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.
Bearing Christ Into the World….
This resonates with me. I know that God is present, good, sovereign and personally cares for me, even when circumstances are uncomfortable, even painful. “God's movement is often abrupt and unsettling rather than predictable and settling.” ― Michael Joseph Brown Mary's 'yes' to God did not bring a quiet, predictable life of ease. Instead, she experienced rejection, uncertainty, elation, anxiety, and mystery. Bearing Christ into the world does not leave us comfortable, but does bring us comfort. How do you hold the tension between those two realities today? (Thanks for sharing this, Deborah...
The Gift of Experiencing Christ
Experiencing Christ.....Each Friday I gather with 4 other women for fellowship, Bible study, and accountability. What a joy it is to "know and be known, love and be loved, admonish and be admonished, serve and be served, and celebrate and be celebrated" ! It has become a highlight of my week. This past week as we exchanged Christmas gifts, I experienced Christ, as I often do, present with us. One of the members of the group gave me a lovely shoulder bag she'd purchased in Israel a few years ago, along with a blue bottle filled with Jordan River water from that trip, as well....
Trinity Represented in Art
“Help Me” Versus “Have Me” Faith
One poster in a daily devotional discussion group observed that having grown up in a particular faith tradition, she appreciated the ways in which it had developed her spiritually. "But I was never taught that there was any other kind of faith than "help me" faith. I understood that God loves to rescue His children - which is true, but it's not the full story of faith. I didn't know there was any other kind of faith until I became a serious student of the Scriptures. I saw "have me" faith when I discovered the continuity of the lives of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Paul and even...
Begotten, Not Created: Jesus Christ Is God, We Are Not
The Christ is here! Some go astray when they express belief that, because Jesus was human, we as humans can "incarnate the Spirit of God" in the same manner as Jesus and become gods, too. They take the "brother" notion and the "co-heirs" of the Kingdom with Christ further than is allowed by Scripture. Jesus Christ is unique in his incarnation of the Holy Spirit's presence in the world as the "only begotten Son" and the purpose and plan of his existence on Earth was a One and Only event..... This visual lists some of the primary reasons for the Holy Spirit incarnation in Jesus Christ.... The...
Merging Scripture and Cultural Norms
Jesus' life provides the template, the BEST example, of how we are to grow in six ways (Luke 2:52). Abraham Maslow's hierarchy became the standard for understanding human development and setting institutional policies to support healthy populations after WWII. However, in an attempt to avoid the messy complication of having to weigh in on and risk trampling on diverse religious beliefs, institutions lopped off the top of Maslow's theory..... "peak transcendent experiences," i.e. spiritual experiences, as unnecessary to achieving the fullest measure of human self-actualization. Notice how the...
Growth as a Spiritual Discipline
My word for 2020: "Grow"...….in grace, in obedience to God's will, in the fruit of the Spirit, in spirit-soul-body, in all the ways that God has intended and ordained..... “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38 1 Thessalonians 5:23 "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." The Christ-child was sanctified from conception while growing into his full adulthood, may we grow in all the ways God has intended for us...
Less of Me…More of Thee
Less of me...… more of Thee...... And we shall be changed...…. Inspired by my bedside digital clock at 2:00 in the morning. I awoke. Looked at it and saw within the hollow center of the digital “zero” a cross! Bill says awaking in the middle of the night means extra prayer time. Light of the World You stepped down into darkness Opened my eyes Let me see Beauty that made this heart adore You Hope of life spent with You Here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say that You're my God You're altogether lovely Altogether worthy Altogether wonderful to me...…...
Advent…..Again
What is one thing God has taught you during this Advent season that you want to keep close to your heart? Though timeless, God abides in each second. Though without a physical body, God abides in anybody who invites him in. Matthew 4:16 "The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
Ready For A Spiritual Awakening?
Are you ready for an awakening of faith? What holds you back? Perhaps lack of imagination? Jesus was not recognized by the Jews of his day because of their conditioning to expect the prophecies about the Messiah to be fulfilled in keeping with current circumstances, preferences, and traditions. Have we, too, given more authority to the knowledge and wisdom of "thought leaders" than to the Word of God? When we are told that all things are made new in Christ, do we look for new things or more of the same? Jesus talked about "all things" frequently and it seems to have been in the context of...