God Can Use a Cat

God Can Use A Cat

GOD CAN USE A CAT! (or THE MARKET PLACE GOSPEL) GOD NEEDS YOU by Kathie
Walters

The Illuminator

Jesus illuminated every situation and person He came into contact with. Did
He actually sit down and preach a gospel message to everyone He encountered?
No – He represented God the Father – He had the mind of the Father – His
actions represented the power of God and the goodness of God to the people
around Him. He was the light – He was the door into eternity -He was the
salt(salt keeps things fresh) He was the Bread -for sustenance – He was the
Shepherd – for care. One of the last things Jesus said to the disciples was
” Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature”(Mark
16:15). Does that mean that we all leave our jobs and homes and go
“full-time” in the ministry? No – it means we act like Jesus acted – Jesus
deposited His life in us – the Church – now we are commissioned to do just
what He did – And he gave us the power and authority to do it, that’s
exciting! Jesus said “… I give you power over all the power of the enemy,
and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19). Everyone Jesus met
was affected by Him. Not everyone followed, not all became disciples, but
they still knew He was connected to something or someone other than Himself.

He knows us

In John Chapter 4:5-30 Jesus had a very interesting encounter with a woman
from Samara. The lady at the well had no doubt that she was not dealing with
an ordinary man – because Jesus spoke with authority and He spoke right into
the situation and straight to her heart. She wanted to have a religious
discussion.
“Which is the right place to worship, the mountains or the city?”
Jesus ignored the intellectual place she was trying to bring him into and
spoke to her situation “You have had five husbands and the man you are now
living with is not your husband!”
Oh my!That was disarming wasn’t it? I mean she wasn’t really expecting this
to turn personal. But Jesus saw in the Spirit. He saw more than a lady
fetching water, more than a women talking religion. He wanted to reach her
so He spoke right past all that He saw in the natural realm and zeroed in to
the hidden facts of her life. “Oh you must be a prophet” she said. She was
getting close-He was a prophet of course, but He was more than that- He had
the power to give her LIVING WATER.
He said, ” Whoever drinks of the water (from the well) shall thirst again,
but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst;
but the water that I give him shall be in him a well of water springing up
into everlasting life.”

Jesus had a real neat way of reaching people.He reached them where they were
but He didn’t just meet immediate needs He introduced them to someone, His
Father. He introduced people to a greater realm of life and death. He loved
them and cared for them and let them know there was something great they
could do with their lives. His compassion caused Him to reach out, not with
mere sympathy, but with power from God. Jesus lived in the Spirit realm- He
didn’t respond to the natural circumstances,he saw past them and ministered
to the real issues. He brought the truth into outward circumstances and
delivered people from the ties and bondages of natural things, even death.
On his way to raise Jairus daughter from the dead, someone else was
healed,the women with the issue of blood – because she availed herself of
His Life ( Mark 5:22-3.
There are many stores of Jesus’ encounters with sin, sickness and death, but
He lived in a realm above those things and brought His Life into them. Why
was that? Because He wanted to show how great His power was? No, it was
because He wanted the people to know there is a greater realm; a place where
God is; and that they could know this God and Father in heaven. That’s our
commission as we get to do that too. We tell and believe and God will show
His power through us and demonstrate that He is alive and well and He seeks
our generation for relationship He loves people friends and so He gives and
gives and gives again Guess what? We get to be the channel of that love and
power. What a privilege  to preach this wonderful gospel.

Get rid of the box

A lot of the time we as Christians, put a limit on the way we think God can
and will move. We acquire little mindsets about the way God works. Ask the
Holy Spirit to help you remove some of those thoughts that make a box for
your faith. The same Spirit that was in Christ Jesus is in you and the
ministry that He operated in, which was deposited in you and me, and He
commissioned us with His commission to heal the sick, cast out demons and
preach the gospel. (Mark 16:15-18)

God Can Use a Cat

Cat Years ago I was in a wonderful move of God in London. We reached out to
people through the gifts of the spirit and in faith. One of the elders in
our church was an actor named Timmy. Timmy had been in a show for a number
of months and he had a burden for the orchestra leader. But the man was not
interested in the Gospel although Timmy shared with him several times. The
orchestra leader (Dennis) was very happy, he had a good marriage, good
income, nice home. “Everything in the garden was lovely” as the saying goes.
This was frustrating to Timmy as the man saw no need of getting saved or
giving his heart to the Lord. The play finally finished its run and we
prayed with Timmy for this man. “Lord, please reveal a need that this man
and his wife cannot meet for themselves.” We left it at that and John did
not see the man any more – UNTIL – about a year later we were all in a “Let
your Light Shine” march in London.

