LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
School of Divinity
Written Assignment
Spiritual Formation and Discipleship
Submitted to Dr. Gary Waller
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSMN 500 -C02
Discipleship Ministries
by
Pamela C. Jones
October 3, 2021
Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………1
Spiritual Formation and Discipleship.……………………………………………2
Three areas of Spiritual Growth………………………………………………….3
How does Walking in and Under the Control of the Holy Spirit impact our Spiritual
Development……………………………………….…………………………….4
Discipline opportunities…………………………………………….……………5-6
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….7
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………8
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Introduction
Spiritual Formation and discipleship are essential attributes of a true disciple of Jesus
Christ. It is an honor and privilege to be a blood washed believer and true Christian. It is also a
humbling experience to know you are chosen by God. Jesus said you did not choose me I have
chosen you and ordain you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should
remain” (John 15:16) Transitioning the road of discipleship and not seeing and seeking change is
dangerous. The process of growth and development in discipleship and spiritual formation are
compliments to each other. Discipleship is being cognitive of the process of becoming a mature
disciple as Jesus taught in Matthew 28:19. Whereas Spiritual formation is a process of being
discipled and being filled with the Holy Spirit and having the fruit of the spirit matured in one’s
own life. My position is being a disciple is having the ability, authorized authority and
willingness to go out and make more disciples according to “Great Commission”.
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Spiritual Formation and Discipleship
Spiritual Formation and Discipleship according to Earley and Dempsey Spiritual
formation is “an ongoing, gradual process of glorious transformation into the image of Jesus by
the Spirit of God that is available to every believer as a result of honestly and intentionally
seeking the face of God”. [CITATION Dem18 \l 1033 ] The process of spiritual formation is not
a one-day journey, but a lifetime process. It is said that if the body is sick then the soul may need
some healing and revitalization as well. This spiritual formation is a personal choice. It cannot be
entered into unadvisedly. It is the individual’s personal choice to grow. Simply put “Spiritual
Formation is a process of being changed to be more like Jesus” [ CITATION Dem18 \l 1033 ]. As
one matures in his or her discipleship walk the love of God and others will be evident. Spiritual
formation is not spiritual formation without being filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the
disciple before he left the earth that the comforter was going to come, and he will speak of him
and remind them of the things Jesus taught. [CITATION New82 \l 1033 ] In Acts 2:1-4 the Holy
Spirit did come and filled all that were in the house as Jesus had promised.
Discipleship according to Earley and Dempsey “Disciples of Jesus Christ are Sacrificial
(made decision to submit to God), relational (he or she understands that love is the hallmark of
followers of Christ), and they are Transformational (he or she understands that the purpose of
spiritual growth is directed towards becoming like Christ in word, thought, attitude, and action)”.
[ CITATION Dav13 \l 1033 ] Moreover, being a follower of Jesus Christ is a life commitment
and it has great rewards. Author Earley explained that some students ask what is God’s will for
my life? He responds “it is twofold: “Be a Disciple and Make Disciples! The greatest job we
have is in Matthew 28:19 when Jesus calls upon people to follow him and be His follower and in
turn make more followers or disciples. It is important that disciple don’t forget to assemble
themselves together to draw strength. We must have a balance and a personal relationship with
God that will allow intimacy with Him for His Glory to be unveiled in us.
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Three areas of Spiritual Growth
Spiritual Maturity, Spiritual Growth and Spiritual Formation are all related and the three
areas we will discuss will help us grow to be more like God. The three areas we are looking at in
this section are “upward which is a love for God”. The next area is “Inward love for one
another”. Finally, the love of your neighbor is the “outward” Rod Dempsey stated in his
YouTube teaching “being leads to doing”. Everything we do should bring Glory and Honor to
God. (1 Cor 2:21)
The “upward” is the Loving of God. We know that the greatest commandment is to Love
the Lord God with all your heart, soul and mind. This is obtainable when we have a disciple and
heart for God. We develop this discipline by spending quality time with our creator by daily
reading of the Word of God. Meditate on the word during the day and night. David stated, “Lord
thy word have I hide in my heart that I may not sin against You.” This is required, but not always
easy. The way of a transgressor is hard, but a humbled child will taste the grace. I will choose
the former. Moreover, I prefer not to be in danger of loosing the presence of the Lord in my life.
John tells the church of Ephesus he had something against them and that was “you have left your
first love”. (Rev 2:4)
The next direction we must direct our love is inward. This inward move is the love that
we have for one another and nurturing relationships. This is my commandment that you will
love one another that your joy may be full. (John 11-14) I believe not loving causes sadness and
emptiness. Loving others as Jesus did is our goal. God loved us so He gave us Jesus. Jesus made
the ultimate sacrifice to lay down his life for us. We may not have to die on the cross, but we do
die daily from the old nature. We become alive with the newness that Jesus gave us through his
finished works on the cross. This new nature allows us to see things as Jesus. We love others and
take time to share our spiritual fruits with them. We share by taking time to listen, intercede for
another in prayer and fast for their deliverance. Maya Angelo said, “I’ve learned that people will
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forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made
them feel”. I find this to be absolute. We are in the people business. God has given authority to
Jesus and Jesus has in turn given the authority to us to go and do the Great Commission”.
The last area of growth we will discuss is the outward. We are usually ok with Loving
God our creator. We don’t usually have issues with loving each other especially the people in our
immediate circle. The task of outward is loving and reaching the lost. Love your neighbor as
yourself. The neighbor that we think is unlovable is the one Jesus commissioned us to go after.
