Poetry

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© Bob Barra, 11-22-06

The Lord forgives, the Lord receives;
By what His Son has done
There is reconciliation
For the heart that surrenders to Him;

Yet there will be spiritual outcasts;
Social lepers, within the family of God;
Those who call Jesus “Lord” will find these
A stumbling block,
Just as these outcasts are their brother
Or sister;

Because of what one has done,
Many will resist receiving them,
For the consequences that follow the rejected;
These who stumble will preach mercy,
While holding these lepers at a distance;

While these lepers are repentant
And show a changed heart,
There will still be rejection;
Forgiveness, with condition;

And the Lord will grieve;

Many will resist,
For the sake of what the world preaches;
Contrary to the Word of God;
Many will preach of the New Creation,
While they disdain the brother before them;

Children of the Lord will stiff-arm the strange,
The odd; those unlike themselves;
Those who have done what they will never do;

And the Lord will grieve;

It may be that the Lord has placed these
Who are ostracized within His family,
To test the heart of those who stumble and resist;
Many will be found to be simple tares among the wheat;
Many will stand as His children before His face,
And He will judge righteously;
Those who are His own will be thankful
For a judgment based on a lack of faith,
Rather than the abundance of sin;

Those who are not His own
Will receive eternal condemnation;
And they will grieve,
And gnash,
These who never knew Him...

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