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.
When Testing Comes
Here's another "ponderable" that arose from a conversation today....One person has stated that "life is a test" and she sees everything through the lens of being tested. I asked if she felt the tests were from the devil or from God. "God." If she views everything in life through the lens of a test, then at least she has given the best answer for where that test is coming from. Okay, then, if the test is coming from God, you may rest assured that God will not let you fail. if you "score" poorly, he'll give you another opportunity. God is a god of "do-overs." If you think he will punish you...
Fullness of Christ
Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. This scripture is the focal point of my Seedbed Daily Text online devotional today, July 24, 2021. As I listened to it being read, I was taken immediately to the remembrance of John 1:14-17 that is the revelation of Christ as the fullness of...
Self-Awareness Versus Other-Awareness
Of the many objections that some members of the Board of Ministry of The UMC lobbed at me one after another over the final three years of the nine year journey in its determination to thwart my pursuit of ordination, perhaps the most amusing was that I lacked "self-awareness". As I have said again and again, I am quite capable of "self-awareness", but God has called me to "other-awareness", to think in terms of what is good for more than simply myself....like the others who were being hurt by the demeaning and attacking way some on the Board were pursuing their authority and responsibility...
GOD…….Always, Everywhere, Forever
Our daughter drove me to the outpatient surgery center in Birmingham, AL this morning for the planned thyroid right lobectomy. We arrived at the door promptly at 5 a.m. and I was registered, gowned, and waiting for the anesthesiologist and surgeon pre-op review and "mark up" by 5:25. LOL! As I lay there, tears slid down both sides of my face. I wasn't anxious or afraid. I simply felt the enveloping grief of being in such a situation without Bill for the first time since 1972. Charlotte was right there with me and I am very grateful for her. But even now, almost three years after Bill's...
Launching Them Out Into The Water
Elisabeth Elliot Quotes “There comes a time - many times, actually - in the lives of our children where we have to put the basket in the water. We have to let go and trust the plan of the Father. The world is a scary place - a place where we fear our children could drown. But we must remember that we have to let go so that God can draw them from the waters for His great purpose. He has called us to be their parents, but they were His first. My friend, whatever water you may be getting ready to put your basket into - remember that you have to put them in the water for God to draw them out...
Reframing The Kingdom of God
One of my very favorite devotional writers- Jill Carattini always challenges one to think! And one of my favorite topics....the revelation of God in Christ! Minds Upset Wherever one might be in declarations of belief, God is so often not the God these declarations expect, and often it is shocking to discover it. God comes near and offends our sense of understanding; God affronts our categories and overturns our sense of familiarity. Jesus of Nazareth does the same; quite particularly so in the language of the parables. With his stories, he offends the believing and unbelieving, disciples,...
Christians and Politics
"God is not political. He doesn’t take a “side” other than His own will and His own glory. As His creation, God wants man’s politics to be seasoned with grace, concern, love for our fellow people, and a willingness to work out our differences without being hateful. In this way others will know we are of God. That’s so very difficult in today’s political climate, especially when social media makes it so easy to spew a zinger of a line from the anonymity of your cell phone screen. Don’t try to drag God into your politics. Instead, rise above politics to show your godliness in the way you...
Guard Your Heart
Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to You, "Speak, for Your servant hears." Let me hear You speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of Your voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Your speaking voice. Amen" (A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God) " Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears! A Muslim friend gave me a slim little volume by a Muslim teacher one time and asked me...
Led In God’s Will
"You go nowhere by accident. Wherever you go, God is sending you. Wherever you are, God has put you there. He has a purpose in you being there. Christ who indwells you has something He wants to do through you wherever you are. Believe this, and go in His Grace, in His Love, and in His power. Amen" A benediction by the late Rev. Dr. Richard Halverson, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C. who was Chaplain of the U.S. Senate from February 2, 1981 until December 31, 1994. Understand that this is a benediction, a "good word", a sending forth for BELIEVERS, indwelled by the Holy Spirit,...
God At Work Through The Unexpected
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. How often we discover the truth of this in the surprising ways in which God works among us! Blessings frequently arise from unlikely circumstances. Margaret Manning makes that point: "Elizabeth and Zacharias were both from priestly lines: Zacharias from Abijah, and Elizabeth from Aaron. The gospel alerts the reader that they “were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of God” (Luke 1:5-6). However, Elizabeth’s barrenness would have called her...