Golden Ministries Newsletter

Please pray for my next upcoming mission trip. There are still many things that need to come together and I am excitedly waiting to find out how the Lord will unfold it all this time. One of the things I am very excited about is I will have 2 wonderful ministers of the gospel going with me from Engeltal Rev. Bob Baldwin, THD and Rev. Larry Groves. Please include them in your prayers as you pray concerning this trip.

It may change a bit once we get the tickets but shouldn’t change much. This covers not quite 10 weeks. Please join us in prayer because it is prayer that will make the difference. I am praying and believing for more salvations this trip. I feel the Lord is saying evangelize more this time. True evangelism is miracle evangelism and that takes the anointing of the Lord pouring forth. We will also have several leadership conferences and many opportunities to preach, teach, pray for the sick and oppressed and do spiritual warfare.

What Salt Is Not

Salt it not a magic cure all. It has no power in and of itself. Just like oil by itself has no power, yet we use it to anoint people. So why use it? Like the oil, salt is a faith point of contact. Like the oil, the salt, with our proclamation, makes a legal God statement. By itself it is nothing. Otherwise we would all be holy because we cook with oil and salt but used in the Lord’s order it makes a legal statement that remains.

Just like oil does not cure the sick, yet the Bible tells us to anoint the sick with oil, salt does not cleanse the land or cause the covenant of God to be put in place. It is a statement in the spirit realm and a faith point of reference. The sick are healed by the Blood of Jesus and by Jesus’ stripes not by the oil itself. So the land is cleansed by the Blood of Jesus not the salt but the salt is a statement in the land. Once the decree of the Word of God and the Blood of Jesus is made with it and then it is put in the land to remain, it becomes a legal reference point that remains and makes the statement of our covenant with the Lord and His covenant with the Land.

It is time for us to begin to learn about things that make a ‘statement’ in the spirit realm and things that remain. The enemy has been doing this a long time. If you go into demonic places or places of idol worship you will not find a significant place or hilltop that is not marked in some way by a legal statement of the enemy’s ownership. As we take back territory and redeem the land we need to not only remove the enemy’s statement in the land but also make a new statement in the land of the ownership of the Lord and our unbreakable covenant with Him. This is almost always a little different in each place. It is specific to the statement the Lord wants to make in that place.

One of the things we place in the land is scripture that decrees the Word of the Lord over that particular place. It is usually different in each place. I have found hotel shampoo bottles are perfect to wash and then using small type put the scripture of the Lord all rolled up in the bottle and bury it in the land; usually in the corners but really wherever the Lord directs. The reason the bottle is important is because when the paper rots the decree is gone. Putting it in the bottle causes it to last longer. Sometimes if it is a damp place I will wrap it in saran wrap (plastic) and then put it in the bottle.

There are other good things to use as well; knitting needles with the scripture scratched on them, wooden spikes (though they will eventually rot), USA coins that still say “In God We Trust”, Pieces of metal or carving or writing on rocks. What else do we put in the land? Whatever the Lord tells you to put. Only He knows the statement He wants to make in that land and what will be coming against it. In one place I put a hanky with my tears cried in praying over that place, in another my footprint but I never did it again because He never told me to again. (In ancient Israel a person would take their sandal off to make a legal statement because it held the unique imprint of their foot. In so doing they would claim land, as Boaz did in the book of Ruth. My foot is in the Lord’s foot, so with my statement, His footprint was in the land claiming territory.) Listen and do as the Lord directs. Don’t restrict Him. It’s time to learn how to make permanent legal statements in our land.

Preach To The Land?

The other day as the Holy Spirit was leading me in study of the Word of God, He told me to look at NKJ Mark 16:15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Then He told me to look up the word ‘creature’. Gee what could it mean but creatures, people or animals, I thought. But I was a bit surprised by what I saw.

Creature: Strong’s 2937 from the Greek Ktisis means Original Formation, thing, building, creation, creature. It comes from 2938, which means created thing. This comes from 2936, which means manufacturer, creator, which comes from the root 2932 to get, to acquire, to own, posses or purchase. [It is always good to go back to the root of the word when you can.]

So this word Creature includes all created things, which is everything and things owned by God or us. It includes land, buildings, places and things. Now how silly would it look to stand out by a big rock and start preaching to it. Sheesh! I don’t think that is what the Lord means. But He means something by this because it is said again in NKJ Colossians 1:23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. Notice not every person but every creature.

Let me suggest what I think the Lord was showing me. What is preaching but proclaiming the Word and word declarations of God? We put the Word in our land, in our house, in our car, etc and proclaim it over them, as well as over our family, ministry, etc. We spiritually stake claim by the Word over our territory or places the Lord has taken us to win for Christ. When the Lord says go to a certain area of say India, then we need to begin to proclaim the Word the Lord has given us for that area over that area, staking claim or ownership for the Lord.

