There is this song by Casting Crowns, If we are the body.
It goes like this:

[I]It's crowded in worship today, As she slips in
trying to fade into the faces, the girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know, farther than they know
CHORUS But if we are the body, why arent His arms reaching
why arent His hands healing, why arent His words teaching
and if we are the body, why arent His feet going
why is His love not showing them there is a way, there is a way

A traveler is far away from home, he sheds his coat
and quietly sinks into the back row, the weight of their judgemental glances tell him that his chances, are better out on the road

But if we are the body, why arent His arms reaching
why arent His hands healing, why arent His words teaching
and if we are the body, why arent His feet going
why is His love not showing them there is a way

Jesus paid much too high a price, for us to pick and choose who should come
and we are the body of Christ, Jesus is the way

This is something I've been with and faced with over the last couple of weeks. It seems as though their is a massive calling for people to get off the fence and choose, are you COMPLETELY for CHRIST or are you not. There is really no middle ground, we can't pick and choose which parts of the bible we like and which parts just don't suit us. I'm preaching to myself here.

How do you overcome "the fence"? How do you get off and not look back. Daily renewal I guess, I'm not sure? I don't want to spend my life living on a fence "thinking" I'm a christian and arriving in heaven and God tells me "I don't know you." Ouch!

What do you think?

I don't really have an answer but I think that you can't be on the fence if you are a Christian.
When you were reborn you actually jumped over the fence, from the darkness to the light.
You must remember that you did not instantly changed into a different person. The renewal of who you are in Christ will come in time as you walk with Him and have a personal relationship with Him.
In myself looking back since I was reborn until today, I've changed so much that I can only praise God for making me a better person.
As for the body of Christ, I 'm very sad when I see that Christians who's hands and feet God wants to use is just not available!!
We must begin as one person, making a difference where you live and work, and soon it will have a ripple effect, reaching people we don't even know.
Much blessings for you!

Hi Ann,

Thank You for your reply. I completely agree. We were chatting about this exact same thing in our Home Cell group on tuesday.

It's so important for people to continue making those changes in their lives. To keep on growing.

Have blessed Weekend.
Karen

I love that song.

Jesus paid much too high a price, for us to pick and choose who should come

This line says it all, churches spend more time condemning others instead of really being Christ like.
We get so righteous with our church labels and divide the body.
We get so prideful of our doctrines and rebuke everyone that is different.
We compromise and call it Holy Spirit led.
We love to talk and quote scripture, but we dont practice what we preach.
We live luke warm, and expect to be used by God, because he is full of Grace and forgiveness.
We build ministries, when God never called us.
We ignore his voice when he finally has something to say.
We walk in love, yet so many people die of hunger each day.

=superchick
How do you overcome "the fence"?

By choosing which side of the fence we want to fall.
Cleansing our minds, and applying the mind of Christ daily.
Realising Christianity is not a religion but a way of life, a relationship we share as a body.

God is looking for the body, but if we are not ready who then shall he use.

I answer this song with Audio Adrenaline,,, Hands and Feet
,because this is what we should be saying to form the true Body.

I want to be your hands
I want to be your feet
Ill go where you send me
I'll go where you send me

And I try, yeah I try
To touch the world like
You touched my life
And I find my way
To be your hands


Romans 15:7 (KJV)
7Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

Well said! I am blessed by your answer. It is something I am so careful to avoid. Judging people i mean. And if you really evaluate your life closely, as I believe each of us need to do a lot more, one finds that alot of judgement is so, "acceptable" we don't even see it as judgement anymore.

I guess this was Jesus' intention and plan when He told us to renew our minds daily. This renewing, with the help of the Holy Spirit, helps us to identify these areas and put a stop to them or work on them until we form new God Reflecting habits.

I guess this was Jesus' intention and plan when He told us to renew our minds daily. This renewing, with the help of the Holy Spirit, helps us to identify these areas and put a stop to them or work on them until we form new God Reflecting habits.

Amen
that's right.....

Greetings Superchick and friends, brothers and sisters alike,

Jesus Christ is the Lord.

Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith. (read Hebrews 12;2)

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ Philippians 1;6


My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. John 10;27-29


What is it we are listening to? What are we believing? Who is our Lord?

Dear bretheren(brothers and sisters/sisters and brothers),
I'll get straight to the point and explain afterwards....

the idea of struggle is all totally wrong....it's a bad seed! Reject it.

