1. They went out and preached that people should repent.

2. They drove out many demons.

3. They anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

It is very significant that the disciples focused foremost on the spiritual health of humanity. This is evident by their preaching of repentance in people’s lives. In each of the six towns, I believe the people’s spiritual health was foremost on their minds when Jesus sent them out as missionaries. The disciples emphasized that people need to turn away from their sin and to God. They were there to preach the Kingdom of God.

Their emphasis on caring for people’s spiritual health is also evident in them driving out many demons. I recall when Jesus called His disciples, sent them two-by-two, He also gave them authority specifically over evil spirits. Jesus knew they would encounter people with evil spirits that were affecting those people’s spiritual health. The disciples did drive out many demons.

However, after addressing people’s spiritual health, they did not stop there. They were not just sent to help people with their spiritual well being but also for their physical health and emotional/mental well being. This is evident by their willingness to anoint people with oil and heal them.

Interestingly, caring for a person’s physical health, etc was secondary over caring for people’s spiritual health. This showed me how important Jesus sees a person’s spiritual health to be. Jesus wants people’s spiritual health to be in good condition but does not want His disciples to forget about their physical, emotional, and mental health too.

Many times people being healed of their physical infirmities improve their spiritual health! It is because they are healed they are more open to listen to those who bring healing even if they are talking about spiritual matters. The bottom line is how much Jesus cares for the world’s spiritual health than anything.

Implications:
Being infected with a virus that is so deadly gave me no way out. It even started to affect my physical well-being. It was eating me on the inside. No earthly doctors who care for the physical health of people could heal me of this disease. There have been days it caused havoc in my life. I could have died with this virus still inside of me. I needed a transfusion badly that will wipe out the virus. I could receive the transfusion but a price had to be paid for that transfusion.

Usually, doctors charge us to heal us physically. But, in my case no amount of money could restore my health and my days were ticking away until one day death would come.

I was told of a doctor who specialized in helping people overcome this deadly infection of a disease but that doctor alone had the antidote and was seeking me even before I sought Him. I did not want this disease to completely take over me and was desperate for an antidote.

That doctor had the antidote inside of him and it was the same color as my blood. For me to receive it meant, He would have to give up all his blood in the transfusion, so the deadly virus can be wiped away being covered by his blood in the transfusion. This would allow the corrupted blood of mine because of the infection, to be covered over by the doctor’s cleansing blood that washes away the deadly virus inside of me.

The price was too much to pay but the doctor was willing to pay it for He sought me even before I sought Him.

Am I that valuable and important that a doctor was willing to go through a transfusion that would have given him so much excruciating pain?

In a blood transfusion, a doctor is involved; a donor is involved; the person accepting the transfusion, an intravenous needle, a tube, a bed, and the blood are used.

Not in this case though because an intravenous-needle and tube would not have accomplished the mission.

Instead, three nails and a hammer were used! Being on the bed would not accomplish the mission. Instead, the doctor had to be on the cross. Now, the transfusion was ready to begin as the blood flowed because of the three nails pounded into the body to suck out all the blood from the donor so the one who accepts the blood can receive the transfusion and completely be healed.

After what the doctor went through for me and provided the antidote, how could I refuse the transfusion and continue to live with this deadly disease! He made a way out for me. I did accept the transfusion offered to by the doctor.

To this day, I am covered by the blood of the doctor that wiped away the deadly virus inside of me. His blood has cleansed me of this deadly virus as I have turned to him and received what he has done for me. Because of the sacrifice of the doctor, I was given new life and have new life.

I am talking about Jesus Christ being my Great Physician. He went to the cross to give me the antidote for my deadly infectious virus known as sin. His cleansing precious pure blood shed on the cross became my antidote to wash away and wipe away this deadly virus from my body. Jesus took the initiative to be my Great Physician and heal me. Jesus did not force me to accept the antidote but how could I refuse after what Jesus went through for me. Jesus went to the cross and went through excruciating pain so I could be in good spiritual health when I turn to Him. I have friend. You can too friend! Jesus paid the price for our sin, was buried, and came back to life on the 3rd day to save. That is exciting and awesome to know!

I ask you now dear friend, how is your spiritual health this New Year of 2009?
Dear friend, I do not know how your spiritual health is but Jesus does. This I do know that my spiritual health is in the hands of the Lord Jesus now. I am saved and bought by His grace. It is not anything I have done but for the grace of the Lord.

