Wars and Rumors of War

Ananias praying for the restoration of sight for Paul

"And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all^[a] these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences,^[b] and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.
⁹ “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹ Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many."- Matthew 24: 4-11(NKJV)

 Many of us are familiar with the above passages, Jesus describing end times situations in the world to the Disciples , one in particular is the passage about "wars and rumors of wars", but have we ever given such a straightforward statement any thought as to it's clear meaning? Daniel Webster described rumors as a "well authored" story of deceit, in his 1828 dictionary. In other words, War Propaganda designed to create a hatred and justification for vengeance, something in which the Christian should not participate. Now, I do not want this teaching to be misconstrued as I am saying that a Christian should not participate in defending their homeland, but merely that we really should not be operating in hatred or a lust for vengeance. In the end , we must realize that Al-Qaeda is not the enemy we should hate , but rather the father of lies is the one we should despise, the author of deception. Please remember to pray for our enemies and to love those that would despise us and cut our heads off with a rusty knife, this is our commandment from our Father. This sounds idiotic to the world, the words of either a lunatic or a fool, but it should not be this way with us. Remember Jesus words in Matthew chapter 5:
  44 But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

45 To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike].

46 For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that?

47 And if you greet only your brethren, what more than others are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles (the heathen) do that?

48 You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect.- (Amp)

Pray for your enemies that they would receive Christ, let love be in your heart for we never know which one of those zealots may be another "Paul" for this generation.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, Let me have the heart of an "Ananias" towards my enemy of whom I have heard many terrible things, may I bless my enemies and be obedient to You in hard times, let the love of Jesus come forth in my life and be filled with Your courage in times of necessity. Amen.