Look at the scriptures above. Then read them again. What do they say?

As I considered this thread, the thought was put on me that if this was the last thing I ever wrote, put the passion into it that is as my last words.
Hence the start of it. (and to be honest, it could be the last day/night for me...only my Father knows...but we should approach every moment of every day with this attitude...it could be our last, so make it direct and as full of truth as is in you, that we leave behind no unfinished task)

Dear readers, this whole idea of us needing to struggle and grow bit by bit and decide if we are Christian or not and the general theme so far in this thread, is put on us right from the start of our new life by the common concensus, meaning, everybody repeats it and thereby confirms it. BUT, it is not what God the Father says...it is not what Jesus Christ the Son of God says...it is not what the Spirit of God nor the Holy Ghost says...it is not what the Bible says.
Reread those Scriptures above. Oh yes, we can argue that the context is not the same, in order to support the bad seed and prop up our mistakes. BUT, look at all the Good News of Jesus Christ...it is the main prevailing thread in the Scriptures...look and you will find.

I point you now to this scripture....(again we can argue the point, but when we take the message of the promise of God in Christ Jesus as it is, the arguements must cease).....

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Galations 3;1-3

Now, it's not about pointing fingers. Jesus spoke against who? The people who handled the Word in such a way as to make it difficult and/or impossible for others to enter in to His rest, who prevented with their words.

Having said this, please read what the Bible says, not what the others are saying. There is much error and corruption of the Word coming from man. Read what the Scriptures say.....in them you will find that we are, by the grace of God, in His care, that our lives are hid in Him.
We must render every thought captive, and not allow ourselves to get tossed around by every wind of doctrine that blows our way.

I think from memory, there is a good post here at Talk Jesus about who we are in Christ. This is the truth. All this other talk about trying to work it out by feeble little us making the decision whether we are Christians or not and how we have to work at it is ......totally anti the truth.
When we grasp just who we are, and therefore and also, who He is...our Saviour and Deliverer, Keeper, Shepherd and Lord, yes, when we grasp just who we are in Him and what has become of us in Him, we can and will see that anything else that challenges our position is not from Him and therefore a lie.......and we want absolutely nothing to do with lies!!!

Romans 8;37-39

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We're all made into His body where He puts us to do His will....not ours or anyone elses. Starting with Jesus means finishing with Jesus, and what is His will? Think for a minute about this. Does the Lord of Glory design for His body anything but His joy? His Holiness. His Peace.
The Bible says very clearly that His will is for us to give thanks. Why?
Because when we give thanks we have His joy....when we have His joy, we give thanks. He is not the author or god of confusion.
Let His Peace live in you and reign supreme that you may shine the full brightness of His glorious Light. He is the Lord and a friend. Take that word "let" from both angles....a command and the advice from your most trusted and unfailing, honest, faithful friend, Jesus Christ the Living Word.

The gospel is/was preached to the simple. It is a simple gospel. It sets us free. Anything...ANYTHING that is contrary to His perfect peace in our hearts, minds, souls, spirits is not from Jesus Christ the Lord.
He is the Lord...full stop...meaning He is the most supreme finality in all matters concerning you. This includes in every way imaginable, your whole life in Him. So, is the fence you talk of, the assurance of the Lordship of Christ Jesus to you?

Stop talking yourselves into a situation that does not exist. A good rule to consider if you must have a rule, is....do not speak things that are not in the Scriptures concerning Christ Jesus and you.

If you are born of the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus, you Know it. There is no second guessing. Let Him do that which He has planned for you, and let Him do what He has planned for others. It is His Joy...His Life....His mission for us. He gave His life for us. Why should we want any more than His perfect life and peace and rest?

Yes, dearly beloved of God, it is not about your works, but His works.
Trust Him to finish what He started in His perfect time for you, believing in Him with your whole heart and mind to be able to do a perfect work in you.
Only believe. He does the rest. Have His joy. You will never do wrong with it, because your life will become an instrument of praise....how perfect is that?!

