testimony from the full time training in London – the bountiful supply of the Spirit and the supply of the Body!

It is indeed NOT A WASTE to give yourself to the Lord for at least these two years to be trained! The Full-Time Training will definitely help you enjoy the Lord, turn to Him, and be dependent on the Lord and the Body. It is a privilege untold and a worthy sacrifice to waste ourselves on Him – He is more than worthy of such a price! Below is brother Ole Jacob’s testimony from his first term in the FTTL – the Full Time Training in London.

When I came to the full-time training in London I was prepared that the full-time training was not going to be a holiday for me. I have heard that the schedule is busy, and that your life will be somewhat restricted when you consecrate yourself to be trained. So, having this in mind, I was always wondering, “Will I make this? Will it work out? Will the training be too strict for me?” Even though I knew I had peace from the Lord and I had a definite burden to be trained in order to be a more useful vessel to Him, I always had this kind of thought beforehand. On the other hand, I thought I would make it – otherwise, the Lord would not have brought me there. With this kind of mind, I came to be trained.

The first week I was in the heavens and I felt everything was going very well. But the real training had not begun at all yet! To make the long story short, after the second week I was shocked and I cried out, “I can’t make it in here! Who can ever work this out?” There were just too many things I felt I couldn’t make. At this time I was not considering these things as something of the Lord’s arrangement.

However, at these times of struggle, I experienced at the same time the sweet supply from the Body of Christ. During these times many other brothers simply supplied my in so many ways! The brothers just supplied me just by fellowshipping with me, by their sharing, by their prayers, by their praising, by personal fellowship (which fellowship killed a lot of “germs” in me), and they also encouraged by just humanly taking care of me. I would say that all the brothers shepherded me in some way, even the ones that seemingly were not so close to me.

Since I came into the church life I always knew that Christians should not and cannot live independently from other saints and that we should not work things out by ourselves, but I didn’t really get into the experience of the depths of this truth. The reason for this may be perhaps my individualistic disposition and my built-in habit of preserving myself all the time so that I wouldn’t come into certain situations that would make me be dependent on others.

I would say that the most precious and enjoyable matter that I experienced in the training was that the Lord brought me into a deeper realization of the fact that I really cannot work things out by myself alone, yet there always is a bountiful supply in His dear Body.

The Lord does never demand anything from us without giving us fully the supply to carry it out. But He simply wants to teach us that we cannot make it by our own effort. How precious are such lessons! Paul the apostle said in Phil. 1:19,

For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Here Paul recognized the petition of the saints as one of the two basic factors for him to experience a practical salvation, and he even mentioned it before “the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ”. When we are being supplied in the Body, we are also being strengthened to have proper personal time with the Lord, in which we can be filled with all the riches that are in the Spirit. Such times – which are so often in the training – were indeed precious.

I also enjoyed from the “Character” class that what the Lord wants is a vessel that is proper for His service. One of the character traits is to be a corporate person. I realized after the first term that in order to be a corporate person it is not sufficient just to know that we need to be corporate persons, but we need to go through some experiences that will make us corporate. Such experiences are ordained by God so that He can bring us into more reality and more enjoyment of what He is and has. Then we will be able to fulfill His desire in this age. Hallelujah!

For those who are considering coming to the training, nobody should think that they are capable or able to do it in themselves. However, those whom the Lord burdens to go need to have the full assurance that the Lord would more than abundantly provide what is needed. He does it through the bountiful supply of the Spirit and He also does it in and through His Body! This is my testimony of what I enjoyed the most from my first term. Of course there is a lot more to share, that is of joy unspeakable and full of glory, but for that you need to come and experience it yourself, if you haven’t done so yet!