Ted Dekker Quotes

It seems as though we Christians have developed a nasty habit of leading people into a radical encounter with God's unconditional love, forgiveness, acceptance, and union only to spend the ensuing years teaching them how to become close to God to earn his approval. ~ Ted Dekker

Thrillers provide the reader with a safe escape into a dangerous world where the stakes are as high as can be imagined with unpredictable outcomes. It's a perfect genre in which to explore hard issues of good and evil, a mirror that allows the reader to see both the good and not so good in themselves. ~ Ted Dekker

Our revelation is for the sons and daughters of God, realizing now that the greatest manifestation of the Spirit in our lives is love - the kind that holds no record of wrong - without which everything else we do is worthless, as Paul made so plain to the Corinthians. The Spirit of truth comes to show us the Father's love and our union with and in Christ, because only in this awareness can we love as He loves and so show ourselves and the world the love of the Father. ~ Ted Dekker

... It's not that you don't have the capacity to accept the truth. You don't want to accept it, and you hide behind your own logic and intelligence while the truth marches by. Step out and join it, for goodness' sake! Shout it out in full step! I believe! ~ Ted Dekker

He didn't think of the rot as a disease. His mind was sharp, but he'd been swallowed by lies that had long ago persuaded him that this was the way all good men should look and move and feel. Pain was natural. The smell of rotting flesh was more a scent of wholesome humanity than a stench. ~ Ted Dekker

My research for 'Adam' affected me profoundly, particularly the research into evil's underbelly. We tend not to think about evil until it pokes its head out of the air about us and then it tends to scare us silly. As well it should. ~ Ted Dekker

He started to chuckle with delight even before his voice trailed off. The laughter bubbled up and spilled out of his mouth, and even in the middle of all the light he thought that laughter was wonderful too. What an incredible body I have that can laugh like this! So he threw his arms in the air, eyes still closed and full of light, and started to jump up and down, giggling. What a wonderful, wonderful body he had! And ~ Ted Dekker

Everyone wanted to create his own history. There was nothing as powerful as the written word; history had taught them all that much. ~ Ted Dekker

I believed all the right things about God, but could I really let go of everything and trust Him in all things? If so, I would not experience fear. There is no fear in love and God is love. ~ Ted Dekker

There is my first insight, young woman. Always downplay the value of money; it will make it easier for him to hand it over ~ Ivena When Heaven Weeps Ted Dekker

Everything was really a story, penned or thought or acted out at some time by someone. ~ Ted Dekker

That's it?" Jason asked. "You spent an hour talking about how lucky you were to be dying?"
No, not dying, Son. Living. ~ Ted Dekker

To know. Not to know about. ~ Ted Dekker

People tend to react to other people in wholesale rather than in detail, right? He's a minister, so I hate him. She's beautiful, so I like her. One month later you wake up and realize you have nothing in common with the woman. ~ Ted Dekker

There's different ways to be impacted by truth. One is to read the scriptures. Another is to read other works by other people who have read the scriptures, non fiction for example. Another is to do studies. Another is to go to a place of worship. Another thing is to sit and listen to someone who's speaking. There's all kinds of ways. Another way is to write. About the truth. Discover the struggle through your character. ~ Ted Dekker

Talya was so taken by the magnificent creature that for a moment he forgot where he was. But then he remembered, and he looked up to see Saba on both knees, his arms spread wide and his face lifted to the sky, weeping softly. How wonderful was Saba! And beyond Saba, Kahil, seated tall on his stallion, staring at him with black eyes, frozen in shock. Lost. How beautiful was this poor man, so wounded to hurt so many! Still not a soul moved. Talya looked past Kahil to the warriors, who seemed not to know what to do, and beyond them to the platform where the queen and the king stood, staring dumbly. Shaquilath has lost her daughter, Talya thought, and his heart broke with hers. The king has great kindness that's been covered up by fear and greed. How or why these things came to Talya, he didn't know, because he wasn't as much knowing them as experiencing them. And ~ Ted Dekker