The renewing is starting with believing and trusting that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting/eternal life. From there, very simply, His life in us, made anew by his Spirit, full of His joy. There is no getting better a person than what He has already provided in full.
Listen, if you or anyone else was/is full of His joy (which is everything in Him) you/they would and could and will, only shine His light (not merely reflect it in a little glimmer).
Jesus Christ IS the same today as He was yesterday and will be forever.
The works He did in the early Church, meaning the early believers, where they turned the world upside down with rejoicing in Him...by His Spirit in them...He will and does do today. He hasn't changed one bit. They turned it upside down because they had Jesus and only Jesus.
We have centuries of mans limitations which cloud the understanding, and like in the days of before Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world, as He said, the people were in bondage to false teachings and limitations which prevented an entering in to His presence. He tore all that up...but slowly it has all been built up again, leaving people with condemnation rather that Joy.
Why do I mention joy so much?
Because it is missing!
We find ourselves attempting to live the life with all the other goodies from God, but joy is nowhere to be seen and if it is, it is not lasting and strengthening and victorious joy. Simple joy that comes when we see who we are in Him who set us free.

The only change needed is to rejoice in the Lord every minute of every day for what He has already done in us...which is eternal/everlasting. The Lord does the rest! He made us, He called us, He saved us...Trust in Him and rejoice.

Remember this...who gets the glory for us and who we are as Christians?
Jesus Christ...or..us ?
If you are a Christian, you are in the Creators grip.
Cease from works that defile His handiwork, and let Him have His way with you.
And, don't concern yourself about the so called hands and feet that don't seem to be doing anything. His sheep hear his voice.
If folks are not living in Christ, then Christ is not living in them.

Let your light so shine.

May these word minister only love to you and be of help in your questions.
This is written with the greatest of love and not a word is written to accuse you or pick on you....only care for your precious souls.

Bless you,

Br. Bear
....................................><>

That song by Casting crowns has nothing to do with works.
But a question we need to ask about our churches, what fruits are we baring, how can God use us. And why is there no revival.

Jesus paid much too high a price, for us to pick and choose who should come
and we are the body of Christ, Jesus is the way

The last few words was Jesus is the way.

Basically the question is why isnt there a difference if we are the Body.

Br. Bear, what a wonderful post. Thank you for taking the time to make the post. When I first read this thread my thoughts were what you need to do superchick is go back to the start. Repent from your sins, tell Jesus you want to start again, and from there start reading the Bible and having a relationship with Jesus. Read the Bible - not just listen to what others are telling you, (as Br.Bear has already said), read and act on what God's Word says. Then you will know without a shadow of a doubt you are in Christ and Christ in you because you have heard it for yourself. Having a relationship with Him is the only way to know Jesus. Like any relationship it takes time getting to know Him intimately.

The only change needed is to rejoice in the Lord every minute of every day for what He has already done in us...which is eternal/everlasting. The Lord does the rest! He made us, He called us, He saved us...Trust in Him and rejoice.

Remember this...who gets the glory for us and who we are as Christians?
Jesus Christ...or..us ?
If you are a Christian, you are in the Creators grip.
Cease from works that defile His handiwork, and let Him have His way with you.
And, don't concern yourself about the so called hands and feet that don't seem to be doing anything. His sheep hear his voice. If folks are not living in Christ, then Christ is not living in them.

Absolutely Br. Bear. We need to rest in God, and get to know Him. Hebrews 4:11 "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience."

Dear Br, Bear
I am only a simple person with no specific training or higher education, so forgive me if I say that what you said became to complicated for me.
For me in simple terms:
God saved us when we repent and got reborn, then He started working in us to change us into His image. My brother once said a very interesting thing, "that if God would change us instantly the shock for us would be to much to handle".
God will be working in our lives until the day we die, He only knows how much change we can bear at a certain time. Because many times these changes includes sorrow and pain and His purpose is not to break us completely but to transform and strengthen us, like the potter do to the clay.
We go through a process, which take time, and if one ingredient is missing the whole process would be futile (and we all know that God doesn't make mistakes).
God knows best and I'm sure that if we trust Him, have faith in Him and obey Him these changes will take place sometimes without us realizing it.
In this process we must be an active part in God's body, doing what God wants us to do even if it is just sweeping the floors of the church.
The problem comes in when everyone wants do to the impressive stuff and not the mundane tasks, not realizing that all the tasks are equally important.
Another thing that I experienced about the body of Christ is that people are very selfish and don't really want to be bothered by other people and their struggles - this is so wrong because the body can't function properly if one of the members of the body is sick. Ignoring sickness in the body will lead to decline an ultimately death.
WE MUST LOOK OUT FOR AND AFTER EACH OTHER WITH LOVE AND SINCERITY!!

God's blessings to You!!