Marianne's FLASH💥DEVOS Podcast

Romans 16:17-18 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. + Welcoming the viewpoints and beliefs of others can challenge...

Genesis 28:15-17 “I’ll stick with you until I’ve done everything I promised you.” Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, “God is in this place—truly. And I didn’t even know it!” He was terrified. He whispered in awe, “Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God’s House. This is the Gate of Heaven.” + When we realize God’s promises exist, feelings spill out like luscious fruit and vegetables from the...

Exodus 16:12-14 “Now tell them, ‘In the evening you will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will have all the bread you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’” That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew. When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. + Peopl...

2 Corinthians 13:3-4 Christ is not weak when he deals with you; he is powerful among you. Although he was crucified in weakness, he now lives by the power of God. We, too, are weak, just as Christ was, but when we deal with you we will be alive with him and will have God’s power. + May the best reason for living well be that your quiet authority and joy model qualities others desire while acknowle...

Matthew 21:21-22 “ I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it .” + Withering a fig tree, raising people from the dead, and feeding thousands with bread and fish--these mi...

Job 22:27-30 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways. When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then he will save the downcast. He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.” + Can people be of benefit to God? When we feel...

Jeremiah 14:17-18 “Night and day my eyes overflow with tears. I cannot stop weeping,for my virgin daughter—my precious people— has been struck down and lies mortally wounded. If I go out into the fields, I see the bodies of people slaughtered by the enemy. If I walk the city streets, I see people who have died of starvation. The prophets and priests continue with their work, but they don’t know wh...

Psalm 138:7-8 Though I am surrounded by troubles, you will protect me from the anger of my enemies. You reach out your hand, and the power of your right hand saves me. The Lord will work out his plans for my life— for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me. + Faith is complicated. Knowing the power and believing in the Presence can clash. Reconciliation betw...

The spiritual life of home and place shifts with the seasons for me. As my Thank-You gift to all of you who have come alongside me for the past two years of Flash💥Devos, I offer my article about the world I encounter on my lawnmower, an unlikely but perfect place to connect with creation. May the ways you tend to the world bring you surprise and insight, too. Around the Yard in 100 Days by Marian...

Psalm 77:16-19 When the waters saw you, O God, its waters looked and trembled! The sea quaked to its very depths. The clouds poured down rain; the thunder rumbled in the sky. Your arrows of lightning flashed. Your thunder roared from the whirlwind; the lightning lit up the world! The earth trembled and shook. Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters— a pathway no one k...

Matthew 14:35-36 When the people recognized Jesus, the news of his arrival spread quickly throughout the whole area, and soon people were bringing all their sick to be healed. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed. + Charismatic healers draw crowds, just as charismatic leaders do. When a charismatic leader is also a healer, their...

Matthew 8:23-25 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” + Have you ever been asleep when others feel frantic and desperate? Becoming “woke” to the difficult realities of life fo...

1 Kings 19:11-12 Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. + Elijah heard life’s biggest question clearly...

Luke 7:33-35 “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.” + Neighbors gaslight an innocent man because they reject his claims about the kingdom of God. They berate Jesu...

Romans 8:24-25 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. + Waiting and patience don’t make headlines in the grind culture these days. Emily Dickinson claims, “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And n...

Psalm 17:4-6, 15 Though people tried to bribe me, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent through what your lips have commanded. My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not stumbled. I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. …As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likenes...

Ephesians 6:12-13 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. + Clarifying the sour...

Matthew 12:38-40 “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” He answered, “ A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of humans will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth .” + God’s mercy transforms the world. Maybe you’ve...

Matthew 12:15-16 But Jesus knew what they were planning. So he left that area, and many people followed him. He healed all the sick among them, but he warned them not to reveal who he was. + Crowds surrounding Jesus didn’t keep him from serving. Shouts, gossip, and taunting questions didn’t distract him. Trusting the mercy of his assignment, Jesus “healed all the sick among them.” How he treated o...

2 Samuel 22:17-20 “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. + Those who feel ill, distressed, anxious in hard times--many...

Psalm 86:12-13 O Giver of Breath, I will speak of your greatness with my entire being. My Creator, I will honor your name for all days to come. Your love for me, which remains faithful and true, has no bounds. You have snatched my life from the lowest part of the Dark Underworld of Death. + Dwelling in the liminal spaces slivered between today and the underworld, I can feel stuck together with joy...

Psalm 92:6-7 Only a simpleton would not know, and only a fool would not understand this: Though the wicked sprout like weeds and evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever. + Our worldly lives toggle between the present moment and the near future. God asks us to widen out, to connect with a universal picture. How can we learn to value divine promises of forever when everything seems so urg...

Isaiah 48:9-11 Yet for my own sake and for the honor of my name, I will hold back my anger and not wipe you out. I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering. I will rescue you for my sake— yes, for my own sake! I will not let my reputation be tarnished, and I will not share my glory with idols! + Creator shares glory with those who surre...

Song of Songs 2:10-12 My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. + A holy season of singing has come indeed. Gather with others to sing resistance. Let our sounds carry the load across mountains and st...

Psalm 13:5-6 I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms— I’m celebrating your rescue. I’m singing at the top of my lungs, I’m so full of answered prayers. + Oh for those flashes when we feel so rescued, so delivered, so incredibly freed from… it doesn’t even matter what. Rescue can happen fast. Freedom can take forever. Trust in the promises of the Source, the Power greater than all others. Envisi...