Once a cat, always a cat - about the INDEPENDENT ones

RHEMA 6/1/02 Cally our cat

EXPERIENCE: Sometime this last week after Memorial Day, I noticed that Cally's lacy pink iris was blooming over her grave. I was touched by this and said, “Lord I miss Cally!” Then immediately I heard, “Puuuuuuurrrrrrrrr.”

I was so blessed to hear that in the Spirit.

Then I smiled and said, “Once a cat, always a cat!”

God is so precious to me and has such a wonderful sense of humor too.

=======

ABOUT THAT CAT....

RHEMA 6/8/02 WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING WITHIN REACH

HEARD: Sweetheart, what do you want from Me?

[Lord I ask that You will give me WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING so that I know You and Your heart better and on a deeper intimate level. And I ask that You will give me more gifts to better communicate Who You are to Your people. I know that You have given me these gifts, but I am asking for more.]

CONFIRMATION [6/8/02]: After I prayed above, a friend on my prayer team shared the following: “Good morning, Sandy, this scripture I have been impressed to pray for you this morning. Ephesians 1: 17, 18. May the Lord bless your endeavors today and keep His angels close by.

Eph 1:17-18 NLT

Asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people.

DREAM: Anna did not understand a check stub for a check that had been written and paid and so I went to find out who it was paid to. It was for “Childhood Learning Services.”

HEARD: I was instructing My sons. At My feet but just beyond reach. Treating a child. Let them come.

I kept you. Sons. Prayer chain. Going on the mountains. I have mounted the will of God. He is carrying me. Horse and rider to the top. You'll get there, I promise. Mount up. Let's go for a ride. What's the difference here? The difference is that I AM backing you all the way. I stand behind My Word. My Word is true. It's Who I Am.

COMMENTS ON THIS PHRASE: “I was instructing My sons. At My feet but just beyond reach. Treating a child. Let them come.”

That phrase is poignant with meaning to me. When we had Cally our cat, she was very independent. All cat's are independent, but Cally really took the grand prize. She was obviously abused as a kitten and when she voluntarily arrived at our door step, she adopted us, but on her own terms. Every time I would call her, she would drop what she was doing, and run to me as though glad to hear my voice. But each and every time she came, she halted exactly 1 one foot beyond my reach.

What that meant in literal terms, is that if I were to put my foot forward, reach out my arm, there would be one foot clear space between she and I. She knew my exact limit to reach, without having to take another step. If I took another step, she backed up that same one foot. She would be content to come if called and she liked the attention, but not to be held or touched. On rare occasions she would actually come in reach and I would pick her up to my level and we would walk around the outside of the house and she would look in each window. It was a real joy to her to be able to see the house inside through the windows, since she was an outdoor kitty. It was the only time she was content to be in my arms. I always figured it was a parable that she liked to be a watchman kitty, where she was raised up to see things that were not on her normal level of walking.

The Lord has referred to a cliché in my life, that we either get treated or a treatment. “This is supposed to be a treat, not a treatment.” In other words, it depends upon our attitude which we get when learning our lessons, the easy or hard way. What really draws upon the Lord's heart is when we come to Him when He calls and are willing to climb right into His arms and purr there and rest. We hide nothing and if we are not measuring up, we freely tell Him so, how and why and then ask Him for help.

“Let them come”.... There are many, many scriptures about our seeking the Lord. God knows that if He calls the independent ones, that they will only respond to Him on their own terms, to the degree they are willing to let them into their lives. They have barriers that keep them from close intimacy simply because of lack of trust, fears or fearing losing control. So there comes a time that unless they are running away from Him, He simply calls/ draws them to the same degree He knows they are willing to come. We need to be teachable and hungry to hear from Him and then be willing to receive what He says.

John 6:44 NKJV

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;

Matt 7:7-8 NKJV

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

James 4:8 NKJV

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.