’s complexity. Seek God’s revelation through signposts and life-maps. Yearn for wholeness and clarity. Humility can right-size our relationships in the world. Let God draw us together on the road to joy.Thanks for listening to my FLASH💥DEVOS! Subscribe to listen to free new podcasts. 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 1:17 Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. +Sane advice from a tested leader like Moses applies today. When we listen to everyone and don’t fear anyone, we respect the fair judgment of God. Make room for other points of view. Communities that share authority and power flourish.Be a living presence of fair leadership. Where you have influence, invite dialogue to allow peace. Thanks for reading my FLASH💥DEVOS! Subscribe for my new free posts. 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