The Gift of Light: (Revised) (The Gifts Book 1)

by Jen Gentry

  I give you my word that this is the last time

  you will ever hear from me. I’m transferring to Yale

  as soon as possible so you’ll never have to worry

  about seeing me.

  Please believe me, I have no wish to ever hurt

  you again. I truly regret the pain I’ve inflicted on you already.

  If you will, please read the other letter and try

  to understand how indebted I am to you. Because of

  you, I found the Lord Jesus and my life has not been

  the same since. For that I am eternally indebted to

  you. I pray that one day you will find it in your

  heart to forgive me for both our sakes.

  Yours in Christ,

  Bradley Steel

  The second letter was years older, faded yellow with time, and written by a much younger boy.

  To Marta Sims

  This is Bradley Steel.

  I gave my heart to Jesus today. I did this in

  part because I really want you to forgive me for

  hurting you. I know what it feels like when someone

  hurts you.

  So, I am asking you for your forgiveness

  because I never want to hurt anyone ever again.

  Bradley Steel

  Chapter Sixteen

  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

  John 10:10

  King James Version

  Bradley finished his own packing and decided to help his roommate finish loading his boxes into his car. Both of them were moving. His plans had not gone the way he’d hoped.

  He wasn’t able to get into Yale, but his aunt managed to get the university to give Bradley a break on the all freshman must live on campus rule. She used the excuse that his father attracted so much media attention of late that it would be in the best interests of the college and Bradley if he lived off campus. Her offer of a sizeable donation helped as well.

  Bradley just hoped that living off campus would help decrease the chances of him running into Marta. In any event, he would deal with his situation the only way he knew how, with the Lord’s help. Jimmy was having difficulties with his studies, and his parents felt he needed to stay in a dorm on campus, but opted for a private room, which meant he had to move, too.

  Bradley was saddened that they were parting ways. The two of them finished loading their boxes in separate vehicles and decided to go get some pizza for dinner before they finished cleaning the apartment. Bradley was almost behind the wheel of his car when he heard someone call out his name.

  “Bradley, Bradley, please wait.” A female voice echoed across the parking lot to his dormitory. He looked around trying to pinpoint the location of the voice. Then he spotted her. Marta ran in his direction, waving her arm. She held her side as if she’d been running a long way.

  When she caught up to him, she was so out of breath she leaned on his car and held up her hand.

  “Please, just give me a minute,” she asked, gasping for air. Bradley helped her sit down in the passenger seat, and ran back inside to get her a bottle of water, which was all he had left in the refrigerator.

  Grateful for the water, Marta took several sips as her breathing returned to normal.

  “Bradley, I am so glad I caught you. I practically had to bribe the registrar’s office to give me your location. I told them it was a true emergency and I had to speak with you before you left for Yale. I ran the whole mile here! I would have had to walk another mile away just to get my car.”

  He stared at her dumbfounded.

  “See, when I read your letters, I knew I had to tell you myself because I forgive you. I forgive you with my whole heart. What’s done is done. I forgive you and I will think of it no more from this day forward.”

  With that, she practically jumped into his arms and held him tight. All he could do was hug her back and thank the Lord for His divine intervention.

  When Marta finally let him go, he told her his news. “I’m not going to Yale, at least not until next fall. No amount of money could get me in. Their classes are already full and nothing could change that. I’m just moving into an apartment off campus for the remainder of the semester.

  “Oh, praise God,” she cried out. “I felt so awful about your leaving here for my sake. I want us to be friends, Bradley. Please give us a chance to get to know each other a bit. I think we could be good buddies, don’t you?”

  “Well, my friend Jimmy and I were just about to go for a pizza. Would you like to join us?” Bradley smiled at her as he scratched his head. He didn’t know what the Lord was doing here, but he knew surely this must have been by His hand.

  “I would love to.” Marta helped him move some boxes around so that she could fit into the passenger seat of his car, and they went for pizza.

  Three angels high-fived each other in the parking lot. Two of them had been with Bradley since his days at the academy, and the other was a personal guardian for Marta.

  To witness Marta forgive Bradley was a mission accomplished moment for all three of them and set the heavens to rejoicing.

  The news stunned Emily. Marta faxed her copies of Bradley’s letters.

  “You wouldn’t believe what Bradley’s been through, Em. He’s going into the army to be a Chaplain, of all things.”

  “A Chaplain. Really? Wow, I’m shocked. What a work the Lord has done in his life.”

  The news of Bradley’s transformation confirmed to Emily that prayer truly does work and she understood why the Lord sent her that dream about him when he was younger.

  “I told him all about you, Emily. He’s proud that you’re going to seminary school, and he wants to tell you how sorry he is for harassing you, too.”

  “You tell him I said there is no apology needed. But Marta, what about his father? How is his relationship with his father these days?”

  “He doesn’t talk to him anymore. He doesn’t talk much about him either. He has an aunt in New York that pretty much raised him after he left Hook Pond.”

