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.
Deliver Me From Evil
An online devotional group was discussing deliverance from demonic influences this week. I have written about deliverance experiences in our women's life recovery program. Something I have observed is that Jesus didn't seem to go looking for spiritually harassed, oppressed, obsessed, or possessed people, He seemed to encounter them in the course of His day or they came seeking Him. (Except the disciples he called, and he knew what was in their hearts and later indicated that God had given them to Him..) People with problems came to Him, or some came on behalf of them, to seek His help....
Eben Ezer
This is a stone from a field on the homesite where my maternal grandfather's family lived in Barbour County, AL. I had discovered the significance of "standing stones" ( also called "Ebenezer"- stone of help) during a study 15 years or more ago by Ray Vander Laan - Crossroads of the World (Part of the Faith Lessons from the Holy Land series) that I led for several years at Lynn Haven UMC. When significant events happened among God's people, they would set up stones or piles of stones as memorials to mark God's work in the circumstances. In 1997 Bill and I were in the midst of a severe...
Jesus’ Prayer List
I preached today on John 17:6-26....Jesus' priestly prayer. Jesus prayed a tender pleading prayer on behalf of his disciples....AND on behalf of "all who would come to faith because of their testimony"....Hey! That's you and me, folks! Jesus was praying for all of the generations of believers from His time on the earth until the end of time! He prayed for: -unity with the Father and among themselves, -that their joy would be fulfilled, -for protection amidst the evil in the world, -for sanctifying righteousness, -for them to know the truth and to testify to the truth as He had done, -and for...
Looking For Lessons
Proverbs 24:32, "I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw." King Solomon, a very wise man, said, "I go out looking for lessons. And from what I see, I apply my heart to the things that I see around me all day." When Jesus said, "Let those with eyes to see, see and those with ears to hear, hear", he was instructing us to use our spiritual senses. . In a hymn called I Am His And He Is Mine, the words of the second verse are: "Heaven above is deeper blue; earth below is deeper green. There's a brightness in each hue Christless eyes have never seen." If you know...
Breaking Down Dividing Walls
It is sad that individuals in positions of power or influence are often of the first type described below. "Many can look at the world around them and despair over human differences which feel insurmountable. There is so much that can engender cynicism and a sense of futility. Yet, for those who would seek a different story, there is a house in which tearing down dividing walls that segregate human beings from each other and from God is the only appropriate response. Built upon the foundation that is Christ Jesus, this house has walls of restoration and renewal, forgiveness and...
Listening and Responding
I spent a significant part of today working on a sermon for Sunday at Carillon Beach Community Chapel. Rev. Terry Rodriguez is out of town for a couple of weeks, so she has graciously given me the privilege of filling in for her.. I had started three different times earlier in the week, trying to work with the lectionary texts or the Mother's Day theme, but I couldn't get it going....Nothing felt right or seemed to be sanctioned in prayer. On Monday I had a conversation that had led in a direction that has stayed with me all week....I couldn't quite shake it. So after discarding the other...
Defining God: Ineffable
A couple of weeks ago a friend shared her joy in discovering a new word that described an aspect of God...ineffable: too great, powerful, beautiful, etc., to be described or expressed in words. Since hearing her talk about that word, I have heard three people attempt to describe God in terms that left them incapable of expressing the fullness of what they wanted to say....they ran headlong into God's ineffability! Then one of my devotionals this past week from Jill Carattini was on that same characteristic of God! In over 10 years of study about the character, nature, attributes, and titles...
Who I Am
"Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am." . Parker Palmer "Let Your Life Speak" For over 25 years now my life has told me I am Christ's servant. I am the church. I am the door-holder for others who need to know and feel welcomed by Christ. I am cherished even though I am a sinner still. I heard a sermon last Sunday on the way to the family reunion in which the pastor said our Christian character is not defined by never sinning, but by the fact that we...
Whole “Other” Perspective
Sometimes I think people read about God doing things for His own glory and think God is a narcissist...... What is the point of an omnipotent, omniscient deity revealing His glory to His creation? We are His creation. Where does the created vessel get the audacity to question the creator's motive? Isn't that exactly what the devil did with Eve and Adam, causing them to question God's motive and rationale for banning them from the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Satan sought to make them question God's reason and make God look selfish and controlling. Satan, a created being, sought to...
Social Capital
5/4/16 I get such a chuckle out of Google's daily tributes to individuals or events significant on the day's date through it's search portal. Today's honoree is Jane Jacobs, a Canadian and American journalist, author, and activist best known for her influence on urban studies. Her influential book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) argued that urban renewal did not respect the needs of most city-dwellers. The book also introduced sociology concepts such as "eyes on the street" and "social capital". I love those two phrases "eyes on the street" and "social capital". I...