About the Author
Cathy Boyd Byrd invites others to join her in considering topics of interest to those on the Christian spiritual journey…..discipleship, spirituality, mental health, Christian growth, and Bible study. Cathy enjoys working with others as they transition from emotional emergency and brokenness to spiritual emergence and abundant living! Many of the topics about which Cathy writes are interrelated as experienced in her own life and in the lives of those with whom she works in counseling, teaching, and case management, and in friendships. She believes that sharing our journey of Christian growth and spirituality helps us know God and ourselves better and connects us with others!
Cathy is a Christian Educator and Life Recovery Counselor, and an ordained deacon through Christian Leaders Institute. She serves as Community Outreach MInister at Lynn Haven United Methodist Church. She is a student (disciple) of the Holy Spirit and shares with her students (disciples) the things the Lord teaches her through Bible study and contemplation, incorporating experiences interpreted through the Word, cherished traditions of her faith, and reasoning that comes from seeking the mind of Christ in accountable community. She was widowed in August 2020 after 48 years of marriage to Bill Byrd, is mother of 2 and grandmother of 5. Her journey of faith has been lifelong and continues to be an adventure with the trailblazer and guide, Jesus Christ!
Cathy is the founder and program manager for a Christian women’s residential life recovery program, Titus 2 Partnership, Inc.(www.titus2.life) in Panama City, Florida.
What Doth The Lord Require of Thee?
Micah 6:8 proclaims to us: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” How does one “DO JUSTLY” except by making a distinction between good and evil in keeping with the standard that God himself has revealed to us by His Word, by the life and ministry of Jesus, by the Spirit of Christ at work in us and by the exhortation and admonishment of God’s people in loving community with one another? God defines what is "good" and makes it known to us. Good and upright is the Lord. Psalm...
Pearls of Great Price
Psalm 34:18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God….. we enter through the gate of brokenness, needing comfort and in meekness…. Not by our accomplishments and praise of people. Revelation 21:21 reminds us: "The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass." One of the issues we revisit regularly in recovery and discipling is the matter of suffering- why it is present, how we...
Lying: Spiritual Smoke Detector
What's on my mind, asks Facebook? Honestly? Honesty. This morning I heard the radio devotional by Ron Hutchcraft, A Word With You. I had listened to his daily radio devotionals for years when we lived in Alabama from 1992 on, when I became born anew. Here's what he said...... "Years ago, I asked God to install a spiritual smoke detector in my heart - one that would actually go off inside me whenever I was saying something that was less than the truth. I think we all need an inner alarm like that, because lies do so much damage if you don't put them out right away. We tend to...
Examining The Building Blocks of Mental Health and Abundant Life
“When the church takes seriously its call to facilitate healing and life transformation as the Body of Christ, the world will be a different place…… one person at the time. We must reclaim a holistic view of what “abundant living” can be and help people achieve it. I have had the opportunity recently to talk to 2 mental health professionals about our program at Titus 2. Our small mostly unknown little house is a healing balm for those who come here. Both of these MHP are partners in care for women we serve. In trying to briefly give them an overview of what we do I referenced the...
Triune Godhead: Three in One, One in Three
John 14:9-21 “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say I am in the Father and Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. “ “….it is the Father, living in me, who is doing HIS works…”. Those works of God were the manifestations of healing, of water to wine, enabling Jesus to walk on water or...
A Study in Soul Character
A Soul Character Study 1-13-21 Before the “Law” was given to Moses at Mt. Sinai, there was the character of God and God’s revelation of himself to his creation by what God did, what God said, and upon what (or whom) God showed his favor or discipline. God was, himself, the sole purveyor of truth. I have come to this as a student of the Word of God and after being in relationship for some time with God in Christ Jesus who the Gospel writers tell us IS the Word Incarnate, the Spirit of Truth. John Stonestreet writes today about the posthumous reports of the truth of previously only rumored...
Loving the Broken Body of Christ
I had written recently about a bit of squeamishness about the crucifix… it bearing the body of Christ....... While God’s mercy and grace expressed in Christ’s willingness to die for my sins is a measure of his love and a cause of great gratitude by me, it is the victory of the resurrected and ascended Christ and his Holy Spirit present to me now that is the power in which I live. Recently I was reminded of that through someone’s prayer to “ love the broken body of Christ”. I admit I felt a bit of a wince at the thought of loving his broken body until I thought it through ….Jesus said, “THIS...
Unspirited Mindfulness: Incomplete Connection
I receive an online newsletter called “Sounds True”. I look at it from time to time to get the drift of what’s being peddled by the popular culture as “Truth” to ears that want to be tickled…… today it offered a free video by a renowned Zen master called Thay on mindfulness as a means to being present to others. He said that the object of meditation is to connect mind and body so that one may be fully present to those we love. Most all of these online pop psych newsletters or blogs are marketing ploys to sell you someone’s idea of the best new way to solve whatever problem you...
Awaiting the Second Coming….
Morning musing……. Does it really matter to you whether or not Jesus Christ returns in the flesh, upon the clouds, or on a white horse? If we believe and live as if his Holy Spirit, HIS Holy Spirit DNA, in us is enough, the transformation in us and in the world will achieve the same result…… His Peace and Righteous Authority will reign….Are we denying the reality of or deferring living into holiness until we see Christ coming again in the flesh? That seems to diminish the reason for which the Person of The Holy Spirit exists… The Bible says: Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth,...
Flawed Instruments and God’s Presence
Such a flawed instrument of your love and grace, Lord…….. like David, in 2 Samuel 6. There are so many things here to observe about David that are unbecoming…. After he defeated the Philistines, he went marching off “as to war” to regain God’s Ark in Judah but God certainly didn’t need David’s 30,000 elite soldiers. God was capable of bringing his ark out of any place he chose, any time he chose, by any one he chose….as observed in 1 Samuel. Recall that those among Israel’s enemies who captured the Ark were stricken with sores and illness , leading the Philistines to return it to Israel on...