Perfect, that's our plan then. But you'll have to give up being a priest first. I wouldn't want to just sit around whispering and sipping hot chocolate. ~ Ted Dekker

Though being freed from sin, most remain slaves, blinded and gagged by their own deception. ~ Ted Dekker

In living we die, in dying we live. ~ Ted Dekker

Don't wear your mask too long or you might start to forget who's beneath it. -Austin ~ Ted Dekker

And then ...
And then Thomas Hunter dreamed, and the world would never be the same. ~ Ted Dekker

The problem with any philosophical consideration is that once you open a door in your mind, you can never close it. Once you learn something, you can never convince your mind that you didn't learn it. If you learn the world is round, you can never fit in with a world that thinks it's flat. ~ Ted Dekker

Some physicists postulate that the past, present, and future all exist simultaneously and that we simply experience whatever present slice of the universe we happen to be in at the moment. ~ Ted Dekker

To love in any way is to be like a child - it means to be vulnerable, to be wide-eyed, to be selfless. There is no such thing as free love; love is the most
costly expression in the world. To love romantically is to give of
oneself fully and completely, a merging and meshing of souls so
that the twain become a unity. It is to allow the sense of wonder
to fully enrapture. ~ Ted Dekker

Never mistake a woman as an opportunity for bliss. ~ Ted Dekker

There is indeed good and there is indeed evil, and both walk the earth. But good has little to do with the forms of religion, and evil has as little to do with so much behavior condemned by religion. Both good and evil vie for the passions of the heart. For love! ~ Ted Dekker

I've already said you can't take anything from me that I wouldn't freely give you. ~ Ted Dekker

The four rules of writing ... 1. Write to discover. 2. There is no greater discovery than love. 3. All love comes from the Creator. 4. Write what you will. ~ Ted Dekker

So then, we are all equally guilty, every day. How, then, does one find and know peace and power in this life when surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses who only pretend to be clean by whitewashing their reputations while pointing fingers of judgment? ~ Ted Dekker

The light had simply and utterly destroyed the darkness. ~ Ted Dekker

Do you know what hope and fear have in common? ... They both hold great power. But that power is dependent on both fear and hope together. Think about it. Without the fear of something terrible, you cannot have the hope that it won't happen, you see? Without having hope for something wonderful, you can't have any fear of losing it. They work together, the two most powerful forces we possess. ~ Ted Dekker

My writing is a very authentic journey of discovery. I'm going out there to learn who I am. My readers, consequently, take the same journey as my protagonist. ~ Ted Dekker

This will wreck you! Today, treat everyone you meet as if they're going to be dead by midnight. extend all the kindness and understanding you can, and do it with no thought of any reward. ~ Ted Dekker

Maybe he does show himself to us, but we don't see. Maybe it's not our senses that are the problem, but our minds. ~ Ted Dekker

Sin thrives in the dungeon, but slap it on the table for all to see, and it withers rather quickly. ~ Ted Dekker

It's the sorrow you feel that allows you to crave love. Without the suffering, there would be no true pleasure. Without tears, no joy. Without deficiency, no longing. This is the secret of the human heart, Rom. ~ Ted Dekker

I think everything we do, on one level or another, as writers, most of our writing is informed by our world view. ~ Ted Dekker

But He did not say *become* perfect. He said *be* perfect. And that mystery is unveiled in Yeshua Himself. For you are now in Him, and He is perfect. ~ Ted Dekker

What man would not romance a woman who had invited him? And what woman would not romance a man who had chosen her? It was the nature of the Great Romance. ~ Ted Dekker

What attention would death pay to his pathetic voice? He was powerless without her. ~ Ted Dekker

