The Testimony of David Dye

Having been raised here, I have had lots of fun memories of the ranch and of this reservoir.


I remember riding horses in the water with no saddles, chasing turtles, fishing, evening campfires with marshmallows, and cutting blocks of ice in the wintertime for storage in the icehouse for the summer.

Around 15 years ago while swimming in this reservoir, I found myself halfway across, started to get short of breath and realized I didn’t have a 21-year-old set of lungs anymore. I had to make a quick decision of going back or to try for the other side. I made the decision to keep on swimming. I was yelling out for help and thought to myself, so this is how it all ends, done in by drowning? I actually saw my obituary in the Ekalaka Eagle. After going under 3 times, I finally reached shore having never been more thankful to land on solid ground. I remember how small I felt in this vast expanse of water.

Over the years I have thought a lot about some of the decisions I have made and wondered how, or why I made those decisions.

I finally realized through trial and error that I was allowing the devil too much play time in my life and decided there had to be a better way. The devil likes to start out the relationship with fun and every time, somewhere, somehow along the line he finally slams the hammer down and sits back and laughs at you and says ha, ha, (got you again) 100% of the time. I could go to Las Vegas and have better odds.

I have heard that the average person makes three thousand decisions per day or 90,000 decisions per month or around a million decisions per year. If I live 75 years at a million decisions per year that’s more zeros than I can put on paper and I started to wonder why haven’t I taken the time to make the right decision for Jesus and give Him my heart and soul. Of all the decisions I have made in my lifetime, this is the only decision that will last for all eternity.

I know that in my life for too long I have been stirring this bowl of soup called procrastination. I decided that I had procrastinated long enough and that it was time to make a decision.

With all the problems in this world we are having, the warning signs are becoming more and more concerning & I think time is very short.

Jesus promises that if you believe in him & repent he will give you eternal life. I heard Pastor John Hagee say that when a person dies someone will get that person’s soul, Satan or God. For years I have believed in God, It scares me to death the thought of having had the chance to give him my soul and never doing anything about it. Jesus wanted me to make that break from the devil, finally repent, and accept Christ as my Savior. I made that decision about a month ago with a smile, knowing that I had made the right choice. Heaven is forever and Hell is forever. The choice was mine to make and I have chosen God’s free gift of Salvation and eternity in Heaven.

Life here on earth is all about choices and decisions. This is why I’m here today at this baptism. Today we are gathered here at my baptism as I have finally made the decision to be obedient to the Word of God and be baptized publicly.

There are many thoughts on how to describe success or being successful. What does it take to be a successful person? Is it nice cars, big ranches, college education lots of money? Personally my idea of success is standing before Jesus and having him tell me, “Job well done soldier, Job well done, you may now enter the gates of Heaven.

I want to thank a friend of mine, Perry Elliot who is not here today, for working on me for so many years as we worked together on the railroad. For years he questioned me on where I stood in life on my thoughts about the Lord. Finally thanks to Chip and Dru for all the conversations about God that we have had here on the ranch as well as the many phone calls .

Busy Week

We have been busy getting ready for branding and docking this weekend.  Our annual event will bring about 30 people from the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Wyoming and South Dakota.

The first guest arrives on Wednesday and the rest will be here by Friday morning.  We are looking forward to seeing everyone again.

God's Best

 

 

 

God’s Best

God has His best things for the few

That dare to stand the test;

God has His second choice for those

Who will not have His best.

It is not always open ill

That risk the promised rest;

The Better often is the foe

That keeps us from the Best.

And others make the highest choice,

But when by trials pressed,

They shrink, they yield, they shun the cross,

And so they lose the best.

I want in this short life of mine,

As much as can be pressed

Of service true for God and man;

Help me to be my best.

Give me O Lord thy highest choice’

Let others take the rest,

Their good things have no charm for me,

For I have got thy Best.

Author Unknown

 



Willing To Be Wounded

I would like to share a devotional by Dr. David Jeremiah.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend.  Proverbs 27:6

When George Whitefield, the eighteenth- century British evangelist, first sailed to America, he wrote in his journal that the ship's cook had a drinking problem.  When he was reproved about his sins, the cook boasted that he planned to reform his life two years before he died, but not before. Whitefield noted that the cook died six hours later.

No one likes to be reproved about sin, but a wise person listens and repents.  Indeed, Solomon said, "Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed (Proverbs 27:5). Not surprisingly, most of us love to give reproof more than we like to receive it.  But Solomon also said that the person who receives correction is considered wise (Proverbs 15:5).

As a Christian, humility is perhaps the top priority in being open to reproof.  God says He gives grace to the humble but resists the proud (James 4:6). That doesn't mean we have to be a doormat, but it means we are willing to receive godly reproof without becoming defensive and resentful.  If you were lost on a journey, wouldn't you appreciate the person who pointed you in the right direction?

Receiving reproof could be the first step in reaching the goals you've set for your life. 


I am so thankful for parents and siblings that love me.  Many comments made by them stayed with me and kept me on the right path.  Today I am married to a man that has the same dreams as I have.  Together and with God's help we will reach those dreams.