What causes starvation? In physical terms, we see climate change, pesticide- resistant disease, invasive pests, war, government corruption, inequities and predatory practices in globalization as the causes for food shortages around the world. In the most general sense; however, starvation is basically a function of 3 conditions:
1. Insufficient food,
2. Insufficient calories, or
3. Insufficient nutrients.
Insufficient food occurs usually in cases of drought or famine. A drought dries up the water. Disease and/or war wipe out crops and livestock. There’s nothing to eat, nothing from which to grow something to eat, nothing on which to raise animals to become or produce something to eat, and nothing to sell in order to buy something to eat. The people starve.
Only Jesus can give us living water. The living water is the Holy Spirit which we receive as the seal of our salvation. 2 Corinthians 1: 22 tells us that Jesus…has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Without a relationship with Jesus, you’re in a spiritual drought.
2 Corinthians 9: 10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;
Without a relationship with Jesus, you have no food, no means of raising food and no means of producing food. Without a relationship with Jesus you will find yourself spiritually starving because you have insufficient food for your soul. Your life may be full of activity, affiliations, associates, and accolades; but without Jesus you have no real food to nourish your spirit.
On the other hand, you may be saved. You may actually have a personal relationship with Jesus, and yet you may still be starving because you've failed to ingest enough spiritual calories for the life you are called to live.
Calories are energy and if you live an active life you need a lot of energy. If you are actively pursuing the command to live a holy life, if you are actively participating in ministry, if you are actively engaged in fighting of the temptations to sin and the enticements to compromise that bombard you, then you need a lot of spiritual calories.
These calories come from drinking deeply of the living water of the Holy Spirit by spending time in prayer and meditation. These calories come from feeding on the bread of life that is Jesus, the Word made flesh, by developing your relationship with Him. Spiritual calories come from feasting on the meat that is the will of the Father by witnessing, loving, forgiving, and being obedient to all that you know of God’s will.
So if you find yourself struggling in spiritual and moral areas that you thought you had mastered, it may be because you have been weakened by not taking in enough spiritual calories. When your witness begins to lag in power and boldness, you need to take in more spiritual calories. When your ministry begins to drag, take in more spiritual calories. When the devil’s attacks increase in intensity and you must respond with increased spiritual strength, make sure that you have bulked up on prayer, Bible study, private time with the Lord, and obedience to the Father. Otherwise, the demands of your spiritually active lifestyle will deplete your energy and you will find yourself suffering from the ravages of spiritual starvation.
The third general condition that leads to spiritual starvation is insufficient nutrition. This occurs when there is plenty of food, but the type or variety of the offerings does not provide all of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that the spiritual body needs.
One of the most essential nutrients is calcium, the main nutrient in milk. Along with many other problems, calcium deficiency causes weak bones. A weakened skeleton cannot sustain muscles that may be otherwise strong. A weakened skeleton cannot protect and support organs that might themselves be functional.
A deficiency in the spiritual milk of the Word, a lack of corporate and personal Bible study will weaken the very foundation of a spiritual body. When a person or a church neglects the Word or fails to explore and hold to its truths, even if everything else is in place, the work of the spiritual body will suffer and nothing else will perform as it should. Although surrounded by other spiritual food, a Bible-lacking life will begin to show the signs of spiritual starvation.
If you are saved, if you do love the Lord, if you do try to live a holy life, and yet you still suffer the symptoms of spiritual starvation, when's the last time you read your Bible?
Not just at Sunday School, not just during the scripture reading at church.
When and how often have you given dedicated time to searching the scriptures, wrestling with the words of the Word, and studying to show yourself approved. There is a reason you feel spiritually undernourished.
Examine yourself. Examine your ministry. Do you see in your live any of the elements that might cause spiritual starvation? If so, make the necessary adjustments now. There is no need for any of us to die inside from spiritual starvation.
2 Peter 3: 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
John 3: 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
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