  “Hmm, that’s interesting,” Emily mused.

  “Why?”

  “Well, I’m looking at the cover of Time magazine right now, and it has a picture of Bradley’s father on it. The caption reads “Will he or will he not make the run for the White House?”

  “Who cares? The guy is obviously a loser anyway, after the way he treated his son.” Marta didn’t give a hoot about Bradley’s father.

  “Think about it, Marta, this man could be our next president.”

  “Whoa, you’re so right. That’s an awful thought, isn’t it.”

  “Indeed. Well, dearest, I better get to bed. I have worship services early in the morning.”

  “OK, Em, good-night.”

  She hung up and felt a great need to pray about something. She could not put her finger on it, but she just got on her knees and prayed anyway.

  Later, as she drifted off to sleep, a prophetic dream came to her. It felt the same as the dream he’d had as a young girl, watching something unfold in front of her eyes without being a participant in the event.

  In front of her was a large oval shaped table in a spacious and posh office with several men and women gathered around. They wore either dark professional suits or full military attire. Everyone had a somber expression and no one spoke.

  A door opened to her right and everyone stood as a distinguished and handsome man entered the room. It was clear that this man was the Commander-in-Chief, the President of the United States. Emily recognized him instantly as an older version of Bradley Steel’s father. He took his place at the head of the table, but he did not sit, although he motioned everyone else to take their seats.

  “We all know why we’re here. You know the dire circumstances surrounding the subsequent collapse of the economy and the total devaluation of the American dollar. Millions of Americans are starving and homel
ess. Riots for food and supplies are breaking out all across the country. Thousands are dying in the streets of cold and hunger. We have no other choice. We must submit to the New World Order and a universal currency.

  We’ll no longer debate this issue. The time has come for the final vote as both the Senate and House have already voted. All in favor of joining the New World Order say Aye.” The president finished his speech and looked around the table. Emily watched in horror as each of the president’s cabinet members consented with aye down to the very last person.

  “This meeting is now concluded. I’ll contact the United Nations Alliance and let them know that the United States is ready to join with the European nations under the New World Order.”

  Emily woke-up confused. How could this be true? Would Bradley’s father be the one to usher in the New World Order? What would that mean to all the Christians? Would the rapture come before this awful collapse and dissolution of the United States?

  So many questions ran through her mind. Unable to sleep, she got up, opened her Bible and began reading in the Book of Revelations until she finally drifted off to sleep. The next morning she woke with a peace in her spirit and soul.

  The Lord would not have given her this vision if there were no way to stop it. She filed the dream away in the back of her mind as the Holy Spirit led her to focus on her studies.

  Emily worked and studied hard to learn as much as she could about the Bible and the different translations of it. To her it was like being on an archaeological dig, learning things about the past history of all human kind. She also studied the different doctrines of many disparate religious sects.

  A whole world of knowledge opened up for her. One of her more interesting classes was on deciphering different ancient languages and the symbols or markings associated with them. It was in this area that she excelled.

  Mastering diverse languages associated with varied cultures from the Bible helped her to learn even more about how angels and demons worked. For example, different ancient cultures had unique ways of worshiping their gods. The Canaanites actually sacrificed their own children to their Ba al’, Moloch, considered to be a powerful demon, by throwing them into the fires alive.

  This was deep and dark knowledge and not to be taken lightly. This was information Gemma had warned her about. This was why she needed to put on the whole armor of God every day, especially the helmet of salvation. She continued to cover herself in prayer as she learned about the demons and the kind of worship and power they desired, their need so overwhelming they would kill innocent children for it.

  The demons were insidiously evil and adept at deceiving humans. As Emily learned more and more, she came to realize that one of the greatest lies of the devil was that he did not exist. Even some Christians who professed to believe in God refused to believe that demons existed and that they existed only to kill, to steal, and to destroy God’s children.

  One afternoon Emily met with one of the school’s guidance counselors.

  “Ms. Bell, what is it you plan to do with the information you’ve gained here?” The question caught Emily off guard.

  “Well, I guess I want to share my knowledge and insights with others.”

  “And how will you do that?”

  Geez, this lady is pushy. “Well, I am not sure about that, yet. I want to learn as much as I can about the word of God and Christianity, as well as the power and principalities of darkness that we fight against and how we can overcome those powers by using the authority given to us by Jesus.”

  “So, you have no plans for evangelism or to pastor a church, nothing of that nature?” The answer formed in her mind, something she’d never thought of before and her voice took on man unusual tone.

  “What I want to do is learn about the enemy, mine and my Lord’s. I want to learn how to pray effectually to tear down demonic strongholds and in the process bring the lost home to Jesus. That’s what I want to do with what I learn here.” Emily and her counselor stared at each other, equally taken aback by her words.

