In the ancient Roman culture, when slaves went about their work, they would tie a long white apron (called egkomboma) on over their other garments. Why is that significant? The word egkomboma is not found in the Greek New Testament, but the verb form (egkomboomai) is used one time–in 1 Peter 5:5.  “Clothe yourselves (egkomboomai) with humility.” Literally, “tie on the apron…

The Greek “god of fire” was Hephaestus, one of the sons of Zeus, but he’s a lower case “g” god — i.e., a fake god! Do you know who the real “God of fire” is, with a capital “G”? In Daniel 3, Nebuchadnezzar was furious with the unwavering faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Hego, so he had his fiery furnace heated “seven…

As a fisherman, Peter knew a lot about fishing, but he also knew a lot about catching. When he had “toiled all night and caught nothing,” there can be little doubt that he had done all that he knew how to successfully do to catch fish. He’d been fishing that night, but not catching. Jesus sat in his boat and told him,…

Jesus encountered a Gentile in the city of Capernaum for whom He had great praise, “I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel” (Luke 7:9). What was it about this man that brought such commendation from the Lord? The centurion had a servant, “who was dear to him” and “was sick and ready to die. So when he heard…

Imagine for a moment that you were able to do everything that you want to do for God! Wouldn’t that be cool! Think about all of those things that you’ve always wanted to do, and imagine that in the next year (or even the next few months) you were able to take them on one-by-one. Ultimately and truly, isn’t that what all…

The salvation process, while it requires work and effort and diligence on our part, is actually a work that is done by God! God is the One who saves us! God is the One who has done, is doing and will continue to do the saving work! (Don’t misunderstand or misread that! Christians are “created for good works” [Eph. 2:10], and must…

Do you know how glass (if it has a convex curve) can magnify an image and yet, if you reverse the curve, the same glass could minify an image? Regardless of what was going to happen in his life (good or bad, life or death), the apostle Paul determined to make certain of one thing — “Christ will be magnified in my…

In Philippians 1:16-17, Paul used an interesting word to explain his relation to the defense of the gospel. The KJV and ASV translate it that he was “set for the defense of the gospel.” The NKJV and NASB translate it, “I am appointed” (emphasizing the passive voice). The Greek word (keimai) is interesting. It is used with reference to the positioning of…