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.
Identity and Image
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” AW Tozer We are made in God's image and God's intention is that we would more and more be being molded into the perfect likeness of his Son, Jesus Christ. What we think of when God comes to mind, the image we have ot God, the attributes we know of God, the identity in Christ that is the work of the Holy Spirit within us is indeed the most important thing about us. If we are not being conformed to God's likeness, desiring it, cooperating with the Spirit in that work, aware of God's intention, purpose and...
Re-Vision
Beth Moore shared a pattern that she has observed regarding “vision” and the loss of one’s vision. It has 4 stages: - Initial Vision- When we first see and grasp a sense of God’s purpose and plan. The vision fills us with joy and excitement. - Unwanted Vision- As it progresses, we begin to see things that we don’t expect to see and don’t want to see in ourself or in others. We see darkness. It is a time of disillusion and disappointment. It can also be very disorienting and confusing. It tests our faith and is an opportunity to discover more of the truth of who God is and how he works. It...
As Jesus Would….
"Sin remains sin, no matter how emotive or empathetic we might be towards the sinner. It does not matter if the sinner is ourselves, our nearest and dearest, friends, or strangers. All sin is worthy of death, and that must be our response to it. We have no right to be judgmental, however, which causes us to react badly to sin, or to apply our own human standards to the sinner. …..We must respond – with biblical standards, not our own. That is, we look at sin as God looks at it, and we apply the necessary discipline, as He requires. Discipline is NOT what so many think it is – punishment!...
Patterns In Christian Life
I awaken early each day. The first thing I do is listen to SDT. Then I reflect on the text and pray. I have been so filled with the Word through the reflected and refracted glory of God in this Elijah story through the eyes and voice of JD Walt, some morning I find myself needing to close my eyes and sleep again to allow it to settle in my spirit and nourish me to see what further glory of God I might glean from it....... We lack the vision that comes from hungering and thirsting for the righteousness of Christ; we fail to show mercy as we have received mercy; and we cling to the...
Time To Shout
Heard: "Emotions don't make you any less holy; they make you more human." We use emotions to cry out for help, just like Peter, who cried out to Jesus, "Help me!" as he sank in the waves. Calling out for more of Jesus doesn't mean one isn't saved; it means that I know how much I need and am always dependent on my Savior. Shout!. For help, in joy, in praise, in any expression of your affirmation of your dependence upon Jesus. It's not when you shout, what you shout, or why you shout.....it is to whom you shout that makes the difference. (Matt Hagee: Sermon- There Comes a Time to Shout!)...
Eternal Cross
This is a cross made from 2 eights. In my sweet symbolic language with God 8 is the number of infinity, eternity, uncertainty, unknowing, the posture of trust. In the vertical it is in relationship to God. In the horizontal it is in relationship to others. The cross of Christ, symbol of our Christian life, embodies both dimensions. For it to stand, to have strength and integrity, the vertical beam must be firmly in position first, then the horizontal beam will rest on it in its proper position. We are joined together from the time of our profession of faith in Christ, in eternity with God...
Change: New Name, New Light
One often hears the phrase "You look radiant!" in the context of a new bride and groom, a man and woman expecting a baby, or upon holy baptism.... each circumstance having one thing in common.... Changed identity... a bride and groom become husband and wife, a man and woman become father and mother, a repentant soul is born anew in the Spirit . All are the result of God-ordained love given, received, and initiating a new identity. These are expressions of being The Light Of The World. Its Source is the One Who Said, "Let There Be Light!", then created all the good and very good things that...
Cognitive Dissonance ….. Short Take
A significant source of shame and guilt.....it’s called “cognitive dissonance” and it leads to living as a false self. It will cause the vessel of a soul to shatter.
Summer Favorites
In 1978, the summer before Hurricane Fredrick hit the Alabama Gulf Coast in September 1979, Bill and I and our kids vacationed on the lagoon in Gulf Shores at the home of Katherine and R.L. Musgrove, along with their son, Pete, and several other Musgrove family members. We were "adopted" family since Bill and Pete had been roommates at Auburn. While we were there, we crabbed and enjoyed fresh crabmeat West Indies salad that Mrs. Musgrove made. It had finely chopped fresh grown small green onions and was tangy and chilled. I found a new culinary pleasure! Tonight as I strolled through Winn...
Worshipful Worship
My schedule today took me to contemporary worship at 9:30. The sermon was a touchdown, an out of the park home run, a message straight from God's Word to my heart.... It was about something I pray for all the time. Tears flowed. I rarely put on makeup for church anymore and those glory-filled moves of the Spirit that catch me up suddenly in His arms, hugged close to heart, are why. But I stayed for the second traditional service to experience the liturgy- the call to worship, the Apostles Creed, the Gloria Patri, the piano and organ offertory, the Doxology, the candles and cross on the...