Billos ran. He tore down the shore, bounded up on the rock, and dove into the air.
The warm water engulfed him. A boiling heat knocked the wind from his lungs. The shock alone might kill him.
But it was pleasure that surged through his body, not pain. The sensations coursed through his bones in great unrelenting waves.
Elyon.
How he was certain, he did not know. But he knew. Elyon was in this lake with him.
Billos opened his eyes. Gold light drifted by. He lost all sense of direction. The water pressed in on every inch of his body, as intense as any acid, but one that burned with pleasure instead of pain.
He sank into the water, opened his mouth and laughed. He wanted more, much more. He wanted to suck the water in and drink it.
Without thinking, he did just that. The liquid hit his lungs. Billos pulled up, panicked. He tried to hack the water from his lungs, but inhaled more instead. No pain. He carefully sucked more water and breathed it out slowly. Then again, deep and hard. Out with a soft whoosh. He was breathing the water!
Billos shrieked with laughter. He swam into the lake, deeper and deeper. The power contained in this lake was far greater than anything he'd ever imagined.
"I made this, Billos."
Billos whipped his body around, searching for the words' source. "Elyon?" His voice was muffled, hardly a voice at all.
"Do you like it?"
"Yes!" Billos said. He might have spoken; he might have shouted-- ~ Ted Dekker

I'm a skeptic of religious systems, not of the faith. Someday I will be happy to discuss the difference with you. ~ Ted Dekker

You never read Spider-Man? Accepting your true identity means understanding that you are a stranger to this world. A freak, ostracized by the very people you want to help. ~ Ted Dekker

Will you follow me, Darsal? Will you Silvie? Will you both follow me to hell and back because two fuzzy white bats told me you should? ~ Ted Dekker

Grow up? Get herself straightened out? Her mind reeled from the verbal battering. No matter what she did, her father would tell her she was wrong. Worthless. Undeserving. ~ Ted Dekker

No one wanted to look at the common evils of society. Very few were willing to put aside their own pursuit of happiness long enough to consider the effects of greed and jealousy around them. From what she'd seen, humans were essentially troubled. For every one behind bars, another ten deserved to be behind bars, but that would put one in ten Americans behind bars. ~ Ted Dekker

And yet when you get right down to it, we're all the same - rich, poor, old, young, fat, skinny, white, brown, or purple - pick your costume, none of it really matters too much. What does matter is whether or not we take offense when we think we've been wronged, regardless of who we think we are or what costume we're wearing. ~ Ted Dekker

Make sure your soul is attached at all times - this town will steal it in a second, given the chance. ~ Ted Dekker

But aren't lovers always tempted to find another? You humans are lovers, yes? So you have this awful tendency to reject him who first loved you and follow after the intoxicating scents. ~ Ted Dekker

Every moment of your life, every choice and every circumstance, has carved a path to this very moment," Mom said. "You're always exactly where you're meant to be at precisely the perfect time. You can trust that always. When it's dark and when it's light. In those times when you scream at the sky or when you turn your face up to catch the warmth of the sun - you can trust that. ~ Ted Dekker

But the more I succeeded in the world's eyes, the more I realized that that success itself was only another prison, fashioned by the values of this world. More wealth only demanded I maintain that wealth. More status only begged me to rise higher. And fame ... What a cruel and jealous mistress fame is. ~ Ted Dekker

It's critical that we use a very dark brush to paint evil. When you bring the light into that darkness as characterized in John 1, that light is very vivid. When it dispels the darkness, we see the brilliance that's there. ~ Ted Dekker

Cause I don't think we ever really get over our childhood. It's always there, waiting. ~ Ted Dekker

Turn to the light. Don't fear the shadow it creates. ~ Ted Dekker

People reveal their true character when they're off center. ~ Ted Dekker

Another world. Another life. And for me it was much longer than five measly years. A world with more darkness and less hope than I care to remember. Bleak and starless, full of diseased men. It's inside them there. In some ways it makes it worse. You don't know who's diseased and who isn't. You don't know when you've become a Scab. ~ Ted Dekker

- It's their way. They don't understand suffering like we do. They live with it every day.
- It's not their way. It's the way of Teeleh. ~ Ted Dekker

