Full-Time Training - Testimonies

From Adam to Christ and from Babylon to Jerusalem, José Magaña

My name is José Magaña. I live in Anaheim, California. The Lord saved me when I was 30 years old. Truly it was at that time that I started to experience Christ as the Passover Lamb Who redeemed me with His blood and infused me with His life (Romans 5:10). At that moment I was transferred out of Adam into Christ (1 Corinthians 15:45-49). I really experienced a dynamic salvation. Oh, that was something marvelous and divine.

Immediately after, the Lord gave me a heart to love Him and seek Him. Also I got hungry to read His Word and He gave me a heart to love the brothers and sisters in Christ. I started going to several denominations seeking for one to meet with. I served in each one of them and the Lord gave me the opportunity to go to different places in the world, such as Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Canada, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico and different states in the United States to participate in a ministry training that was held every six months. Although I was in several denominations and traveled through different countries I was still hungry and thirsty for the Lord--the denominations did not satisfy my need. But praise the Lord that one day I found some books by Watchman Nee and these filled me and satisfied my hunger and thirst. When I experienced this, I said to myself that if I ever would find a place were they would speak in this way, I would stay there because this word really satisfied my need.

After some time, I found the Living Stream Ministry bookstore. And you know what? Wow! I found other books that spoke about the same as the other books I had. These books spoke about God, Christ as life, and life practices. In those days as I was reading I found a particular book that spoke about the difference between Babylon and Jerusalem. This book showed that what is in Babylon is mixture, division, confusion and scattered people, whereas in Jerusalem there is unity, one speaking and everyone staying in one place, on one ground with no people scattered. It was then that the Lord brought me to meet with the local church. In those days, Witness Lee was giving a conference about the books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther and I was captivated by the word and attracted by the love of Christ and by the love of the brothers and sisters. I felt that I finally had come home and that I was in the good land, the reality of Canaan, the land that flows milk and honey, the land that quenches the thirst and satisfies the hunger of man, a land where there in not scarcity, a land in which flow rivers and wells, a land of vines, of fig trees and pomegranates (Deuteronomy 7-10). Hallelujah! my seeking ceased and my need was supplied by the abundant supply of the Spirit that came through the literature that was in that place, from the messages given by the brothers and by the love of the believers in Christ.

Later, after several years of this rich infusion that proceeds from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Revelation 22:1), I started to see four matters related to service and my usefulness to the Lord. The first three are: (1) to love and desire the Lord, (2) to have a vision of the Lord, and (3) to recognize that the self and my natural man need to be dealt with by the cross. However, these three matters are not enough. In addition to these three there is still a fourth one that is often rejected, neglected, or easily uncared for, but according to my experience I have noticed that it is equally crucial and important in my service to the Lord. This fourth point is the matter of the character of the Lord's workman. Now that I am participating in the Full-Time Training in Anaheim, California, my eyes have been opened to see that my character needs to be cultivated and formed. This is not something that the life of Christ does by itself, but it needs my cooperation with this Person that now is in me. I have been able to see that the character of a person is constituted of approximately 30% of innate nature and 70% of acquired habits. So in order for Christ to form a proper character in my being, that is to say, His character, the acquired habits play a vital roll. And I have realized that to form such a character there is no place on earth as meeting with the local church to give me such help. And particularly, in the Full-Time Training in which I am participating at the moment.

This training is a place where I can find a divine and heavenly atmosphere. It is a place where automatically I get into the spirit and where God deals with me with an unveiled face. It is a place where God has directly dealt with me by dissolving areas in my natural man through the power of the Word and the flow of life so that Christ can work His character in me. Really, I am so happy, satisfied and thankful to the Lord for bringing me to this marvelous place, for I experience Christ all the time and He imparts Himself into me. Hallelujah! that Christ is working Himself into me so that I can be a part of His eternal plan!

“For if by the offense of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17)

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