Biblical Insights Into the Possible Spiritual Root Cause of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
Although Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis are different diseases, they share this one thing in common; they are both Autoimmune Diseases. In the medical community, a great mystery about Autoimmune Disease that they cannot answer is what causes the body’s immune system to deviate and attack its own body parts. The information we are sharing with you today will merge the medical understanding of MS and RA with scriptural insights. This isn’t just a theory. Many people have received these insights at our conferences and retreats, and applied them to their lives, and are now completely healed from MS and RA. We look deeper than just the physiological issue to understand what causes MS and RA from a spiritual standpoint, according to the Word of God.
The Word says that from creation, God created man in His image. He designed us so that when we remain in His image we will thrive and function at our highest possible level. If, however, we follow ways of thinking about ourselves that are not in agreement with God’s ways, there may be an open door to disease in our lives. The enemy wants to separate us from God’s love and to rob us of our identity as sons and daughters of God. When we look at the specific profiles of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Multiple Sclerosis, we see especially how this plan from the enemy may be operating.
To understand who we are, we need to know who God is
The Word is full of descriptions of God’s nature. Galatians 5:22-23 talks about the fruit of His Spirit which is His nature manifest in us:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 KJV
1 Corinthians 13: tells us of His nature of love and what that looks like:
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 KJV
And Psalm 103 describes His compassion, patience, mercy, and nature of forgiveness for us. And that’s only a fraction of what can be found in the Word.
God’s desire is to form us into our identity as His children, in His image, according to His nature. Psalm 139 talks about how thoughtfully and carefully He designed and created each one of us. We’re each designed with a specific personality, characteristics, and our own unique purpose and place that are prepared for us in His family if we will accept it.
Digging into the possible spiritual roots Autoimmune Diseases
There is nothing the enemy would love more than to rob us of our identity and to form us into his image. He’ll try to get us to listen to fear which disarms our faith and prevents us from being able to trust Him completely. So we act fatherless like we have no one who will cover us, and we feel the need to protect ourselves. Another tactic the enemy will use is to try to form bitterness and offense in our hearts this separates us from the love of God and the ability to love ourselves and others.
Another big battlefield is when the enemy makes us believe that we are unlovable. He’ll make us forget that we are accepted in the beloved and treasured by our Heavenly Father. This brings all kinds of torment to us. Then he tells us that we are unacceptable and rejected. He’ll make us believe that, for whatever reason, we will never measure up, and therefore, just don’t fit into the body of Christ.
Separation from the love of God opens the door to disease
The enemy knows that if he can rob us of our identity, then he has the power to bring every manner of disease and torment into our lives. He wants to make us believe that we are separated from the love of our father. Therefore, we cannot accept the position that Father God has given us in His family as an accepted, beloved son or daughter, not for what we do but because of His great, unconditional love for us.
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:7-10 KJV
Recognize the battleground that paves the way for Autoimmune Diseases
In the battle against Autoimmune Diseases, we need to begin to recognize the areas in our lives that the enemy has come to separate us from our identity as children of God and in the image of God. The image of God is His nature in us. God wants to help us line our hearts back up with His. We must choose to begin to accept what He says about us as truth. We also need to tear down the lies of the enemy that have established another way of thinking in our lives.
Autoimmune Diseases are a classic example of diseases that come because we have been robbed of our identity. We’ve been trained by the enemy, often through our generations, to think and believe a certain way about ourselves. This way of thinking tries to negate our value and purpose in the Kingdom of God and causes us to turn against ourselves. This dynamic is often at play as the root issue behind both Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
What causes Rheumatoid Arthritis?
All Autoimmune Disease is a result of the body attacking the body. Physiologically it operates as the immune system flags parts of our own body as the ‘enemy’ and our white corpuscles attacking that part of the body in response.
In Rheumatoid Arthritis, the white corpuscles are attacking the connective tissue of the joints. This is a skeletal issue. Our skeleton is directly affected by issues of our identity.
A person with Rheumatoid Arthritis is possibly dealing with an issue of self against self. Perhaps they struggle with accepting themselves for who God created them to be and maybe they fall into the trap of comparing themselves to others as a result.
We were not created or called to be anyone other than ourselves. Each person needs to settle in their own hearts that they are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God, not of someone else. God does not make accidents. Some people don’t just fly below the radar and, “oh wups!” here they are without a purpose or value. No, each person was thoughtfully designed and created with specific characteristics that make them uniquely suited for the purpose they were created for.
The problem is that, perhaps from childhood or from their generations, the enemy has been working to separate them from that purpose and to belittle their value in the world. He might use the words of others and life circumstances to cement this way of thinking.
