Set Apart from the Rest: Unexpected Truth

By J.B. Morales

Everyone has an internal struggle, and everyone struggles with faith. Jim is no exception to this rule. Jims problem is that he is an atheist and has no room for a god. He is a regular American and is struggling as it is to make it.

God sends angels disguised as people to get his attention. Fed up with his life, he attempts to disregard them. He seems to accept his newfound faith but is continually tested by supernatural forces. Jim even catches the attention of the antichrist, not to mention Satan himself. As if his personal struggle was not enough, he has to worry about what plans Satan has for his friends.

Each victory seems to have a negative relapse. Realistic dreams of rapture and the apocalypse haunt him during his sleep. During his time awake he has visions of heaven and even a glimpse of the future. Can this newly found Christian remain vigilant in his walk, or will his faith fade to the wayside? Can he hold onto the truth, or will he follow the traditions of man?

Little does Jim know, God has a much bigger plan for his life. He has to do the impossiblebattle against Satan and his army of darknesswith little more than the word of God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490862323

J.B. Morales

Jesse B. Morales was born in Houston, Texas, where he currently lives. His grandfather was an evangelist who studied at Lakewood Bible College. He raised Jesse with the Word. Jesse is a member of Strong Tower Church. The Holy Spirit inspired this book and series.

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Copyright © 2015 Jesse Morales.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6233-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6234-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6232-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014921561

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/22/2014

Contents

Prologue

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Prologue

G od gave the ending of the story at the beginning. God spoke this into existence and made it known to man. The Scriptures, inspired by God, were made available to all so they may know the truth. It is sad to say that many disregard the truth and hide under a veil of false truth. This story is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Woe to anyone who reads this and disregards it. You know the truth, but do you know how it leads to the ending?

Jim stood at the window and looked out at the dreary storm. The storm continued to beat against the old window pane. He inhaled deeply and then sighed. His best friends were here together in this hospital room. One was in a coma and looked like he was on his deathbed. No one knew what strength George was using to cling to life. Jim and his other two friends, Kyle and James, thought about how George had fallen so far off the reservation, and Jim continued to subdue those painful memories. He pulled his hands from his pockets and placed them on the window sill.

Jim looked out of the window at the storm and said, During the course of my life, I have heard of the living Word of God. I have heard of visions and dreams and supernatural things. My story begins with trials, triumphs, and vivid dreams. These dreams have made me dread my slumber and given me such fear. I have pleaded with my conscience to live upright with moral standards. Unfortunately, the world and its system are corrupt and seek to destroy us on a daily basis. I don’t know what will come of these stories, but the Holy Spirit has given me this work to complete. I heard the Holy Spirit tell me, ‘Hear the truth and wisdom. Many seek it, even to the point of desolation.’ While staring at the beating rain he thought of how this journey had begun. He wondered about George’s internal struggles for his friend to turn so far against him as well as God.

Why does he have so much hatred toward everyone? asked Kyle.

Jim did not reply; he was lost in his thoughts. He racked his memory for the origin of George’s struggle. He tried to remember if he had done anything that directly affected George’s decision. And then he remembered.

It all began one night with a dream.

1

J im was lying in his bed, uncomfortably tossing and turning. The room was devoid of light, except for the occasional gleam of a headlight from a passing car. He breathed deeply, thinking of whether or not to count imaginary sheep and wondering who thought of sheep jumping over a fence in the first place.

It seemed to take hours to calm his mind. Jim tried every method that he could think of. He loved to sleep but dreaded the realistic dreams that haunted him. He finally drifted off and awoke in a dream. I’m back home, back when I was several years younger, he said.

He knew that he was in middle school and thought about a girl named Christie. During his youth, he’d had a crush on Christie. From the day he met her in kindergarten, even until now, he liked her. One day, she told him that she wanted to meet with him at the mall. He constantly replayed the conversation in his head. He promised her that he would be there at six that evening.

His hair was still in a careless bed-head mode, and his clothes seemed like they would be better used for lawn work. They were mismatched and dingy from years of wear. He browsed through his closet and found his last clean shirt. The shirt also was dingy and faded, but at least it was clean. The pants that he chose were faded too. He slid his feet into a black pair of shoes as if they were house slippers. Then he begged his dad to take him to the mall, and luckily, this time his dad seemed in a good mood. The car ride to the mall was shorter than he remembered.

Walking briskly, he headed straight for the escalator where he was to meet Christie—but she was nowhere to be found. He presumed she had gone to the food court to hang out. He gave a brief sigh of disappointment but continued to walk around. As he walked, he passed an elegant jewelry store and looked in the store window to admire the beautiful jewelry. White gold captured his attention; he was fascinated by its pure innocence. He knew that he couldn’t afford it; after all, his savings from his allowance was not that much.

