The Bible and Adoption
“Pray without ceasing…” 1Thessalonians 5:17. As you prayerfully consider your adoption, the following verses may help you. We know that all good things happen in God’s time to those who trust in him. May God grant you His grace as you travel along the path He sets out for you. “We prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted what we asked of Him.” 1 Samuel 1:27
On Adoption and Corporal Acts of Mercy
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
James 1:27
“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.”
Mathew 18:5
“…learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of fatherless, plead the case for the widow.”
Isaiah 1:17
“A Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families…”
Psalm 68:5-6a
“Vindicate the weak and the fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute.”
Psalm 82:3
“I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me…Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'”
Mathew 25: 35-36, 40 (MSG)
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15
On Taking Action
“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only…”
James 1:22
“A man makes a plan in his heart, but God directs his path.”
Proverbs 16:9
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.”
Proverbs 3:27
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”
1 John 4:18
On God’s Plan for Your Family
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'”
Jeremiah 29:11
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power at work in us, to Him be the glory.”
Ephesians 3:20
“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.”
Isaiah 43:5
“Orphans get parents, the homeless get homes. The reign of terror is over; the rule of the gang lords is ended.”
Psalm 10:18 (MSG)
God loves children
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all – he is the greatest.”
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.
God has great compassion for orphans and fatherless children
Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do, and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.
Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
God also has compassion on the childless
He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children.
“Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child, burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord.
We are not born into the family of God, but adopted!
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will – to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.