Whatever is commendable . . . think on these things. We’ve been talking for the past several weeks about renewing our minds by choosing to think the way God wants us to think. Philippians 4:8 gives us a list of things we are to think about – things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely,… [ read more ]

Whatever is lovely . . . think on these things. The Greek word translated as lovely is “prosphiles” and it means “acceptable, pleasing” and has the idea of being “winsome, sweet, gracious, attractive.” In classical Greek it means “dear or beloved” when used to describe people and “pleasing or agreeable” when used to describe things.… [ read more ]

Whatever is pure . . . think on these things. The Greek word for pure is “hagnos” and it means “exciting reverence, sacred” and “pure – free from carnality, chaste, modest; free from fault, immaculate; clean.“ The word is used to describe both sexual purity as well as ceremonial purity. One commentator referred to it… [ read more ]

Whatever is just . . . think on these things. The word translated here as “just” (it’s also frequently translated “right”) is “dikaios” and the short definition is “just, righteous, impartial.” The implication is that in every interaction and every relationship, our thoughts should come in line with God’s thoughts. I’m loving the way Paul is layering… [ read more ]

Happy Monday! If your weekend was as crazy as mine and you need to catch up, you can find links to the sixteen previous posts here . Phil. 4:8 ~ Whatever is honorable . . . think about these things. (ESV) Yesterday , we talked about reading non-fiction as a way to renew our minds. But what… [ read more ]

Philippians 4:8 ~ Whatever is honorable . . . think about these things.  (ESV) As we continue our 31 day journey into renewing our mind, today we’re going to talk about what it means to think about things that are honorable. The Greek word that is translated here as honorable is “semnos” and it means “August,… [ read more ]

I’ve always loved music. One of my favorite ways to worship is to be completely alone (which these days, is beyond rare), sit down at the piano, and play hymns while I warble out some dreadful alto and let the ancient words echo to the heavens in adoration. But since I’ve started writing, I have… [ read more ]

Do not be anxious about anything . . . whatever is true . . . think on these things. (Philippians 4:6 and 8) According to the Internet (and let’s not even get started as to whether or not the Internet can be considered true) there are many studies that have revealed that approximately 90% of… [ read more ]

Whatever is true . . . think on these things. Phil. 4:8 (ESV) Yesterday, we asked this question . . . How do we know what’s true? Well, if God is true (John 3:33) then He is our ultimate standard for truth. And the only way we can know what is true is to know… [ read more ]

Whatever is true . . . think about these things. (Phil 4:8 ESV) What is true? The dictionary defines true as “Truth, Reality. The quality or state of being accurate.” The Greek word used here is “alethes” and it means “true, loving the truth, speaking the truth, truthful.” From what I could gather, the word “alethes”… [ read more ]