LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Spiritual Formation Blog
Submitted to Dr. Odom
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
RTCH 500-C04
Research, Writing, and Ministry Preparation
by
Michael Blue
March 31, 2020
introduction
Paul Petit in his book , wrote this about change in a Foundations of Spiritual Formation
believer's life, “Change is not optional for the believer in Jesus Christ.” The salvation experience
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was never meant to be the pinnacle of a believer’s relationship with Christ, it is meant to be an
embarkation point. This is why Jesus told Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born
again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Nicodemus, being confused ask Jesus
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what he meant by that and Jesus’ response was that just as humans reproduce life, the Holy Spirit
gives birth to spiritual life (John 3:4-6). Jesus compared spiritual life to natural-born life because
they both require growth to be healthy. The author of Hebrews, after chastising them for not
being spiritually mature enough to teach others explained it to them like this, “For someone who
lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those
who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right
and wrong” (Heb 5:13-14). God’s desire is for us to grow into mature believers that are strong
and healthy. After reading , I found two areas that I need to Foundations of Spiritual Formation
incorporate into my life soul and worship.
Soul and Worship
The soul is the first area of spiritual formation that I need to incorporate into my life. The
soul is important because after salvation that is where we store up the good things of God as we
grow in Him and are able to reproduce them at a later time. Jesus said, “A good person produces
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1 Paul Pettit, (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2018), 19.Foundations of Spiritual Formation
2 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New Living Translation.
3 Pettit, , 121.Foundations
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good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the
treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart” (Lk 6:45).
This week, with everything that is going on in the world, I had an abrupt realization when
I produced a bad thing from my heart. I am in the United States Navy and currently
geographically separated from my family. With the increased restrictions weighing over the
country and an increased amount of stress at work and in school, I found myself in a dark place.
Facing struggles in life is nothing new for me or any believer for that matter. We all go through
times of doubt and mental anxiety. However, I began to feed those feelings and they began to
grow. For a week I did not sleep for more than three hours a night due to the anxiety that I would
build up throughout the day. I found myself feeling isolated and alone, and on the verge of
breaking emotionally and mentally. I broke down on the phone and confessed all of these
thoughts and feelings to my wife one night and she truly surprised me. I had expected her to
console me and tell me everything was going to be alright while telling me she understood why I
felt that way. This was not the case. She gave the verbal equivalent of a slap and said, “Why are
you lying, don’t you know who you are? You are a child of God and God is not the author of
fear. So why are you letting the author of fear come in and make himself at home.” It was at that
moment that I realized that she was right and I need to allow my soul to be filled with good
things.
Likewise, I need to grow in worship. Worship is a form of spiritual formation because it
is so much more than saying good words about God. Dr. Wheeler wrote, “worship is not an event
or something we do for God. Rather it is an act of unbridled obedience even when rational
explanations are hard to find.” This overwhelming gloom that I had found myself in, reminded
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4 David Wheeler and Vernon M. Whaley, The Great Commission to Worship: Biblical Principles for
Worship-Based Evangelism (Nashville, TN: B&H, 2012).
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me of a man named Asaph. Asaph was a worship leader worship in the Tabernacle and David
appointed men from his family to lead worship for the armies. Asaph was known for
prophecying with only his harp. This great man who knew how to worship God found himself
afflicted by disease and an overwhelming sense of separation from God. Asaph wrote, “I think of
God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help. You don’t let me sleep. I am too
distressed even to pray” (Ps 77:3-4)! What is interesting, as he began to complain about all of the
things that he used to experience with God and no longer felt, he reminded himself of who God
was and he began to declare the power and Mercy of God. By the end of Psalm seventy-seven,
Asaph had found his song and was praising God again. If I am truly growing in my spiritual life,
I will praise God even when explanations for what is going are hard to find.
Plan of Action
The only way to produce good things from the abundance of my heart is to consistently
be placing good things into my heart. I can do this by reading God’s word and limiting negative
inputs into my life. If I limit the amount of time that I entertain myself with television I will be
able to add more time that I am reading the Bible.
Worship is such a valuable tool to use. When I am declaring the goodness of God there is
no place for the lies that Satan would have me believe. By spending ten minutes of my prayer
time in worship I will effectively mitigate the voice of the enemy with the truth of who God is.
A Word of Advice
To my friend who is planning on going to seminary, I want to offer you a word of advice.
Remember that going to seminary is a challenge and by completing the course of study you are
proving that you are worthy of your calling. Do not let your studies about the Word of God
distract you from enjoying the good things of God. It is all too easy to allow the stress of the next
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assignment to overwhelm the desire to know God better. To overcome this set aside ten minutes a
day to intentionally worship God. As you begin to declare how good God is you will want to
experience more of the good things that God has for you. Stay strong and hide God’s Word in
your heart and continually have praise on your lips.
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