There were many thousands of Christians taking part in the march all singing
and shouting praises to God. As we walked Timmy suddenly looked up and a
hundred yards away he saw the orchestra leader carrying a huge banner, which
said in bold letters “JESUS IS LORD.” Timmy took off to find out what
happened to this man it is an interesting story. Dennis and his wife were
living their happy-go-lucky life, when their little cat was taken very sick.
The veterinary said that the kitty had Leukemia and that she couldn’t live
for long. He offered to put the cat to sleep. The couple were distraught the
loved their little cat. They knew that Timmy was a Christian and believed in
healing so they looked in the Yellow Pages to see what they could find about
healing. They came across the London Healing Mission which was actually
nothing to do with physical healing but a ministry to street people. They
called the number in the phone book. “Do you heal cats?” they asked, when
the Reverend answered the phone. “Well I don’t see why not, after all they
are God’s creatures,” he wisely answered. Dennis and his wife wrapped the
cat in blanket and drove clear across London to the mission. When they
arrived they put the cat into the arms of the Minister who answered the
door. “Lord, please touch this little cat” was about all he prayed as far as
I can remember. The cat suddenly leaped from his arms and was perfectly
(purrrfectly) fine. Then the minister led them to the Lord so the couple
were saved that night and since had been Spirit-filled. God answered our
prayer and worked through a need they eventually had! Isn’t that wonderful?
Friends we need to release our faith and pray.

In The Market Place

When I was first filled with the Holy Spirit I was working with a company in
the West End of London. Up to that point, I n
ever really had much of a
testimony. I didn’t have much more than anyone else at that company except,
that I believed Christian doctrine. Now it was different – I had the Holy
Spirit to help me evangelize these worldly people that I worked with. I knew
they certainly were not going to take any notice of what I said- so I really
needed some outside help (or rather inside Holy Spirit help). This was my
opportunity to prove God who I was now trusting to come through like He said
– after all this witnessing thing was His idea not mine. I was starting to
learn how to operate in the gifts of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are
like tools to do a job reaching people. I saw myself as it were, like an
electrician, who carries in his belt a set of tools and takes out the one he
needs at the time to do the job. The company I worked for was Jewish, my
husband’s Dad was Jewish and so I understood some of their thinking. These
people were strong people and they were out to make money. Some of them
weren’t entirely on the up and up about how they made it either, but they
figured that God was on their side anyway because they were the “chosen.” I
found this challenging and also kind of funny. I loved those people, but
because I was a gentile I wasn’t taken too seriously when it came to the
things of God. At the end of the month, as I was in the accounts department,
we would spend a day or so balancing the books. Invariably the balances
would be “out” and we would spend several hours sometimes days finding the
differences and reconciling the accounts.

Stepping out

I seized the opportunity I saw and I made an announcement! “When we do the
balances, I am going to pray and the Holy Spirit will show me where my
balances are out.” Everyone looked at me like I had forgotten to get
dressed. At the end of the first month when everyone started looking for the
balances to reconcile, I just sat and prayed and asked God to show me where
my accounts were out. “Oh Lord” I said, “I stepped out and have told
everyone that you are alive and real.I know you want me to have a testimony
– HELP!” The Holy Spirit whispered in my ear and told me in which section of
the accounts to look. In a few minutes I had found the error and my balances
were all OK. No one said anything and I didn’t say anything either, but
nevertheless the point was made. Every month after that I would sit and pray
and the Lord would tell me where to look. Always within a few minutes my
balances were all OK. They began to wait for me to pray and got used to
seeing God come through. Another thing began to happen. I wanted to have a
testimony when I left that place. I wanted people to know that God was real
and that He really did communicate with us today. I wanted to have an
opportunity to tell them about Jesus. so I was trying to get their
attention.

Reading the mail

The chief salesman was a man who was very worldly. The Lord began to show me
some things about him so I stepped out in faith. ” Ron,” I said one day when
he came into the office for a file, “God showed me that you are selling the
company accounts to another company and then you are fixing on following
them.” Ron looked at me with a very open mouth, like a goldfish. He tried to
talk. He was “caught” he looked like a rat in a trap. “What are you going to
do?” he asked. “Well, nothing if you bring back the accounts,” I said. He
did, and after that he began to keep well away from my desk. When I was in
the Chief Accountant’s office one day I stopped out again “The Lord has been
telling me something concerning you” I said. “Oh really!” he responded.
“Yes,” I said. “You have been swiping (English slang word for stealing) the
petty cash.” He turned a kind of purplish red. “What will you do?” he asked
me. “Nothing, if you promise to stop and put back what you can.” He did as
far as I know, but he kind of kept his distance, except when his wife left
him, then he wanted me to pray!

The Lord gave me lots of words of knowledge and prophetic words for people
there all the time. In 1 Corinthians 14: 24-25) it says, “Prophecy is given
so that men might know that God is in the midst and falling down, might say
that God is in this place.” Well those people certainly knew that God was
around and that He knew all about them.

Healing???

Another time there was a bad flue epidemic and people were off work for 3
weeks at a time. The Chief Accountant came into the office and made an
announcement. “We are all going to the hospital around the corner and we are
getting a flue shot.” Now I was one of those people who definitely didn’t
like shots, so I stepped out in faith; after all didn’t the Bible say
something about healing? I was learning about all the good things healing,
prophecy, miracles visitations etc. “You can all go, but I am not going,” I
said. My bosses eyes rolled I was a real challenge to him. He developed a
kind of respect for me although he didn’t seem to like women much. He also
had a fear and a frustration, and I definitely quenched his style he was
afraid of messing with the women in that company in case God told me. And
for all he knew I might tell his wife.