Let go of your right to take offense at all that ever threatened you and all that threatens you still. Release the fear your understanding shows you in this storm. Turn even the other cheek. ~ Ted Dekker

The good news is that even though we walk through this valley of death, we don't have to fear, at least not for ourselves! Unfortunately, there is no way to skip over the valley altogether, we must face death and the evidence of evil all around us. But there will come a day ... And what a day that will be! ~ Ted Dekker

Like all of my fictions, 'Sinner' is a mirror. Look into it and you will find yourself. What you do with what you see is your choice. ~ Ted Dekker

...we all face similar pressures to forget the simple truth of who we are. Particularly the truths that don't jive with what we see around us. As time wears us down we can forget who we once were. ~ Ted Dekker

The good news is, you can love yourself because you, too, are now love. Everything else is of your own making: a lie you believe; a story from an accuser that ravages you and keeps you locked in that cage of hell. ~ Ted Dekker

Come hither, my dear. Come hither, that I mightest protectest thou! ~ Ted Dekker

I believe in God because only an idiot can look at the complex balance of nature and believe that has not been designed. Believe it or not, but some people still believe that a watch can make itself out of sand if you just give it enough time. That's what they call evolution. And you wonder why I am cynical. From my point of view you have to be a fool not to be cynical. ~ Ted Dekker

I've always wanted to go to the desert. It's so vast. Uncaring of the rest of the world. It's just there, no matter what else happens. Golden sands and towering rocks. Coyotes that roam the land, free. ~ Ted Dekker

As Paul wrote, a love that is patient, showing no jealousy or arrogance, keeping no record of wrong, not seeking its own and not provoked by another's behavior. These are the evidences of true love which flows from those who know the Father and His limitless love for them. ~ Ted Dekker

When I sit down to write a novel, I am exploring my own relationship with God, with the struggle between good and evil, my own purpose. ~ Ted Dekker

Everything I've written up to this point is crap. Now I'm going to write the real one ~ Ted Dekker

Mine was less a crisis of doctrine than a crisis of experience. ~ Ted Dekker

Do you believe?
"I believe," he said softly.
What do you believe?
"I believe that I will kill these two to save my wife and son."
Belief. Something about belief mattered greatly. ~ Ted Dekker

Some would say the Creator is a lamb. Some would say he's a lion. Some would say both. The fact is, he is neither a lamb nor a lion. These are fiction. Metaphors. Yet the Creator is both a lamb and a lion. These are both truths. ~ Ted Dekker

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. ~ Ted Dekker

God is obviouslt God, and Heaven obviously exsists, and every word spoken here on earth turns heads up there. ~ Ted Dekker

What love can you possibly need from the world if you are already full of His? None. ~ Ted Dekker

Most people die twice: first when they give up on life, and finally when Death comes to take what's his. ~ Ted Dekker

We call our religion the Great Romance, but really it feels more like a list of rules than anything similar to the Great Romance we once had. But now I think the knowledge of Elyon is starting to work its way into me again
in both realities ... If Elyon's real there, surely God must be real here. ~ Ted Dekker

They all seemed to function in it, but to say they controlled it would be wrong...The chaos controlled them. ~ Ted Dekker

Always remember you have been given the power to forgive any offense, and in so doing, remove it from your awareness as far as the east is from the west. True Vision is his gift, allowing you to see no blame; forgiveness is your truest purpose in the life. Seventy times seven, always leaving the old self in a watery grave and rising to find no fault. That's grace, that's true baptism and that's good news ... ~ Ted Dekker

The battle over flesh and blood cannot compare to the battle for the heart. ~ Ted Dekker

It is critical that writers who embrace the light of Christ's redemptive love characterize the darkness arrayed against us in a way that is consistent with its true nature. ~ Ted Dekker

The pain was so deep and so raw. There were days I would have died just to forget. The problem was, I couldn't figure out how to get her out of my mind. How do you kill that kind of pain? ~ Ted Dekker