I do struggle with sins such as pride, self-centeredness, perfectionism (I usually don't try something unless I know I will get it perfect), anger, bitterness, resentment, unforgiving spirit, etc many many times.

If it were not for the cross of Christ, I would be trapped in those sins forever BUT the confidence I have is in Jesus Christ that He who began a good work in me will finish it to completion.

In other words, I struggle with sin but I thank Jesus that He came to save me and restore my spiritual health while I was yet a sinner. God took the initiative to save me because He loves me so much. God took the initiative to send the disciples two-by-two as missionaries because He loves the people who are lost in darkness.

My spiritual healing started with Jesus and one day I will be as He wants me to be. But for that to even happen, I need to look to Jesus the Author and Finisher of my faith. I need to fix my eyes on Jesus and allow Him to work in my life each day through my weaknesses.

Friend, you know the weaknesses you struggle with. You know where you are at right now and may be feeling unworthy of the Lord, worthless before the Lord, etc. And if you are, you are in the right place. Yes, friend, when we feel worthless and unworthy that is when we can really understand the magnitude of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is in our weakness, He shows us His strength and His abundant grace. So, your spiritual health could be in shambles but it does not have to stay there. You do not have to be all good to come to Jesus for none of us can do that. If you wait until everything in your life is perfect to come to Jesus, then you are actually trying to BUY GOD'S GRACE.

God's saving grace and living grace are not for sale. They are a free gift of His love for you and me. That means in our worst situations and worst sins, He still reaches us because of what He already did on the cross by His shed Blood. His blood was shed for your past, present, and future sins because He loves you as you are.

He wants to change you and transform you because you and I cannot do it on our own no matter how many times we try.

I have always felt that my calling has been to be a missionary to the University of Pittsburgh campus even to this day. I also hope that one day the Lord Jesus will open a door for me once again so I can do ministry through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship-USA.

But you know what though?

I am trying so hard to do the right things and have things perfect before I go to IVCF-Staff leaders to be reinstated in ministry but am realizing if I want to become perfect in every area of my life that I see as a weakness then I AM LEANING ON MY OWN UNDERSTANDING instead of TRUSTING IN THE LORD COMPLETELY to work in those areas.

I did not want to do IVCF fulltime ministry until I accomplished certain things in my life that reflected in my overall spiritual health. But, I got a dream last night and when I woke up this is what I remembered.  I was so happy and felt freed.

"Ramesh, you are waiting to become perfect in the areas you see as your  weaknesses while serving  at Oakland International Fellowship, even before you think about stepping foot in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship again. With that thinking you will be stuck because the emphasis is on YOURSELF. Instead, you should be allowing the Lord Jesus to work in you and through you. You should not be afraid to go back to InterVarsity Christian Fellowship . It is the Lord's doing and not yours if you are reinstated"

When we focus on ourselves we lose freedom but in Christ there is so much freedom. When we realize there is nothing we can do or say on our own but it is the Lord's doing that blesses us and gives us grace, there is freedom and spiritual health.

Friend, I share my weaknesses and experiences with you to let you know your SPIRITUAL HEALTH can only be vital in Jesus Christ. He alone is the answer to the extreme hunger of our soul and the extreme hope for our lives. BTW, 1/2 that phrase was taken from an IVCF-PITT event happening today and tomorrow in the William Pitt Union. That event focuses on physical hunger and spiritual hunger and where we can find the Answer.

Jesus wants to be your Great Physician and cares for your spiritual health so much. You may think you do not need his help but we all do friend! This virus did not just infect me. It is so contagious that it infected the entire human race. Yes, friend the entire human race. But, when Jesus became the sacrificial Lamb, it was to provide the antidote to all who would get a transfusion of change from this deadly infection. Jesus loves you so much that He shed His blood for you, taking the pain on the cross so His cleansing blood can flow to bring healing.

Don’t you want that friend?
None of us know when we will die. I would rather die knowing this deadly infection known as sin has not taken over my life than die knowing I will die infected. There is a quarantine for people infected with viruses so others are not infected. It is the same way with sin.

People who die infected with sin will be placed in quarantine forever but the difference is that quarantine room is forever heated to infinite degrees of heat. Once you are there, you can never come out that room. It is a place called Hell.

Let me tell you why?
If you die infected, that infection cannot be allowed to spread to those who already received the antidote through the transfusion. So, the room you will be in will forever be sealed and there will be weeping, gnashing of teeth, and sorrow where the fire is never quenched. You would even wonder why the antidote was not taken when it was offered you! Nothing in this world is more important than receiving the antidote Christ prepared for you, for your transfusion of change so you do not have to enter this room known as Hell.

