Jerry Rankin > Quotes

“Satan doesn't have to create religious opposition and government restrictions to inhibit the kingdom of God from being established among all peoples. If he can just get us to live like the world, indulge the flesh and treat sinful behavior as normative, he has deprived God of His glory and diminished the potential of others receiving the gospel.”
― Jerry Rankin, Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for God's Glory

“Lord, help me resist the inclination to rely upon my own wisdom and strength which makes me vulnerable to temptation. Help me avoid fleeing responsibility and neglecting to run to You for refuge. My natural instincts would lead me to a position in which the enemy would defeat me, but You are my righteousness. I seek You and long to see Your face.”
― Jerry Rankin, In the Secret Place

“It is not only the far too prominent moral failures among Christians that bring shame to God and deprive Him of being glorified in our lives but simply the lack of Spirit-led submission to one another. Our independent, self-centered attitudes create dissension that paralyzes the work of God and makes us no different from the world.”
― Jerry Rankin, Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for God's Glory

“We tend to think of blessings as providing comfort, well-being, and joy in having what we want in life. Blessing is seen as the opposite of suffering, but to the contrary, anything that draws us closer to God is a blessing.”
― Jerry Rankin, Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for God's Glory

“Andy Dietz, who is on the staff of a church in the panhandle of Texas, has been coordinating mission trips overseas for many years. On one particular trip with his young people, the project had been finished, and the kids had left for home, but Andy stayed over to visit with missionary friends in the area. He was coming back through a European city on his way home. Having an overnight transit, he went downtown for dinner, found himself in the wrong part of town, and was mugged and kidnapped. After taking all his money, and all he could get from the ATM machine, his captors had him wire his family to ask for $5,000 to secure his release. His family notified us, and we activated a prayer network and contacted our personnel in the city who were not even aware he was there. They notified the police, but before anything could be done, Andy was able to elude his captors and get away while they were eating and drinking. I called him after he got home to talk through the experience and seek to minister to him. I asked him, after such a traumatic experience, if he thought he would go on any more mission trips. He said, “Oh yes. It's the most gratifying thing I do to take these kids overseas.” He continued, “I was negligent and learned that I have got to be more vigilant about where I go.” He described what it was like to be beaten, tied up, put in the trunk of a car, and his life threatened. He said, “They didn't know me. Nobody knew where I was. I meant nothing to them. My life was worthless. I realized they wouldn't think twice about getting rid of me, and no one would know.” He continued, “You can imagine how desperate I was to get away. And all I could think of was God saying, 'Andy, this is how desperate you should be to know Me.'” I held the phone in disbelief. I can only imagine the extent of desperation to escape a situation where your life is threatened. Can you imagine being so desperate to know God in all of His fullness, to have a heart that is so passionate for Him and His holiness? I think that's the only thing that will be a fail-safe deterrent to immoral behavior. We are always vulnerable; Satan will see to that, but in Christ we have been given the capacity to walk in holiness and victory.”
― Jerry Rankin, Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for God's Glory

“God cannot entrust His power to someone who doesn't want it enough to be willing to deny self and embrace suffering and sacrifice.”
― Jerry Rankin, Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for God's Glory

“You may not feel that the flesh is dead; it may not seem evident as you deal with temptation and ungodly thoughts that obviously come from that old fleshly nature of sin, but the Bible is saying, “Consider the flesh as being dead—think of it in this way—because that's the way it is!” Reconcile your perception of the flesh with the truth of what God has said about it.”
― Jerry Rankin, Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for God's Glory

“We often feel that passion to know Christ in all of His fullness and to experience the power of the resurrected life but stop short of embracing His sufferings. But you can't have one without the other.”
― Jerry Rankin, Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for God's Glory

“It is not enough to do good things and live a righteous life. God expects us to have pure motives and a sincere heart.”
― Jerry Rankin, In the Secret Place