Just as Jesus told Nicodemus today salvation come to your house. We should be going to places
to reach the lost. The highways and byways to compel men and women to come. When they
come, we should “Bless” them? The acronym of “Bless” is explained in the textbook as: B-begin
with prayer, L-listen, E-eat share coffee or dinner fellowship, S-serve once you have listened and
eaten you will learn how to serve and S-story, when the time is right, we share the story of how
Jesus changed our life.[ CITATION Rod18 \l 1033 ]
How Does Walking in and Under the Control of The Holy Spirit Impact our Spiritual
Development
Spiritual Growth has a positive and everlasting effect on a disciple’s life. Being filled with
the Holy Spirit should be the desire of all disciples of Jesus Christ. Once we accepted Jesus
Christ we are no longer under the controls of the flesh. Our mind should be renewed daily with
the word of God. In our sinful nature we were aliened from Christ. We were dead to the things of
God. We were defiant just as reckless teenagers are when it comes to parent rules. This defiance
displeases God. Our past old natured behaviors were fueled by sin and evidence with wickless.
Once we accepted Jesus and the plan of salvation we are no longer in bondage. “In Christ, we
can choose to live in the spirit” by saying no to the flesh. “Our obligation to the flesh is broken,
we no longer have to listen to it. Bury the flesh and live in the Spirit.” In doing this we are
standing on the principles of the word of God. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Follow the leadership of the Spirit (Rom 8:14) speaks of continual submission to the Holy Spirit.
“For as many as are led by the spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” We submit to him and
allow him, not the flesh, to call the shot.”[ CITATION Dem18 \l 1033 ]
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Discipline Opportunities
My personal spiritual growth assessment was not shocking, but it was a conformation to
me as the Holy Spirit was already wooing me to come and spend more private time. In the past I
would have a daily meeting with the Holy Spirit. When I was in my twenties God, and I would
meet at 5am or 6am. Then I got married and I realized the heart of the single women was more
on the God whereas the married women were more focus on the world. This can be read in
1Corinthians 7:34. When I was single and focused, I had a prayer life that was uninterrupted. I
learned how to fast and pray from the older cunning women of the church. We would meet on
Saturdays for Women’s prayer group and the worship would be so thick that the remnants would
be experienced the next morning during Sunday service. What happened? I started out well, but
what hindered me? I called it life and its ups and down’s changes and turn arounds. But if it was
not for God’s Loving grace and the former prays of others for me, what would I have done with
my life? The assessment helps me to acknowledge where I am spiritually and what areas I need
to improve upon. Just for full disclosure I need to work on all three areas. However, some areas
are stronger than others.
The area that I know I need support in is the upward. My Love to God is real and I do spend time
with God, but the scores on this assessment was substandard. My daily reading needs
improvement. Remembering scriptures are not hard, however recalling the book and verse is a
challenge. I am in constant prayer be it short prays or lengthy. In reflection I use to write down
my dreams and recaps of the day, but I have gotten out of the habit of journaling my thoughts
and dreams. I am maturing daily with hearing the voice of God and following his advice. Finally
fasting has become a challenge since I started taking insulin, however, I still fast for shorter
periods of time while regularly disconnecting from TV, cell phones and other distractions. I am
longing for an office and space to call Pamela’s Listening Room. This space will be dedicated to
studying and hearing from God.
The love for one another the inward was my highest score. Which lead me to think if I am loving
others and loving my neighbors should that count towards loving God because I am doing his
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commandments? I did not want to get off track in my thoughts, so I continue to ask the Holy
Spirit to be perfected in me. My church has a midweek prayer and bible study group that I
participate in weekly. We reframe from gossip and grudge holding is not our practice. We quickly
clear misunderstanding not allowing the enemy to have a way in to our relationships. We have
regular prayer for our family and with our family members, church members and work family. I
do appreciate the Holy Spirit for his help and how I have matured over the years. The area I can
improve in will be a daily prayer for other believers that we will remain steadfast and unmovable
always abiding in the work and words of God.
The love for my neighbor the outward assessment revealed high points and low points. I realized
that I have done, and I am actively doing things for my neighbors. The issue is that it is not done
on daily consistent bases. I really need to keep a prayer list for people who do not know Christ.
In prayer I will be asking God for their salvation and deliverance daily. Seeking friendships and
relationships with people who do not know Christ is another challenge. I am asking the Holy
Spirit to help me with this area the most. I am usually an introvert. I can spend time alone and I
will be comfortable. It takes a lot of energy and time to build relationships. I must not think
about those excuses, but trust God. To be honest I have assisted a lot of people with my non-
profit organization. We host yearly blanket drives, back to school drives while also feeding the
people during these events. I have discovered that serving can be rewarding to the server and up
lifting to the people and vice versa. This year and last year our ministry showed some spiritual
maturity. We prayed and anointed the heads of over 70-80 people as one of the helpers was
keeping count which was unbeknown to me at that time. To God be the Glory in the last two
years our outreach ministry did more spiritual work than we have ever done in the last 6 years.
Conclusions
When I think of Spiritual formation, I think of the process of becoming more like Jesus
Christ. I know that to be a disciple of Jesus Christ it goes beyond accepting Jesus as your
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personal savior, but it requires a life of disciple. The need for the Helper, the Holy Spirit is key to
the successful power filled life. You and I have been chosen to be the disciples of our time. Let’s
do great exploits and give God all the Glory as we fulfill our God given destiny.
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Bibliography
David Earley and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making is How to Live the Great Commission with
Passion and Confidence. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013.
Earley, Rod Dempsey and Dave. Spirtual Formation Is How to Grow in Jesus with Passion and
Confidence. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2018.
Earley, Rod Dempsey and David. Spiritual Formation is How to Grow in Jesus with Passion and
Confidence. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Academic, 2018.
James, New King. The Holy Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982.
Hwang, Jin Ki. “Storytelling and Spiritual Formation According to the Apostle Paul.” Journal of
spiritual formation and soul care. 9.1 (2016): 35–53. Web.
