Wednesday, September 5th
Another beautiful morning...
Understanding DM and Lupus...
The underlying issues are similar in all autoimmune conditions, your immune system attacks some part of your body, causing inflammation which damages that part of your body.
Your immune system is supposed to attack outside invaders, (bacteria, viruses and fungus) with the inflammation as a necessary side effect of destroying the invader. When the invader is gone, your immune system stops the attack. Most of your symptoms are the results of the destruction of the invader (fever, chills, swelling, aching).
When your immune system is attacking your own body by mistake, there is no clear 'off switch' since your body is always there!
And the symptoms: pain, fatigue, etc. are the result of the attack.
WHY our immune system attacks our own bodies is not understood. The only serious medications for autoimmune conditions block the immune response: Plaquenil, Prednisone, and chemotherapy drugs. When your immune system is blocked, of course, you may not fight off outside invaders as well. And the drugs that block your immune system have some pretty powerful side effects.
We don't ask for these conditions, and they aren't all that well understood. The only thing we can do is put our trust in God and our doctors to come up with the medication that will stop the attack and inflammation...
I am so thankful for what I can do...
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Today's Bible Study
Our Thoughts
Read | Philippians 4:8-9
The popular expression “You are what you eat” is an encouragement to give our physical bodies good food. The idea also applies to our mental wellbeing. The mind’s appetite is much like the stomach’s, which becomes accustomed to the diet we provide and craves more of the same. Dwelling on whatever is pure, lovely, and right develops a hunger to receive more of God’s goodness. But if we take in what our culture calls excellent, we develop a taste for that instead.
The world presents some delicious-looking offerings—TV is one example. But mixed in with some fine educational programming is a lot of junk. Certain believers consider it okay to watch a show that violates scriptural values, since it’s “just entertainment.” However, everything our mind ingests shapes our views and values. Allowing incorrect teaching and sinful ideas into our thinking can warp our understanding of right and wrong.
If an idea, action, or activity is not true or honorable—that is, if it violates Scripture in some way—then God is not in it. And if God is absent, then Satan is present. The Enemy’s mission is to draw our focus away from the Lord. Once the Devil has someone’s attention, he’ll keep presenting more tasty-looking “junk food” to keep that individual occupied while leading him farther from the Lord and deeper into depravity.
There’s so much clamoring for our attention—entertainment, philosophies, teachings—and whatever isn’t of the Lord has potential to taint our value system. Believers are wise to use discernment and feast only on the things of God.
Another great day!
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