Build each other up

Build each other up
“But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.  
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.  He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.  
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 
                                                                                              1 Thessalonians 5:8-11
Put on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. That’s what Paul says. Do you.
Is your faith in God or in the things you have?
Faith according to Hebrews is,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” 
                                                                                                             Hebrews 11:1
Faith is not what we see. It’s not the amount of cash in our bank account or the big house or any other treasure we have. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Do you have love, the apostle Paul states of Love,
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 
Love never fails....
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  
                                                                                    1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13.
Is this the kind of love you have?
Paul tells us to put on “the hope of salvation as a helmet”
Are you sure of your salvation. Do you know for certain if you were to die to night that you would go to heaven?
If not it’s time to pray. To pray, confess your sins to God and let Jesus come into your heart and life today.
Salvation is a free gift the apostle Paul writing,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9  
The apostle John telling us,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
          If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 
     1John 1:9-10
If you are truly saved are you doing what Paul tells the Thessalonians “encouraging one another and building each other up.”
Encouraging your brothers and sisters in Christ.
 Are you?
Think about it.