Unable to find Christie, he leaned against the wall in a moment of aggravation. Suddenly, his back and shoulders began to vibrate as his knees buckled beneath him. Against all reason, the walls and floors began to shake, and glass shattered from the ceiling. He thought an earthquake was happening, but he was nowhere in the geographical location for one to occur.

A frail woman with a cane lost her footing and collapsed, and all around Jim, people were screaming. Their howls echoed against the walls as panic set in. The lights flickered and then went out, plunging the mall into what seemed like an empty oblivion. Jim felt lost in the chaos—and then the emergency lights flickered, giving false hope.

Everyone rushed toward the exit, but then an intense high-pitched whistle reverberated through the corridors. The whistle seemed to penetrate Jim’s very being, to the depths of his soul. At that moment, concrete and glass came crashing down from the ceiling, like boulders and daggers, killing those who were unfortunate to be in the path. Even though he was gripped by agonizing fear, Jim looked around—and he saw glowing rocks scattered among the glass and concrete boulders. The rocks were not ordinary and had an immense heat. As Jim looked to the sky, he observed balls of light—a shower of meteors—crashing through the atmosphere and colliding with the terrain.

Being on the second floor of the mall was not good for anyone. When the meteors fell, the impact caused the second floor to collapse and created a giant slide to the ground floor. At the base of this slide were molten steel and flickering flames. A fire spread across the floor from the intense heat and caused the area to ignite an inferno.

People fell onto this makeshift slide. They clawed with all their might to stay on solid ground. Some lost fingernails as gravity pulled them down to the pit. Terrified screams filled the air, creating a symphony of hopelessness. Jim immediately raced for the emergency exit. Sweat saturated his clothes, and he gasped for air. Through the intense heat and heavy smoke, he tried to follow the emergency exit signs that remained intact. The floor violently shook again and twisted as if it were a piece of rubber. The mall building made a grotesque whining sound, and Jim feared that the infrastructure was about to give. Just as Jim made it into the doorway of the stairwell, the floor crumbled, and he’d just made it through the door when the ceiling started to fall. Dust, coughs, and screams polluted the air. He had to move quickly, as the meteors were still falling to the ground with immense force. He made a dash for the grass near the parking lot. Most of the sidewalk near the grassy area had been broken up by various pieces of meteorites. The ground looked like a terrible construction site.

From a distance, Jim noticed a mob running toward the people who were exiting the mall. The mob began violently attacking and murdering anyone who exited the mall. Blood spattered the area as they were viciously attacked. Those who were not attacked dropped to their knees as they gasped for air. With their last breath, they begged for mercy but found none. The attackers gave no indication why they were harming and killing everyone. They laughed and mocked their victims and sounded as if they made a game of their actions.

Jim thought the faces of the attackers appeared normal. When he looked more closely, though, he could see that they wore masks. The masks were transparent and visible at the same time. The masks appeared ominous, resembling a cat with horns. One group of people had white masks and the other had gold masks.

Tears streamed down Jim’s cheeks as the gruesome onslaught continued. He had to remain vigilant and determined if he wanted to escape with his life. He ran as fast as he could from the parking lot. He got a quarter of a mile down the street when he saw a swarm of giant bees. They were about the size of volleyballs and were wearing battle armor. He decided to run through the nearby forest and managed to run about three miles down the road when he found a group of people.

With caution, he examined them and began a slow approach. He wanted more time to carefully consider his options and determine if he could trust this group. He looked behind him and noticed the giant bees making their way toward him, so he decided to introduce himself to the group. The group finally noticed him and frantically waved, urging him to hurry. The air vibrated as the wings of the bees fluttered and made gusts of wind. He made it to the group as they were ducking into a sewer manhole. Jim was the last one in the manhole. He moved the extremely heavy manhole cover over his head. He did this with the surge of adrenaline that was pumping in his body as the giant bees passed over him.

Exhausted and confused, Jim attempted to make sense of things. His body ached from cuts and bruises. Now that he was safe, his adrenaline surge wore off. Fatigue began to set in his muscles like tar. An array of emotions plagued his soul, and he wanted to drift off to sleep. He thought of how alone he felt, now that he was separated from his family. As terrible as it was to stand in a sewer, it was worse to think about sleeping in one. He was relieved that it at least provided safety and cover from the chaos above.

Each person in the group took turns standing watch, with each watch lasting about four hours. During the shift, Jim leaned his head against the wall and let the sounds of the world fade away.