 long-acting β2-agonists (LABA) delivered in a single inhaler for maintenance and relief at Steps 3 (moderate persistent asthma requiring 1–2 controllers plus as-needed reliever), 4 (severe persistent asthma requiring ≥2 controllers plus as-needed reliever), and 5 (higher level care and/or add-on treatment). Areas covered: Randomized controlled trials and real-world evidence demonstrate that flexibly dosed budesonide/formoterol for maintenance and relief (Symbicort® Maintenance And Reliever Therapy [SMART]) is associated with reductions in severe exacerbations, prolongs time to first exacerbation, and provides fast symptom relief. Expert commentary: SMART provides greater or equal levels of sustained asthma control than similar or higher fixed doses of ICS/LABA plus short-acting β2-agonist (SABA) as needed or higher ICS plus SABA as needed, with lower overall ICS doses and cost. The simplified dosing strategy may improve adherence and overall asthma control but relies on patient education. Budesonide/formoterol as needed in mild asthma (patients qualifying for regular low-dose ICS) is currently under investigation in two double-blind randomized studies, SYGMA1/2 (NCT02149199/NCT02224157), comparing budesonide/formoterol as needed with budesonide plus SABA and SABA alone.Years ago as a young man in Hong Kong, I would often find myself with friends at a restaurant whose menu options were way out of my price range. My "faith based" missions income just couldn't compete with the expat salary packages many of my friends lived on. So as I sat there fumbling to make conversation, all I could really think was how much I couldn't afford to eat here, my own financial shortcomings, and tradeoffs in my mind that reasoned if I had a meal here today I would only eat noodles for the next 3.
Then suddenly a friend, perhaps sensing my dilemma, would say something like, "Order anything you like Steve, the meal's on me today."
Suddenly, everything changed.
One little phrase, and then I could enjoy my meal. I could now appreciate the fact that I was in a fine dining restaurant with exquisite interior and cuisine rather that a neon lit McDonalds with a Big Mac meal resting on a plastic tray. The focus was no longer on what I didn't have, but on what another person's grace had allowed me to enjoy.
I find many (if not most) Christians are in the same place spiritually. How many of us has the enemy convinced that they are not holy enough, good enough, or righteous enough for God to use. Jesus says, "I've consecrated you, and made you clean" and through our actions we say back to him, "Ah, no you didn't" We are crippled by our inability to afford the menu prices when Christ has already pulled the check to his side of the table.
God wants us to enjoy our position as His children. The Grace of God is more than just a "forgiveness of sins". It allows us to perceive reality differently. The focus is no longer on what I don't have have but on what Christ has! Paul says in the book of Romans: don't act differently, and then get to be an heir. Because we are an heir...we act differently!
So, relax...enjoy the meal, the bill has already been paid!
6 comments:
wonderful!
I am enjoying the meal! Good stuff Steve.
I have heard many people explain grace in many ways, I must say this is such a refreshing take on the finished works! Not only did Jesus pull the bill to His side of the table, our Dad actually owns the restaurant! When you are part of the family, you eat for free! Our money, our self-efforts are not accepted as payment! Thank you Jesus for finishing the works for us!
Awesome message Steve!
Cornel
Thanks everyone and welcome Cornel; I appreciate your encouragement!
Man I needed to hear (read) this today. Thanks.
Man, that's good stuff, Steve. It's wonderful to recieve the revelation that we don't have to earn anything to move out into Christ's life. That the clear conscience to boldly come to the throne is paid for by our Savior.
A sister revelation to this is that it's not grace to sin without penalty, but to do walk as Jesus walked. One of my sensitivities is about the tendency of 'raping grace' with the belief that we are always going to sin and be sinners in some way and that its only grace that allows us to continue on. Its a deception because God's grace is the power to not sin and to walk sinless for the remainder of our lives in Jesus. It's the power of Christ's life lived in us. It's His life that is eternal, not ours. As we cease to live ours, and allow His to live in us: it is that which is eternal, not our old life whitewashed "by His blood." That is a misconception and surprisingly prevalent in the church. Like 'The Message Bible' in John 3:16 telling people that if they believe in Him that they will have a "long and lasting life." How subtle! How scary! It's not "a" life. It THE life. The one and only eternal life!
Grace is all about Him, with us and our life finally being out of the way.
I look forward to your next installment!Prime Time invites, CEO of Phillip Futures, Teyu Che in the studio. He has held a steady hand over the brokerage firm since 2006, despite the changing landscape in the futures and forex trading market, and amid the ups and downs in the overall marketplace. And last month, he was just awarded ‘CEO of the Year’, at the F.O.W. and Global Investor Asia Capital Markets Awards.There are few songs more quintessentially ’80s than Norwegian band A-ha’s “Take On Me.” It’s a synth-heavy power ballad accompanied by a high-concept music video, checking all the boxes that defined the pop music of the decade. When choosing the song for their cover, Brooklyn-based band Lake Street Dive ditched the decidedly ’80s feel of the song, infusing the song with a funky latin groove, elements of blue-eyed soul, and a fantastic trumpet solo. The result is one of our favorite covers of the season.
Lake Street Dive’s album Side Pony is available now on Nonesuch Records, and you can check out their tour dates here. Watch our interview with the band below.This was a fast costume I made the week before Comic Con. It’s been on my list forever as I’ve been an Elfquest fan since high school. I actually started out making Venka’s outfit from when she was growing up, but found that it looked rather odd on me so I switched costumes at the last minute to one later in the timeline. The addition of the bolero coat made the whole ensemble looked much better on me.
I got recognized by four people while walking around which totally made my day and I went to see Wendy and Richard Pini who were totally awesome.
First Worn: San Diego Comic Con 2008Question: Can A Person Be Unconscious With Their Eyes Open?
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Vevo is out with a sizable update to its iOS app, one that should have users streaming up a storm.
Version 3.0, landing in the US, Australia, UK and other regions, is brighter and more vivacious than previous versions. Vevo even stripped the old typography and icons from the application, making for a more refined experience on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
The menu button is now in a more accessible locale, and a new real-time Feed and souped-up Browse section are designed to making discovering new videos a breeze. Search is also seeing a refresh come its way, and users will likely appreciate the more relevant artist and video recommendations Vevo plans to surface.
Keeping on the video-viewing roll, Vevo has birthed a new mini-player to "keep videos in heavy rotation." Swiping down a video lets users continue using the app while floating more videos on the top. New "action buttons," visible throughout the app, will help users add videos to their playlists, share and jump into other functions as well.
One of the application's neater new functions is iTunes scanning. Vevo will peak at your iTunes music library and make video suggestions based on what it finds.
Playlists are also getting a little love as now users can watch them in shuffle mode, duplicate and copy Vevo's custom playlists to their accounts.
Finally, users in the US and Canada will find a new and improved Vevo TV experience; it's been broken down into three channels called HITS, FLOW and NASHVILLE (a.k.a. pop, rap/R&B and country). Swiping will wipe the channel and bring you to a new one.
Users outside those countries are stuck with Vevo TV's international channel offering.
Sounds like this app would look mighty fine on the iPad Air.The Spectrograph and Hubble's other instruments have been in trouble for nearly a month, thanks to problems with the'scope's Control Unit and the synchronization messages it generates to operate Hubble's instruments.