Spiritual Ponderings

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) For some reason today I became curious about this text and decided to look up some of the original words from which it was translated. I wondered if this word roaring really meant what it seems to mean. At this point I cannot find any reason to see that it means anything differently. However, as I looked over some of the other words I came across something quite interesting. The word for prowls , or walks as it is rendered in the KJV, actually has much more behind it than can been seen in the English translation. It actually includes the idea of almost strutting around in a way to impress others of his strength or prowess, to try to convince others of his ability. This would go along with the roaring part of the verse because lions who are seriously hunting don't actually roar while they stalk their prey, they hunt very stealthily ...

I had a train of thoughts invade my head recently and need to lay them out to help me understand them in a more logical way. So I took some time to rough them out in a table format that is helpful for me to see their relationships better. Path of forgiveness Path of assumed “justice” Choice of injured Reaction in offender Choice of injured Reaction in offender Forgiveness Surprise, confusion Blame Defensiveness Taking ownership and responsibility for the pain Attraction toward reconciliation Resentment souring into bitterness Self-justification, pride, legal shelters Give the pain to Jesus – release offender of responsibility Faced with making a choice how to respond Relive the pain, focus on wounds, attempts to inflict even more pain on others Fear, denial, withdrawal ...