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.
The Grace of John 3:16
The Grace of John 3:16 CBByrd 6/23/21 God’s Prevenient grace ….. that loving regard God had for me before I even came to realize how much he loved me, simply because he created me and knew me before I was born. John 3:16 says: “God so loved the world……”, all of it, even me…. “ that he gave his only begotten Son”…… Jesus Christ, the one whose sacrifice provided the means for all people to be restored to fellowship with God….. “that whoever believes in him shall not die but have everlasting life,”…… from the moment of my profession of faith and into all...
Flawed Instruments
Flawed Instruments 6/23/21 CBByrd I am 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,...
Not So Christian Practice of Meditation and Mindfulness
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 have….....
Delight In The Lord And He Will Give You The Desires Of Your Heart…… Lessons From Pursuing Clergy Status
3/12/17 by Cathy Byrd Some know that I received a second letter of discontinuation in as many years by the Board of Ministry of the Alabama West Florida on 3/8/17 after having gone once again before them to request ordination as a deacon. A number of people have sought to know "where I am" in my heart with all of this. I recognized in February 2014 in my first interview for ordination that chances were slim to none of me ever being approved. After last year's discontinuation I did the hard work of grieving the reality that it was not likely to happen. I have sought to work...
Why Must a Whole Family Die For One Man’s Disobedience?
In an online discussion about a summer reading group on the Book of Joshua, one mother asked how to address a child asking questions about why all of Achan’s family had to die because of him covertly keeping booty from the Jericho campaign as the Hebrews began to take the Promised Land. I really appreciate a mother’s concern about how to teach her children stories from the Bible in a way they can understand. I prepared a group Bible study on Joshua in 2016 when I was preparing for ordination as a deacon. From a study I did on Joshua in 2016..."First Assault on Ai- The story of the...
Letters to Jesus While Undertaking a Reading of Luke
Letters to Jesus While Undertaking a Reading Luke- July 29, 2019l Chapter 1 Dear Jesus: Several years before I discovered the difference between affirming faith in you as savior of humankind for the evil of the world and surrendering to Jesus Christ as master of my soul and personal savior for my own personal sinfulness, I engaged in behavior that I would have never considered that a “good little Christian girl” who grew up in the church”, as I had, would do. When I came to my senses, I clearly recall thinking, “I should be dead. Either there is not a god or God is not like what I thought...
Casting Pearls Before Swine or Casting Bread Upon the Waters…….
Casting pearls before swine or casting bread upon the waters...... some days I truly wonder which one I am about. Matthew 7:6: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." These words of Jesus are recorded by Matthew, whose Gospel is written primarily for the benefit of Jewish hearers. It fits in with other verses in which Jesus cautions against judging others. The immediate preceding verse cautions one to take the log out of his own eye, then he’ll be able to see clearly to remove...
Elijah and Moses…. Hard Lessons Learned
The Most Significant Transformations Take Time And Experience……. Several things in my life have led me to a place where I believe I can finally understand how the prophet Elijah felt after defeating the prophets of Baal in a showdown proposal to the evil King Ahab in Samaria and why God disciplined Moses for striking the rock the second time the children needed water instead of simply speaking to the rock, as instructed……. I won’t give specifics of my own circumstances, but I will say that God has used these two Scripture lessons to show me some potent lessons in my own life. First, the...
Professionals and Craftsmen- Two Necessary Parties To Winning the Battle- Wisdom of Exodus 17
Numbers 22:26 “Then the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a NARROW PLACE where there was NO WAY TO TURN TO THE LEFT OR THE RIGHT." Is this a prophetic glimpse of Jesus standing/walking in THE WAY that would set the direction and path of us? Psalms 91: 11 “For He will give His angels orders concerning you, To protect you in all your ways.” Is this evidence that we have spiritual beings who are assisting us to find and walk in THE WAY Mattew 6:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter...
Love and One’s Progress Toward Christian Perfection
Thinking About One’s Progress Toward Christian Perfection……… 6/9/21 CBB As part of a discussion of the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian perfection, we have been tossing around individual perspectives on what it looks like to pursue sanctification and arrive at Christian Perfection. One participant in the discussion observed: “We are sanctified and are moving to perfection when there is no point beyond which we allow the Holy Spirit to change us into the image of Jesus. As a mathematician I sometimes imagine where I might be on the number line of my sanctification process - our...