Now we know that places and items can hold curses. We have studied curses and blessing in detail through these newsletters. Just one example of that is NKJ Joshua 6:18 "And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

So if created things can hold curses, then they can also hold blessings. They can also hold the Word of God and legal statements for good. Have you ever walked into a place and just felt the evil. The hair on the back of your neck stands up and you just want to get out of there. The place has soaked in the evil that was there. When people come into my home and especially into my bedroom they feel instant peace. The can sense the presence of the Lord. Why? Because I spend so much time there proclaiming the word, worshiping and praying. It has soaked the word into this place or in other words I have preached to my home.

What are you preaching to your home and over your family? We are blessed if we spend 10-15 minutes of ‘devotion’ with our family. But the television stays on continually. What has soaked into the walls? The prince of the power of the air, called the media. What has your home soaked in? What does it hold? What does it emit or give off? Some homes emit anger, some confusion, but few emit peace. I always put the Word of God on at night when I go to sleep and sometimes I just allow it to continue through the day to ‘soak into the place’. Is it any wonder then that we need to put scriptures and legal statements in the land that will remain and continue to make a legal spiritual statement to whatever passes by in the spirit realm?

NKJ Exodus 12:23 "For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. The blood of the lamb wasn’t holy. They had killed and eaten lots of lambs but it was a legal statement in the spirit realm that represented the Blood of Jesus and when the destroying spirit passed over that house it saw that legal statement and passed that house by. Make legal statements over your home and all that pertains to you is very important.

Covenant Confession

NKJ 1 John 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. I used to think that meant I could just say Jesus is the Son of God and boom I was saved. I thought I was a Christian and just mental agreement or believing was enough. But James says in NKJ James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe -- and tremble! So just confessing and mental agreement are not enough. It’s got to be more but what?

Whoever covenants in thought, words and deeds with Jesus, keeping that continually will abide in Him. We have to be a covenant keeper, doing and speaking it to abide in Him. That makes more sense. Once you are in Him, who will hurt you or attack you there? You will be able to hear clearly being that close. If seeing Him face to face changes you, NKJ 2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. What will abiding in Him do but transform us and conform us to His image. You know you will be free to worship Him in Spirit and in truth while abiding in Him because you are so near, how could you not?

Covenant Friendship

NKJ James 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. We are to keep our covenant position faithfully with the Lord and be His friend. A long time ago a person who wanted her children saved received a word through me that I personally will never forget. The Lord said, “Seeing you stopped the pipeline of love that I flow what do you expect me to do?” She had stopped her love relationship with the Lord and that tied His hands from ministering to her children. The best way to see your family saved is to faithfully be God’s friend.

The fact that the covenant of salt involves a friendship relationship is why Jesus eating with the publicans and sinners was such a serious offense to the Pharisees. NKJ Luke 15:2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them." Eating together was an act of covenant and friendship. But Jesus showed His willingness to trust us enough to make a covenant with us when we were not worthy to be His covenant friends. Then He died to give us His righteousness to make us worthy.

In the story where the King gave a wedding dinner and the people who had been invited didn’t come, He had His servants go into the highways and the byways and compel people to come in to His covenant meal. Isn’t that what a wedding meal is, a covenant meal? But He found someone sitting at the covenant meal table without a wedding garment on. The wedding garments were always provided by the King, so there was no excuse not to wear it, as a matter of fact not wearing the covenant garment that the King provided was an insult.

Notice the Lord calls him friend. He called him into a covenant meal, so the Lord called Him friend. But he broke the covenant by not doing His part even though it was freely given to him because he didn’t take it seriously enough until it was too late. For many are called to the covenant relationship with the Lord but few are chosen, because few are true to the covenant relationship when tested. Few are true covenant keepers. To be called to be the friend of a king is quite and honor and responsibility but even more to be called to be the friend of God. Our covenant garment, Jesus’ righteousness, is necessary to access the relationship correctly.

NKJ Matthew 26:50 But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?" Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him. Jesus called Judas His friend. They had covenanted together. What Judas did was wrong in so many ways but extra weight was added to it when you realize the unbreakable covenant of salt friendship he had been honored with. Jesus might have been saying, Friend are you here to harm yourself and curse yourself by breaking our covenant relationship? These things were not taken lightly then and they should not be taken lightly now, though too often they are.

NKJ John 11:11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up." Jesus knew that Lazarus was dead. He also knew the Jewish belief that a man could never be raised from the dead after the 3^rd day because corruption set in. Because of the covenant relationship Jesus should have dropped everything and came running to his friend’s side to rescue him before the allotted time ran out. But Jesus stayed two more days where He had been, before even starting to travel.