He read reports, examined evidence, and poured more reports up the chain than the Pentagon could read. Nothing short of a human sieve. But in the end he was just one small piece on this game board called war. End of story ~ Ted Dekker

Your history is no less important to your survival than your ability to breathe. In the end, you can only determine whether to saturate your memories with pain or with perspective. Forgetting is not an option. I tell you the truth now: Pain was not God's plan for this life. It is a reality, but it is not a part of the plan. ~ Ted Dekker

I think a woman is born with the desire to hear she is beautiful. ~ Ted Dekker

The power of belief alone could change the course of history. ~ Ted Dekker

Your lives have always been about the Great Romance, and in the days to come you will understand that like never before. Your love will be tested. Others will join you. Some will leave the circle. Some will die. All of you will suffer. The Horde will hate you because their hearts have been stolen and their eyes have been blinded by the Shataiki. But if you keep your eyes on me until the end ... the lake will seem tame compared to what awaits us. ~ Ted Dekker

How can there be love without a true choice? Would you suggest that man be stripped of the capacity to love? ~ Ted Dekker

My journey is so similar to everyone else's journey, because we all are human. We all have been defeated by the powers of darkness, and we all find redemption in the light of Christ. ~ Ted Dekker

And why does man get angry? Because he feels threatened or wronged. And why does he feel threatened? Because he does not believe he is safe. Why? Because he is afraid of God and so cannot trust him. ~ Ted Dekker

Doing good required taking risks. ~ Ted Dekker

DUMAH "Love your enemies and do what is wonderful to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you and pray over those who take you away by force." Yeshua ~ Ted Dekker

His eyes held a subtle light that she could not mistake for anything other than true attraction. The kind that mere friends did not share. She hated it. She loved it. She hated that she loved it. ~ Ted Dekker

The point is, we were created to love beauty. We love beauty because Elyon loves beauty. We love song because Elyon loves song. We love love because Elyon loves love. And we love to be loved because Elyon loves to be loved. In all these ways we are like Elyon. In one way or another, everything we do is tied to this unfolding story of love between us and Elyon. ~ Ted Dekker

They were truly new people. No longer Forest People, certainly not the Horde. They were outcasts. They were the chosen. Those who had died. Those who lived. ~ Ted Dekker

My son was singing to us of our Father! Of Yeshua ... Of himself, the truest part of him, and of me, the me that was now risen and complete, joined in Yeshua's identity, like water in a bowl and the bowl in the water at once. He was the Way. The Truth. Life. No one could know the Father without this joining. And the song said more, all at once, like the opening of eyes to see an entire landscape once darkened by blindness. The mystery Talya sang to me in that single note could fill a hundred scrolls. I stood high in that arena and I trembled with wonder. TALYA ~ Ted Dekker

Know that you are loved, my dear ... Know that you can and will rise above all your fears. I now call you water walker. Water Walker? Yes, you walked through the waters of your fear, didn't you? ~ Ted Dekker

The kingdom of God is not about what we see with these eyes. It's not about eating or drinking or walking or throwing away the crutches. Those can be good gifts, like wealth and prosperity. But they touch only the surface and they are quite incidental. His kingdom is about peace and joy and love and a kind of power that will turn your heart into a herd of thundering horses if you let it. It ~ Ted Dekker

Once born into childlike faith, brimming with belief, typical people begin to lose their faith. Society mocks them. Their friends smirk. They come to change the world, but over time the world changes them. Soon they forget who they were; they forget the faith they once had. Then one day someone tells them the truth, but they don't want to go back, because they're comfortable in their new skin. Being a stranger in this world is never easy. ~ Ted Dekker

The day is brimming with freedom. He took another draw of the air. There's nothing like the clean smell of freedom, wouldn't you say Eden? ~ Ted Dekker

I now embrace the pleasures of this life with as much or more passion as I did before, but I do so without expecting those pleasures to provide any more than a foretaste of what is to come - a tremendously liberating knowledge. ~ Ted Dekker