Read Online Arrived by Jerry B. Jenkins - Free Book Online Page B

she settled, Judd came closer. “Let me help you to a safe place.”
    â€œWhere can I go in this blackness that’s safe?” she spat. “I might as well throw myself off the side of the building. There’s no hope!”
    Judd wanted to tell her she could call out to God and be forgiven, but he couldn’t. The best he could do for her was ease her pain a little.
    â€œI know what I’ve done!” the woman yelled. “I had a lot of chances to say yes to God, but I kept putting it off.
    Kept saying no. And now look what happened.”
    Judd sat back, drained of emotion. How many other people on earth could say the same thing? How many had hardened their hearts toward God, making jokes of the message or saying they would get around to it later? Judd had been one of them. He had ignored the truth for so long, but God had given him a second chance.
    Judd scampered back to the office and helped Zvi to his feet. “Come on. We have to help this lady.”
    Judd pulled him into the hall, and they both helped the guard to her feet. Judd found a lunchroom down the hall and put the woman in a chair. “There’s a refrigerator behind you, to your right. Looked like there were some sandwiches in there. And here’s a drink in case you’re thirsty.”
    The woman reached out and nearly knocked the can of soda over. She took a sip, sat back, and mumbled something.
    â€œWhat did you say?”
    â€œI know he tried to reach me,” the woman whispered. “I watched them bring people through here and treat them like dogs, then talk about peace and love and goodwill. I knew in my heart it was fake and the other message was true.” She looked up and opened her mouth. Her chin quivered as she tried to form the words. Then tears welled in her eyes.
    Judd guessed what she was trying to say. She wanted to know if there was any hope, if God would somehow give her one more chance. But the woman must have known the answer. She put her head on the table and sobbed.
    Judd put an arm around Zvi and guided him to the door. As they walked down the long hall, the woman’s wails and cries nearly tore Judd’s heart out.
    When they reached the police cruiser and the others, Judd found Gunther and explained what he had seen on the computer in the director’s office. Gunther and Westin went back inside to investigate while Judd and Zvi climbed into the GC cruiser.
    â€œHow could you have compassion for that woman when she wanted to kill you?” Zvi said.
    â€œBecause I was exactly like her before the disappearances. For some reason, God gave me mercy and allowed me to call on him before it was too late.”
    â€œWhy do I still have a chance when that woman doesn’t?”
    â€œI don’t know the full answer, but I do know that if God has given you one more opportunity to respond, do it.”
    Zvi turned his head toward the window, deep in thought. “Tell me why you think Jesus is the Messiah.”
    Judd began in the Old Testament and from memory shared many prophecies that looked forward to the Messiah. “In Genesis, God curses the serpent and says that a descendant of Eve will crush the serpent’s head. Jesus won the victory over the devil on the cross. In Isaiah it’s predicted that a virgin will conceive a child and give birth to a son. Mary, Jesus’ mother, was a virgin.
    â€œIn one of the little books, Micah, I think, it says that out of Bethlehem will come a ruler over Israel whose origins are from ancient times. Jesus was born in Bethlehem.”
    â€œBut wasn’t Jesus just a good teacher? He never really claimed to be the Messiah, did he?”
    â€œThat was the reason the Jewish leaders were so angry. He called God his Father. He said, ‘I existed before Abraham was even born,’ which is how God referred to himself to Moses. It drove them wild. They wanted to kill him.”
    â€œBut did Jesus actually say he was