Once you die you will not have opportunity to receive the antidote anymore. That is why Jesus came to earth as God-incarnate to provide the antidote so people can receive it before they die. He paid with His blood for you and me.

God in His Holiness cannot allow sin to enter His presence and to the place where people who have been covered by the antidote are! This is because Heaven is a pure room that is endless and for only those whose infection was washed away by the blood of Jesus while they were still on earth before they died.

I have and won’t you?

What is keeping you from receiving the antidote Jesus has provided if you have not received it yet?

Are they questions about the purity of the antidote and the validity of the antidote?

One thing I can tell you is that Jesus healed me spiritually and restored by spiritual health when I came to Him but He also healed me physically of my severe asthma when I gave my life to Him. He helps me grow daily and nothing is worth more than knowing Jesus as our Lord and Personal Savior.

When we seek Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength everything else will fall into place whether it being a career, academics, relationships, etc. This is not to say that our life will always be peachy because my life has not always been peachy. There have been times of painful sorrow such as when my beloved dad went into cardiac arrest and 70 days later went to be with Jesus Christ. My dad had accepted the antidote Jesus provided.

"The purpose of his illness is not death but for the glory of the Lord!"

How true that promise became in our lives too because my dad did not die a spiritual death. Spiritually, he went to be with the Lord after accepting Christ. Through the sorrow and pain, the Lord Jesus has strengthened our family and continues to strengthen our family!

I do not know where you are friend in your spiritual health but you can have Jesus in your life and have renewed health. No matter what you have done or where you have been, Jesus died for you. Yes, He did friend!

Now is the time of Salvation! Don’t wait for another day but give your life to Jesus now and receive the transfusion of change. He will give it you friend! He loves you so much that you are never out of His love and never out of His reach!

If something good happens to you, don’t you want to share it with others! I know I want to so I am sharing Jesus with you about His power to bring change into your life. He loves you so much and knows all your hurts that sin has caused.

This song was written years ago as I sought the Lord to let people experience the love of the Great Physician to heal them in their lives. It is called ‘Healer of the Hurts’ and was written as if Jesus were speaking to the one reading or listening with a bit of slight revision.

Healer of the Hurts
By Ramesh C. Reddy

My child, I see the hurt in your eyes.
My child, I hear the hurt in your voice.

My child I love you, I want to say.
My child, I will hold you, I want to pay

My child, your sin is too deep.
But I want to make you leap
My child, it hurts to see you in sin and weep.

My child, into my Hands, let your sin and hurt die
My child, come to me, come to me, and see why.

For you, I hurt my hands and feet.
For you, I was bruised and beat.
For you, I took the heat

For you I absorbed sins flood.
For you, I shed my Blood

My Blood is for YOU!
My Love is for YOU!
Whatever you do

Come to me Oh child.
I am gentle and mild.

I want to be your Savior and Lord!
I want to give you Heaven’s access card

Oh how much, I love You!
Oh how much, I love You!
Oh how much, I love You!

I see the pain and the hurt.
I hear the cries on Earth
I feel the tears on the dirt.
 I want to say, you can have new birth

I love you, I want to say.
I will hold you, I want to pay
Your hurt maybe too deep.
But I want to make you leap
It hurts me to see you weep.

My child, come to my Hands
I will make you dance!

Amen!

May you know wonderful spiritual health enters as Lord’s Truth heals! Amen!

“Health Enters As Lord’s Truth Heals!” (H.E.A.L.T.H)/”How is your spiritual health this New Year of 2009?”

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you so much for caring for our spiritual health. But, you do not stop there for you also care for our physical, mental, and emotional health. Right now I want to thank you for the spiritual health you give us. You are our Great Physician and the best ‘Doctor of the Soul’. We need to learn from you Jesus. Thank you for dying for our sin and shedding your blood on the cross for us to set us free when we come to thee. Oh Lord, thank you for loving us so much and help us to help others and share the transfusion you have helped us receive so others can be helped too! Thank you for all you have done for us! You are our Humble King who gave your life for us. Thank you for coming back to life to save us. Thank you for the nails you took into your body for our sake. I nailed you there and am sorry Lord. You alone could provide my antidote for the virus and you did. Thanks again Jesus. We entrust our lives in your care and ask you to please take care of us. Thank you so much Jesus! We acknowledge you as our Lord and Personal Savior! Thank you for hearing us and answering us! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!