The main possible spiritual roots of Rheumatoid Arthritis
In Rheumatoid Arthritis, the enemy can use comparison and self-accusation to change a person’s identity and cause self-image issues. They may struggle with an unhealthy fixation on physical appearance or performance. The person cannot accept themselves for who they are, where they’re at, or how they appear.
When their body begins to be trained by the chemical response to this pattern of thought, a spirit of infirmity may joins them to say, “Hey, the enemy is not this virus or invading organism, it’s actually my own skeleton, my own joints!” As a result, the very thing the person struggles with most, their appearance, becomes gnarled and deformed.
Beginning the healing process from Rheumatoid Arthritis
Freedom comes when a person returns to Father God and seeks His heart and His perspective about who they are. When they can accept and trust that they were specially and specifically designed to be a unique and valuable part of creation and of the body of Christ, their body quits fighting itself.
Overcoming is a choice. It’s choosing to believe God’s Word over the enemy’s lies. It’s also a process. These ways of thinking may be so familiar and normal that, often, it’s hard to even recognize them. That’s where God can meet us. We can ask Him to show us the hidden things in our heart and to restore those broken places so that we can be returned to what He created us to be.
Where does our value come from?
We need to find our value and our worth, not in appearances, not in performance, not in what other people think about us, but in the simple fact that we are children of God. He is the only place that we can go to truly find our identity because only He knows exactly who He designed us to be.
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. Psalm 139: 13-18 KJV
What causes Multiple Sclerosis?
Multiple Sclerosis also involves a self vs. self dynamic. Only, in this case, the immune system is attacking the myelin sheath of the nerves. It begins to eat away at the protective covering of the nerves and at first, it may only intercept a nerve signal, but as it continues to deteriorate, the nerve signal may get cut off altogether causing impairment or debilitation of body functions.
The difference between the root issues behind RA and MS
Spiritually, the difference between Rheumatoid Arthritis and Multiple Sclerosis is this: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an issue of a person having conflict with themselves and their identity. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is rooted in a person who has completely written off or rejected themselves and their identity. The enemy has led them to a place of self-hatred that is causing their body to try to destroy its self and its ability to function.
The questions that are in jeopardy in this person’s identity are: Who am I? Why am I here? And Who cares?
Understanding the battleground around MS
The enemy may have come into this person’s life through self-accusation to convince them that they have absolutely no worth, no importance and no purpose on this earth. They may even believe that they were a mistake, a failure, or should never have been born.
They often struggle with believing that they were created for a purpose and that they have a place just as important as the person next to them. This comes down to a choice. Who are they going to believe? Can they recognize how the enemy has lied to them and reject those lies? Can they search out God’s heart for them and choose to believe His Word and what He says about them?
Accusation is not only trying to destroy the person but to separate them from the love and relationship with Father God. It will accuse Him and say that He made a mistake in creating them. The key to healing is lining up what they believe about themselves and speak about themselves with what God thinks about them, not the enemy.
God is full of mercy and ready to help us overcome
The Word says that God does not hold our sins or failures over our heads but removes them as far as the East is from the West.
For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:11-12 KJV
It says that He has mercy and compassion and patience for us and does not reward us according to our iniquity. He knows that we are only humans, made of dust, and does not expect perfection from us.
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Psalm 103:8-10 KJV
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. Psalm 103:13-14 KJV
Learning how to see yourself from God’s perspective will bring healing
If that’s the case, who’s holding the measuring stick? Who’s telling us that we are not good enough, not acceptable, and not lovable? The Word also says that man looks after the outward appearance – that would be performance and physical appearance- but God looks at the heart. If that’s what He looks at, we need to place our own invested interest in our heart as well. We need to learn to treasure our heart the way He does. He sees those broken, hurting places in our hearts and has love and compassion for us. He also has solutions to pull us back to Himself and heal and recover us.
Did you know that we can have that compassion for ourselves as well? If we are to be like our Father, that’s exactly what we need to do. If that’s a struggle for us, we can ask Him to help us see ourselves the way He sees us. His perspective may be so different from what we are familiar with but His vision, His love, and patience for us will be the key that opens the doors to our freedom and healing. It’s time to reprogram our brains with a superior script, the one that comes from the living Word of God!
Blessings,
The Be in Health Team
Would you like to learn more about how to overcome Autoimmune Diseases? Watch The Real Solutions for Autoimmune Disease Seminar Here:
Be in Health offers a full, one-day seminar, “Real Solutions to Autoimmune Disease.” In this teaching, Pastors John and Adrienne Shales dive into the biological, physiological and spiritual causes and dynamics of Autoimmune Diseases. They help you to understand, not only what is going on physically and spiritually, but also how to overcome this type of disease in your life. God has real solutions for your life, will you join Him on the journey to health and wholeness in Him?
Also, be sure to check out our Overcoming Autoimmune Disease resource page. It’s one spot containing everything we offer regarding Autoimmune Diseases.
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