Month: December 2020

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My daily devotion quoted from Exodus 34:6-7

“”The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected – even the children in the third and fourth generations.” “

After reading several commentaries, I think that the Lord is referring to the sins of the parents affecting the generations because these sin are continued down through the generations without repentance. I refer to Exodus 20:5-6, where the Lord says, “You must not bow down to them (idols) or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love on those who love Me and obey My commands.”

My daily Bible study is currently in the Book of Ezekiel. In Chapter 18, The Lord is talking to Ezekiel who was a prophet during the Judean exile in Babylon (Ezekiel 1:1) I am taking excerpts from Chapter 18, please refer to the entire chapter for further reading.

“”Then another message came to me from the Lord: “Why do you you quote this proverb concerning the land of Israel: The parents have eaten sour grapes, bu their children’s mouths pucker at the taste? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you will not quote this proverb anymore in Israel. For all people are Mine to judge- both parents and children alike. And this is My rule: The person who sins is the one who will die.””(Ezekiel 18: 1-4)

From commentary from www.reddit.com, I understood this verse to mean that that the Jews blamed their parents for their captivity and the Lord was telling them to stop saying this because they should express resentment of their ancestors.

The Lord give three examples in this chapter. “Suppose a certain man is righteous and does what is just and right…….. and faithfully does my decrease and regulations. Anyone who does these things is just and will sure live, says the Sovereign Lord.” (vv. 5, 9)

“But suppose that a man has a son who grows up to be a robber or a murderer and refuses to do what is right. And the son does all the evil things his father would never do-…. Should such a sinful person live.” No! He must die and must take full blame.” (vv. 10, 13B)

“But suppose that sinful son, in turn has a son who sees his father’s wickedness and decides against that kind of life….. and obeys My regulations and decrees. Such a person will not die because of his father’s sins; he will surely live. But the father will die for his many sins- for being cruel, robbing people, and doing what is wrong among his people.” (vv. 14,15, 17B, 18)

“”What” you ask, “Doesn’t the child pay for the parent’s sins?” No! For if the child does what is just and right and keeps My decrees, that child will surely live. The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness. But if the wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey My decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live because of the righteous things they have done.” (vv 9-22)

“Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. However, if righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things and act like the other sinners, should they be allowed to live? NO, of course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins.” (vv. 22-24)

“Therefore, I will judge each of you, O people of Israel, according to your actions, says the Sovereign Lord. Repent, and turn for your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should your die, O people of Israel? I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!” (vv30-32)

In today’s world, these Scriptures surely apply as well. We should admit that we are sinners, believe that Christ died for our sins, and commit our lives to following Jesus.

(All Scripture taken from the New Living Translation)

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I haven’t posted in a while, and for good reason. Somewhere during the first week of December, I caught a cold, or so I thought. The symptoms progressed to sinus congestion, but no fever. I continued my routines with a nasal decongestant and ibuprofen. I still thought nothing of it, until the day of December 14th. I had been working as part-time seasonal help at a local department store. Having standing on my feet for five hours, they began to ache. When I got home, and walked my dogs, the aching persisted. I went to bed early that night because I was so tired. During the night, I developed a sinus headache, and I noted my temperature was 99. I slept until 1:00 pm the next day. The medication helped control my symptoms and I felt better.

A few days after I caught my cold, my husband began with the same symptoms of nasal congestion. He ran no fever, but had a little cough. He started getting more fatigued around December 16th. He had to take naps during the day. He has underlying medical conditions, one of which is low sodium, which has cause confusion and memory loss in the past. While playing his favorite interactive video game, he got confused about how to play the game. This happened on several occasions over the next few days. When I got home from work on December 19th, all the lights were on outside as well as inside the house. My husband was obviously in a confused state of mind. He forgot when I was coming home from work and had been looking for me inside and outside of the house. He was very fatigued and he went to bed. Long story short, I called my son and he came over to help me convince him to go to the ER. I called the EMTs and they checked him out. By that time, he was more in his right mind. He agreed to be take to the local ER.

We got to the ER around 10:30 pm. Chest X-ray and CT scan were normal, the Flu A swab was negative. Lab work showed low sodium and magnesium which necessitated admission to the hospital. It being 1:30 PM and I had a 30-minute drive home and knowing I could not go to the room with him, I left for home. I called him when I got home. He said he was still in the ER and they had tested him for COVID, but the results were not back yet. He called me back around 4:30 AM and said he was finally in a room, and he had tested positive for COVID. I could not believe it.

Shortening the story some more, my husband was discharged home on Monday, December 21st. That night he had a major coughing spell. I made an appointment for him to be seen by one of his providers on Tuesday, December 22nd. Because of his diagnosis of COVID, he had to go to their special Sick Clinic (COVID clinic). Chest X-ray showed mild patchy groundglass and interstitial opacities in both mid to lower lungs, indicating viral COVID pneumonia. He received a shot of Rocephin and Kenalog, and added Vitamin C and Zinc to his medications (he was already on Vitamin D). I told his provider what symptoms I had and she told me that I had already had COVID. I asked her if I need to be tested, and she said no, that wasn’t necessary at this point.

They sent us home, with with home care instructions and ordered home oxygen. We bought a pulse oximeter to measure his blood oxygen levels. He was given breathing exercises and an incentive spirometer. There were four positions he had to sleep in during the night to avoid the pneumonia settling in.

Tuesday and Wednesday nights were rough.He was so weak he had to either us a walker or walking cane to move around My husband had night sweats and I had to change the bed sheets every day. Thursday night was much better. By Friday, Christmas morning, he was beginning to get stronger, no longer needed the walker, but did use the walking stick on occasions. He still is using oxygen.

Obviously, we were unable to spend Christmas with our family. But we were together and because of the multitude of people praying for my husband’s recovery, he has been able to remain at home where I can take care of him. I truly believe he would not have done as well if he had to go to the hospital and be there by himself. His quarantine ends December 30th. I imagine his recovery back to normal will take many weeks.

In light of our COVID Christmas, we cannot forget the real real reason for Christmas. The birth of Jesus, our Savior of the World. Without faith, I could not have had the strength to endure these past few weeks.

” God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” Psalms 46:1

“Therefore, angels are only servants, spirits sent to care for people will will inherit salvation.” Hebrews 1:24