  Emily left the counselor’s office and walked back to her dormitory across the heavily wooded grounds of the seminary school. It was spring in Oklahoma, hot and humid. The huge oak trees came to life again after the cold winter, sprouting green leaves and tiny buds in mass profusion. Emily walked and talked, so lost in her thoughts she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going.

  “Oomph,” she gasped as she ran headlong into someone. Her victim, a tall young man, dropped a large box as he and Emily collided.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry!” they said in unison as they reached down to reclaim their books. Emily took a good look at him from under thick lashes. His hair was dark and he had the clearest crystal blue eyes. He was quite handsome with a boyish quality to his charming grin.

  “Hey. I’m Seth, by the way, Seth Grayson. You’re Emily Bell, aren’t you?” He shook her hand as they put the last of the books back into the box.

  “Yeah, that’s me. How do you know my name?” Her eyebrows rose in wonder and a smile crossed her lips.

  “Well, we have a couple of classes together.” Emily’s face turned red as she tried to remember seeing him before, but could not.

  You are such a loner anymore, just an antisocial boob, Emily.

  It was true she tended to get wrapped up in

  her studies and not spend much time socializing.

  Besides, if she ever got lonely she would just dial up Marta or shoot an email to Gemma, but mostly she spent a lot of time in her room, talking to Jesus and praying.

  Before the two of them parted ways, Seth asked Emily if she would like to have lunch with him. She started to say no, as she was apt to be shy, but when she looked at him, she felt a strange connection.

  Maybe it was just attraction, but she found herself joining him for lunch, and then for dinner as they talked and talked. They spent the rest of the day together learning about each other.

  Seth had a great passion for the Lord, and Emily found that quality endearing and very attractive. He wanted to return his home in Ohio and take over leadership of his father’s church once he retired. Seth and Emily clicked like magnets as they walked hand in hand all over the lush campus grounds.

  ***

  The Ba al’ summoned Azelius to appear before them. They were not just one demon, but a group, a clique of powerful demons called Legion that answered only to Lucifer. The Ba al’ held enormous power that they used either to bless or torment humanity as they saw fit and however it suited their purposes or their plan for the moment.

  Azelius, as a Prince over a certain location and group of humans, in turn answered to them. The guru Bathomet’s cult worshiped the Ba al’ directly and having the guru with him gave Azelius an advantage of access to the power of the Ba al’.

  The Ba al’ approved of his work with the senator. To have such access to the White House through the senator would be a great coup for the demons and certain doom for mankind.

  The Ba al’ gathered in a dark corner of the world, an ancient deserted castle in the Netherlands. The demons that made up the powerful and ruling council were great in number. They stood tall and large girthed, some more than ten feet in height. All were clothed in royal red cloaks with hoods over their heads. While the hoods were a sign of their great and powerful status, it also hid their terribly hideous forms. They stood in a semi-circle as Azelius knelt in their midst.

  The Ba al’ spoke in unison as they addressed Azelius, who appeared before them on bended knee.

  “Will the senator soon announce his plans to run for the presidency?”

  “Yes, my Lords. He will announce his intent to run for election as president in the next several days. All has been put in place,” Azelius replied, keeping his head bowed.

  “We want to know of the senator’s son. He has turned to the one who holds power over heaven and earth, has he not?”

  “Yes, my Lords, the senator’s son remains a problem. He is covered by a host of angelic warriors
and they have blocked my every attempt to strike at the boy.”

  “The boy is now a man. We have word he plans to join the military. It would be strategic to take him out before the presidential elections.” Azelius knew they meant to kill the senator’s son.

  “How would you have me carry out this act, my Lords?”

  “We will take care of him. You will continue to work on gaining favor for the senator in all sects of America. Use the guru and the power his worship brings you to gain this favor.”

  “As you wish, my Lords” With that Azelius departed, pleased that soon he would not be plagued by the senator’s son and his endless prayers for his father.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is more delightful than wine.

  The Song of Solomon 1:2

  New International Version

  It was in the fall of their senior year of college that Senator Bradley Malcolm Steel, Jr. announced his intention to run for the presidency of the United States. He was seeking the Democratic nomination to run against the incumbent Republican, President George Doyle. He and his entourage were in full campaign mode, and on the campaign trail.

  It wasn’t long before reporters looking for a story began to stalk Bradley everywhere he went. Soon his standard ‘no comment’ started to arouse even more interest in the estranged relationship of the senator and his son.

  Amelia finally had to intervene on Bradley’s behalf and hired a team of bodyguards to keep the paparazzi away.

  Bradley would be accepting his tour of duty the summer following graduation from Harvard. Because of his extensive military training and education, they gave him his pick of assignments.

  This also gave him his choice of duties. With his minor in seminary arts, his dream of becoming a chaplain was about to become reality. He’d opted to go to Afghanistan, the most dangerous place in the world at the time.

  Marta begged him not to do it. He loved her dearly, but this was his calling. They’d maintained a close platonic relationship throughout their years at Harvard.