(Be blessed by this DWOD for Oct. 16, 2013 by guest blogger, Barry Adams who celebrates the 31^st anniversary of his marriage today. Congratulations!)

Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers (Hebrews 2:11).

In 1 Peter 1:15-16, we read the following exhortation: But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

If we look at this command to ‘be holy as God is holy’ in our own natural abiility, we will most certainly feel completely overwhelmed. For in our hearts we know that the truth is, no matter how good we can try to be, it is simply not possible to live up to God’s standards in our human effort.

James says that if we keep all of the law every day of our lives and just make one tiny mistake, it is as if we have broken the entire law. (James 2:10) The road to holiness is definitely not based upon on our natural ability.

Romans 3:10 clearly tells us that there is no one who is righteous…not one. I think that I would be safe to say that in most Christian circles, we would agree that holiness is not produced from our own actions but on Christ and on His shed blood alone. Hebrews 10:10 tells us: “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

While we may all agree that Hebrews 10:10 is a theological truth, how does it work out in our lives on a day to day basis? Do we live each day knowing that we are completely loved and accepted by God no matter what we do? Do we live knowing that there is nothing in all creation that can separate from His love even when we mess up? Do we know at the very deepest part of our being that there is nothing that we could ever do to make God love us more than He does right now? Do we truly believe that that we are holy even as Jesus is holy even when we fall down?

If you are anything like me, you may struggle to believe that these things are true from time to time. Maybe it is easier to believe that I am holy on the good days when I read my Bible, pray and maybe witness to others. But what about on the bad days? When I am discouraged, fearful and not full of faith, do I believe that I am still absolutely loved and set apart for His purposes at these dark and lonely times?

The remnant of the orphan heart in us struggles to believe that the love of God and His extravagant grace and mercy are more than enough. The orphan part of our belief system that has not yet surrendered to love still believes that we have to do something in order to be accepted. After all, an orphan does not carry within themselves a sense of where they come from and who they belong to.

I know that this is a poor example, but our son Steve will always be an ‘Adams’. He was born into our family and will carry our name no matter what he does in life. He didn’t do anything to earn being part of our family, he was simply born into it.

I think this is but a shadow of what it means to be born into the family of God. When we become born again, we inherit everything good that is in God’s family—Jesus’ holiness, His righteousness, His relationship with God… everything!

To walk in holiness is not to live by a set of do’s and don’ts in our lives, but to simply live out of the spiritual DNA that God has already deposited in us by His Holy Spirit. We are His kids! We are holy because He is holy! Not because we could do anything to ever earn it, deserve it or sustain it.  I believe that our God and Father wants to love all of the remaining orphan beliefs right out of us and convince us that the shed blood of Jesus is enough. Period.

Dear friend, I pray that you will know that God already sees us as holy because of your union with His firstborn.

(Barry Adams is the humble vessel chosen by God to bless the world with the revelation known as the Father’s Love Letter. Along with his wife Annelise, Barry ministers the Father’s Love all over the world. Today’s DWOD is from a post he wrote for A Son’s Life Blog)