Grace.

Grace is the free and unmerited favour or beneficence given to someone irrespective of their actions, earned worth, or proven goodness. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Grace is when you help one of your least favourite customers that comes into your place of work at closing time and demands service. You could say, "sorry we're closed" but you open the door and help him anyways. Grace is loving and forgiving the person who just shot and killed your family member.

Grace is God sacrificing Jesus in our place so that His wrath against our sin can be satisfied. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24-25).

Grace is God giving freely of His blessings to us each day despite us not deserving them. "From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:16-17).

It is simply amazing to see God pour out grace into the lives of those whom I love. God is revealing Himself to friends and family that have never know Him before. In turn, some of these people are acknowledging God and His saving grace as real. They are realizing that God has been with them all along, sometimes tugging on their sleeve, sometimes whispering in their ear, and placing people and events in their lives.

This is how I feel ... "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (Romans 5:1-5).

One of dad's favourite passages (which he requested in his will to be read at his passing):
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:8-10).

There is much more to be said about grace. I challenge you to search for yourself to see if you have experienced this daily, no, minute by minute grace that God gives to me. If you haven't, God's grace is freely available to you.

Feel free to leave comments below or to email me.

Dad's Last Email

I have a copy of dad's last email which he sent to a few people. It was published in Trinity Baptist Church's bulletin on February 25th, three days before he died. I thought some of you might be interested in sharing in some of dad's vision, humour, and some of his last written words.

"Well, I have finally been admitted to the RUH for the last of the chemo. Today is Day -4. When they get to Day 0 they tranfuse back my stem cells. If these "engraft" they will encourage the bone marrow to produce white and red blood cells and platelets once again. If they don't engraft ... well then we will see you in heaven. God has given me His peace. In some ways I would rather go to be with Him which is far better. Its been over a year .... a long battle and I am tired.
Nevertheless, as Paul once said to the Corinthians: 'It's better for you that I remain.' In other words you need me to keep bugging you about spiritual goals and applying biblical teachings. 8-) Sounds fair enough. I am in Room 6109 for all vegetarian pizza deliveries. 8-) My bedside phone is: 1-306-655-2574. If no answer, (its a single room so do not worry about disturbing anyone) call back later. I may be out in the TV room or elsewhere. After before 8am and after 10pm your calls are forwarded to unit 1, 6100 switchboard. Between those hours you get my room direct.
Blessings.
Lyle"

I would also just like to clarify that dad did NOT have cancer in his body when he died. He was undergoing preventative chemo and a preventative stem cell procedure. The cause of death was an infection in the blood called sepsis (same as septisemia). He didn't have any white blood cells left in his body due to the preventative chemo he had just undergone. Mom and I are meeting with the doctor tomorrow to find out more details and ask some questions.

Faith In God.

Many thanks to the doctors, nurses, and other staff from the Sixth Floor Cancer Ward and the Intensive Care Unit at Royal University Hospital for taking care of my dad! You have done all you could for dad and we are forever grateful. God, however, had other plans. We grieve the loss of an ever so godly and faithful servant and at the same time we delight in the joy of the realization that dad is with his Heavenly Father.

There are no words that describe the peace we have in our lives. It shouldn't be there, yet it is. Without a doubt it has been a long year. Numerous "ups" and "downs" have outlined the many previous months. But a stability and constant has always kept us with a clear focus and purpose. The stability, the constant I speak of, is God. He drives us to praise what He has done in our lives through dad's struggle with sickness and death. We cannot help but be overcome by the testing of our faith because we know it develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1). To be like Jesus Christ, God's living example of how to live life, was dad's focus and drive in life.

With family and friends gathered around, dad, weak in bed at the hospital, led the room full of fellow servants of God in the song "Because He Lives". The words read: "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives." What compelled my father to never give up, to never look back, to always strain forward--the fact that Jesus Christ is alive today! (Matthew chapter 28 comes to mind.)

The word relationship means a connection, bond, or link with someone. This is what we experience with the Creator God. Yes, the very Being who spoke the universe into existence! He is alive and active in my life! He speaks to me through the Bible, people, circumstances--in countless ways. He cares enough about me to bestow peace on me as I watched my father take his last breath! There is absolutely no substance in the denial of this God I speak of. There is no denying what He has done in my life--in the lives of my siblings and mother. Friends, relatives, pastors, and aquaintances all speak of the power of this same God.

