Words From the Lord

Some of our favorite passages about adoption:

"Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 82:3-4

"A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families." Psalm 68:5-6

"For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for he fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." Deuteronomy 10:17-19

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are." 1 John 3:1

"The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still." Exodus 14:14

"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:18

"Oh God, here I am, your servant, your faithful servant, set me free for your service" Psalm 116:16

"Do not repay evil with evil, or insult with incsult, but with blessing." 1 Peter 3:9

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" Matthew 25:40

"Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name, welcomes me." Matthew 18:5

"For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matthew 12:50

"is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yolk, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yolk? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him...and if you give yourself yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in the darkness...and the Lord will continually guide you...and you will be like a well-watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail." excerpts from Isaiah 58

"And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as hs son. Ensure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplned by their father. If youd are not disciplined- and everyone underdoes discipline- then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplned us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They discplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousnes and peace for those who have been trained by it." Heb. 12:5-11

"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you" John 14:18

"If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a while olive shoot have been gafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this';you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternmnes of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that  you continue in his kindness. Othersise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they wll be grated in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily wll these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree. Romans 11: 16-24

"Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation- but it is not to the flesh, to live according to t. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The spirit you revieved does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father" The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs- heirs of God and co-heris with Christ, in ineed we share in his suddering in order that we may also share in his glrory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 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 to sonship the redempton of our bodies. " Rom. 8:12-23

"I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, "Here am I." All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinant people, who walks in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations a people who continually provoke me to my very face." Isaiah 65:1-2

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:5-6

"God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it." Gen 1:28

"If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death, I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themseleves to Molek." Leviticus 20:4-5

" For in you the fatherless find compassion." Hosea 14:3

"In that day, declares the Lord, I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame my remnant, those driven away a strong nation." Micah 4:6-7

"I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do." Matthew 11:25

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderes or addicted to much wne, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." Titus 2:3-5

"Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or ceain cnceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:3-4

"In Him we were also chosen, having been predestned according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." Ephesians 1:11

"For you created my inmost beingl you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together n the depths of the eart. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:14-16

"Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4