{"id":608,"date":"2006-11-15T06:11:50","date_gmt":"2006-11-15T06:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/2006\/11\/scriptures-on-c.html"},"modified":"2006-11-15T06:11:50","modified_gmt":"2006-11-15T06:11:50","slug":"scriptures-on-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2006\/11\/scriptures-on-c.html","title":{"rendered":"Scriptures on Caring for the Orphan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I wanted to post some scriptures to meditate on. It tells some of the story of why orphans are so important to God and why we are supposed to care for them.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. God calls Himself the Father of the fatherless.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00b7        <\/span><\/span><\/span>Psalm 68:5, \u201cA father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. God considers spiritual service the purest when His people are taking care of orphans.  <\/span>(and)  <\/span>A religion that does not care for orphans is no religion at all.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00b7        <\/span><\/span><\/span>James 1:27, \u201cReligion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      <\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. God\u2019s people are commanded to care for orphans.  <\/span>To see an orphan afflicted, and to turn a deaf ear, is sin, even rebellion.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        \u00b7        <\/span><\/span><\/span>Exodus 22:22, \u201cYou shall not afflict any widow or orphan.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

        \u00b7        <\/span><\/span><\/span>Isaiah 1:17, \u201cLearn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, plead for the widow.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

        \u00b7        <\/span><\/span><\/span>Isaiah 1:23, \u201cYour rulers are rebellious, and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards.  <\/span>They do not defend the fatherless.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. We can be the hands and love of Christ Himself by providing practical care.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          \u00b7        <\/span><\/span><\/span>Deuteronomy 10:18, \u201cHe executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

          \u00b7        <\/span><\/span><\/span>Psalm 10:14, \u201cBut You, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand.  <\/span>The victim commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

          \u00b7        <\/span><\/span><\/span>Matthew 18:5, \u201cWhoever receives a child in My name, receives Me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

          \u00b7        <\/span><\/span><\/span>Matthew 25: 45, \u201cTruly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these, you did it unto Me.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          <\/span><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Orphans are to be taken care of with the same honor and provision as a Pastor or Priest.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            \u00b7        <\/span><\/span><\/span>Deuteronomy 14:28-30, \u201cThe Levite (priest), because he has not portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. A portion of all that we possess is sacred and belongs to the orphan.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              \u00b7        <\/span><\/span><\/span>Deuteronomy 26:12-14, \u201cYou shall say before the Lord your God, \u2018I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

              <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Today, I wanted to post some scriptures to meditate on. It tells some of the story of why orphans are so important to God and why we are supposed to care for them. God calls Himself the Father of the fatherless. \u00b7        Psalm 68:5, \u201cA father of the fatherless and a judge for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-swaziland"],"yoast_head":"\nScriptures on Caring for the Orphan - Red Letters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2006\/11\/scriptures-on-c.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scriptures on Caring for the Orphan - Red Letters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today, I wanted to post some scriptures to meditate on. 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}