He is the reason why I wake up in the morning and smile and laugh about the things I have been through in my life. My life is so full of joy in the midst of the pain and grief that inevitably come with the loss of a loved one. I think about dad and how he will be using his gifts and talents in the presence of God. I can picture him laughing and smiling and looking around at all the other people adoring God. I bet he is procaiming the name of Almighty God to all gathered!

I mess up. I was created to do good things and to acknowledge my Creator--we all were. "God created man in his own image" (Genesis 1:27), in His "likeness" (Gen. 1:26). That means we possess personality, morality, and spirituality (man is made for communion with God). But along the way we messed up and broke off the perfect commune with God we had (Gen. 3). We listened to ourselves and did what we wanted (we still are doing this). "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). And there is a penalty to be paid for this sin that goes against God's very nature. His wrath against this sin has to be satisfied. "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:22). Alas, there is hope for us: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). Christ paid the ultimate price for my sins and yours. He shed his blood on the cross so that we could experience forgiveness from the sin that separates us from God. All we have to do now is believe that God has done this for us and trust in Him, in Jesus Christ. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

I know for a fact that when I die I will be in the presence of the very One who gave me this life. God has assured me through His word, the Bible. As I search deeper into His word, I am only that much more convinced this is the only way to not spend eternity in hell (a very real place). It is not by going to church that I am freed from the sins that tie me down. It is not because I give to the poor or sing songs of praise to God. It is nothing I can do or have ever done. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:8-10).

God wants to re-establish the commune we once had with Him. He loves you so much! All it takes is faith on your part. "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Heb. 11:1). Talk to Jesus today and tell Him that you believe. Trust that His words are true and dig deeper into the Bible!

Read the Bible Online

(PS - I have changed my settings so that anyone who wants to can leave a comment by clicking on the "comment" link right below this post. You do not have to be a member of blogger.com to do this.)

The Answer is "Yes!"

Some of you have asked if I am going to continue to post on this site. The answes is "yes, of course!" Since October 2004, my intent for this site was (and will continue to be) to share with you, the reader, a piece of my life. A chapter in my life has come to an end, and now we will begin a new one together. My prayer is that God would be glorified through what I write--because He is the One I live for!

In Memory Of Lyle Smith

If you would like to make a donation we ask that you make a cheque out to Nipawin Bible Institute (Re: In memory of Lyle Smith).

Nipawin Bible Institute
Box 1986
Nipawin, Saskatchewan, Canada
S0E 1E0

Any Questions:
Phone: 306.862.5095
Toll Free: 888.862.5095
Fax: 306.862.3651
Email: info@nipawin.org
Website: http://www.nipawin.org


Also, a website has been set up by a friend of my brother Kerey. You can make a secure online donation using Paypal. All of the donations will be sent to Nipawin Bible Institute. The website is: http://www.darinmedia.com/lylesmith.html

The Smith Family thanks you for your consideration!

A Celebration Of Lyle Smith's Life!

Thursday, March 8th, 2007 at 1pm
Living Faith Chapel (Main Entrance to the Rear)
1371 103rd Street
North Battleford, SK

We would like to see all of you there, if at all possible, to share the memories and faith of Lyle Smith.

Need to know how to get there? Click Here

The Only Recommended Places To Stay:
Super 8 Motel 306-446-8888
Tropical Inn 306-446-4700
Best Canadian Motor Inns 306-445-7747
Five Star Motel 306-937-2651

God Is So Good...Words Cannot Describe

my brother kerey has secured an emergency passport and is now able to come home! praise God! thank you so much for your prayers everyone, God is really blessing us with peace. it is unexplainable. we have been reminicing about dad and having some laughs and cries with friends and family. we love you all and hope that you can come to the celebration of dad's life. it will be in north battleford late next week. we will know by tomorrow. i can't believe the incredible ways in which God has used my father to impact so many! what a blessing to have had a dad like mine! all praise and glory to God our Father!!!! i can't wait to see dad again....i am so overwhelmed with glorifying God. God spoke to me as i watched my dad take his very last breath...."the Lord giveth and he taketh away." it is so true. glory be to God for the blessing my dad was to me and to all of us!

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'"
- John 11:25