“You don’t understand, ” he was almost yelling at me, “This shot is 90%
proof.” “Well mine is 100% proof” I replied. Eyes rolling again, in fact
everyone’s eyes were rolling, he ushered everyone ( except me of course) out
of the office and towards the exit. When they came back from the hospital,
guess what? My eyes began to stream, my nose was runny, I was hot, I had a
temperature, my throat was sore and scratchy, all in an hour. And you know
what? These people were happy, especially, my boss, he was VERY happy. When
it came time to leave the office for the day his parting shot was “See you
in 3 weeks Kathie.”

On the train home from London I talked to the Lord “Listen God,” I said,
“This healing thing was your idea not mine, I didn’t think of it you know
You did.” (I thought of the scripture in Peter which says ” By His stripes
you WERE healed.” “When you get home, have David pray for you.” The Lord
replied to me. I got home not feeling good. David prayed for me and
immediately the fever left and all the symptoms disappeared.
When I walked into the office the next morning, all bright eyed and
bushy-tailed, they all pretended not to notice! But God proved faithful and
they knew He was for real.

More Mail Of A Different Kind

Another time there was a strike by the postal workers and it was going on
for while with no signs of there being an agreement between the workers and
the government. So none of our mail was being sent out, including all the
end of month account statements. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit spoke to me
“The strike will be over in the morning, you can get the statements ready.”
So, I started folding them and stuffing them into envelopes.

        “What are you doing?” the assistant accountant came and asked me.
        “I am getting my mail ready for the post office in the morning.”
        “The strike won’t be over for a while – don’t bother.”
        “God said it will be over by the morning.”

Well, by now they were more ready to think it really might be God, so the
others also started getting their mail ready. The other departments thought
we were mad, but now these people in my office were kind of enjoying the
faith thing. They weren’t ready to get saved though.

In the morning the Post office strike was ended as an agreement was made we
all took our mail to the mail department to send out. Of course then
everyone was scrambling around tryin
g to get their stuff ready to mail.

The Lord gave me many opportunities to show that He is real. He loves to do
that How will people know if you don’t step out and give them an opportunity
to see God in action. You are the vessel, you are the one. If you can hear
His voice and are willing to obey, He is more than willing to demonstrate
His word. Jesus said He would confirm the word with signs following –
remember?

God’s Final Opportunity

God hit the nail on the head for me after I left that company. About 2
months later I received a phone call from the Chief Accountant. I was
surprised.

        “Kathie, do you think you could come into the office for a day or
so? We have a balance that is out and we can’t find it.”
        He went on “We even had the auditor in here for day and he couldn’t
find it either.”
        “Really” I said.
        “Yes, I thought you could ask HIM UP THERE.”
Now this was a breakthrough – He had never acknowledged that He NEEDED my
God. Although this man knew that God was real in my life, his pride would
never let him acknowledge it verbally.
        “Of course I will come and God will show us.”

I made arrangements to go a couple of days later. As I went to London on the
train I mused about the situation. God did give me a testimony in that
business place (the market place). “This is another opportunity God” I said.

I arrived and found they had set aside a large desk covered in large posting
sheets with hundred of numbers on each one. In the natural realm they, and
I, knew that it could take a week to find the error they were looking for.
It was funny, they made me coffee and all tip-toed around the place. I
thought “They are trying not to disturb God.” I prayed (because they
expected me to. But I had already prayed on the way there, so I didn’t
really need to) and began to turn the large sheets over. There was no point
in looking I knew I would never be able to find the mistake, so I kept
turning over one sheet after another. They glanced sideways at me, I could
feel them looking. They were wondering what on earth I was doing as I wasn’t
even looking at the figures. I knew there was no point. Suddenly the Holy
Spirit spoke to me. “It’s right there” He said. I looked down and right in
the middle of that big sheet of paper was the error; an accounting machine
error. I had been there maybe about 3-4 minutes -“It’s right here” I said.
Half disbelieving and half believing because they knew God could find it,
they crowded round to check it out.

God wants YOU

After that God used me a lot in restaurants and stores. You know we take
ourselves too seriously sometimes. We get a little concerned about our
“reputation” and it hinders us from obeying the Holy Spirit. We do ourselves
out of great deal of excitement and adventure that way. I want to remind you
that in Romans, chapter 6, it says that the old man WAS crucified with
Christ. Well if we are dead, then dead people don’t get shy and embarrassed
do they? We are made alive IN CHRIST. God wants to use you and you don’t
have to have a big ministry to be used by God. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my
voice.” If you can hear His voice, you can do what He says. Like Mary said,
regarding the water and wine “Whatsoever He (Jesus) says unto you, do it.”
(John 2:5) He will confirm the word and those around you will know that God
is really real. People won’t always get saved right away; but they don’t
doubt that God knows about them for sure. The rest is up to God and the work
of His Spirit. But friend, YOU are the channel; YOU are God’s demonstration
out there, so go for it. You will be blessed and strengthened and you will
have great adventures.

Kathie Walters