The Bible says that we have a physical body and a spiritual body, and that both are connected; one affecting the other. When our physical body goes through the effects of starvation then it must be the same for our spiritual body when it is starved. So I studied out what happens when a physical body is denied food (starvation) and have listed the effects, along with a spiritual meaning when the spiritual body has gone without its food: the Word of God. Then we can see why the body of the Lord’s church is sickly, sleeping and suffering from malnutrition. More important, we need to judge ourselves, each of us asking the Lord to heal us as we begin to seriously read and apply the Word of God, line upon line, precept upon precept – until we are strong and effective as the Lord’s people, the children of the living God.
Here are the effects when the physical body is starved along with the effects when the spiritual body is starved:
Physical: organs begin to shrink and lose their function. Spiritual: vital gifts of the Holy Spirit lose their function; shrinking faith.
Physical: diarrhea. Spiritual: cannot retain liquid; dehydration of the spirit.
Physical: anemia; weariness, tiredness. Spiritual: sleepy; reluctant to be active; no desire to see or experience more; no perseverance.
Physical: size reduction. Spiritual: body shrinks in size.
Physical: lower body temperature. Spiritual: lukewarm church body; body grows cold; dead in faith.
Physical: unable to digest food. Spiritual: cannot digest the meat of God’s Word; immaturity.
Physical: lack of concentration. Spiritual: unable to think deeply/deep thoughts; short memory; bad judgment – lacks wisdom.
Physical: immune deficient. Spiritual: cannot recognize or refute false teaching; gives in and accepts toxic lies.
Physical: swelling. Spiritual: pride; self-righteousness; self-centered.
Physical: no sex drive. Spiritual: unproductive; no personal fruit; no seed going out – the Gospel does not spread.
Complete starvation:
In adults, it leads to death within 8 to 12 weeks. In the final stages of starvation, adult humans experience a variety of neurological and psychiatric symptoms, including hallucinations and convulsions, as well as severe muscle pain and disturbances in heart rhythm. (The spiritual neurological and psychiatric symptoms: disorder, discord, disunity of the body. Spiritual hallucinations: deceiving counterfeit spirits in control; seeing visions and revelation that are not from God. Spiritual convulsions: uncontrollable actions; out of order, programs/activities/works of the flesh, not of The Lord. Spiritual disturbance of heart rhythm: the heart of the person or the church – does not beat with God’s heart; therefore the body is not in step with the Holy Spirit. Spiritual death: fallen behind; shut down; overtaken; devoured.)
Treatment:
If the degree of malnutrition is severe, the intestines may not tolerate a fully balanced diet. They may, in fact, not be able to absorb adequate nutrition at all. Carefully prepared elemental diets or intravenous feeding must begin the treatment. The treatment back to health is long and first begins with liquids. Gradually, solid foods are introduced. (The spiritual liquid: drinking from the spring of living water; remembering The Lord who bought you with His own blood. Spiritual solid foods: teaching of righteousness, godliness being lived out, and becoming influential and effective. The spiritual recovery is long: progressive day by day self-discipline in obedience to God’s way. Becoming an overcomer with perseverance of faith.)
Prognosis:
People can recover from severe degrees of starvation to a normal stature and function. Children, however, may suffer from permanent mental retardation or growth defects if their deprivation was long and extreme. (Spiritually: our sin and rebellion affects others; especially our children, the next generation. What will we, as parents, pass on to our children?)
Maybe this is why we/Christ’s church are not very effective today. We have accepted the lies of the world. We have become too weak to fight back, and have laid down – to just accept what we know is a lie. The wisdom and power of God needs to return to the body of Christ, so that we can complete what is ours to do – in our generation. If we don’t do it – it won’t get done!