NKJ John 11:19-40 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. (So we know this was a dangerous place for Jesus to go at this time because there were many religious leaders there and they were determined to kill Jesus.) Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. [We find later that as soon as Martha tells Mary she jumps up and comes. Martha did not tell Mary before. Why? Jesus was coming to meet them at their house but she ran ahead and intercepted Him alone.] Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. [She wanted to confront Him alone. She was hurt, angry and bitter. He had broken covenant relationship to save His own hide. Or so it seemed that way to her. In covenant you must protect the other at the cost of your own life and in her eyes Jesus had not done that.] But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You. [Even now if someone were dead you could bring them back but you waited too late to do it for my brother. You could have done it but you didn’t, you broke covenant.]

Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." [He is trying to get her to believe. He wants her to know Him better than that.] Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." [Yeah right, in the last day but I want my brother now.] Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" [Martha can’t I get you to know Me, Jesus is saying? Can’t I convince you to believe me for your own good?] She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." [I could just here her saying, yes I believe this and that’s what makes it so bad, you could have done something and you didn’t. Her heart turned because of her own pain and disappointment. Does that ever happen to us? Do we ever say to Him in our heart and emotions, I trusted you, you are God, you can do all things and you didn’t show up. I believe who you are but that just makes it worse. But sometimes we don’t see the entire picture. We don’t know the reality and the battle. We don’t know the reasons. What will we do with what we cannot reconcile? Will we break covenant because of how things seem from our earthly perspective?]

And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you." [Only now does she tell Mary. She couldn’t have confronted Him with Mary there. Mary always stole the show anyway.] As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him…Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there." [We now see that it wasn’t to protect Jesus from the Jews that she kept it quiet and ran to intercept Him. She could have easily said, we need a moment alone please but she made no effort to stop them, fully knowing the danger it would put Jesus in. She wanted her chance alone to confront Him first.] Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." [Notice same words but a different heart attitude. Martha confronted Him face to face while Mary fell at His feet. Martha’s words were an accusation of breaking covenant on purpose but Mary’s were saying, If only you had been here. I know you would have come if you could have. Though Mary’s wasn’t an accusation it still hurt Jesus deeply. These were His closest and dearest covenant friends, if they didn’t know Him better than that, who did? If they didn’t trust Him beyond what they could see who would? How alone it must have made Him feel knowing what He was about to face to restore their covenant relationship with the Father God and yet even His closest friends didn’t know Him.]

Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. [Jesus didn’t weep because Lazarus was dead because He already knew He was going to bring Him back. He didn’t weep in sympathy for Martha and Mary because He knew He was about to make it all better. So why did He weep? Because they didn’t really know Him and couldn’t trust Him. It caused Him deep agony. How do we view Him?]

…Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." [I can just see her thinking, now He wants to look like a great Jewish covenant friend and weep over the body, well I don’t think so. It’s a little late for that isn’t it?]

NKJ John 11:40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" [Though we didn’t see Him tell her this before it is evident that He did tell her this and she didn’t believe Him. Once we get disappointed it’s hard for Him to get us to believe. But if we don’t believe we often won’t receive. We’re so afraid of being disappointed and hurt that we don’t let Him help us. Because we don’t understand His perspective of covenant relationship includes eternity and huge intense battles over our soul. So we turn because we’re hurt, but He knows you can’t afford to turn because the battle is fierce. Even though you choose to stop, the battle rages on. The only difference is now you are not fighting and having left your covenant position of friendship He is much hindered from helping you. It’s about a covenant relationship and that means trusting Him beyond what we can see and feel. We must be determined to do that.]

NKJ John 19:12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar." If you free Jesus you are breaking covenant relationship with Caesar. It was after this saying that Pilate stopped trying to rescue Jesus because he was afraid at this saying. We also should be afraid to break covenant with our King Jesus.

NKJ James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James knew that friendship is a covenant position. Being friends with the world is partaking of a binding covenant with the world, which we cannot do and be faithful to our covenant with the Lord. He called them adulterers if they were friends with the world because they were taking their covenant position of love, devotion, and actions, dedicated by covenant to the Lord and giving it to the world. It is adultery because it is taking the covenant privileges of one and giving them to another. You can measure it easily by things like time and money spent and heart attitudes. The Bible says that in the last days the love of many will grow cold.

NKJ Job 19:19 All my close friends abhor me, And those whom I love have turned against me. What Job’s friends did was twice as bad because they were supposed to covenant with him to help him to the death but instead they turned on him with their words and attitudes. Gossip and backbiting, or allowing yourself to be offended is covenant breaking. We have covenant with all Christians because we have covenant with Jesus and they are part of Jesus as part of His body. If my hand decides to stand apart from my arm, I will suffer. There is no excuse to make it better; it hurts. There is no relief for it but reconciliation. Restoring covenant relationship and position.

In Closing

As usual I have much more to say but I can tell this newsletter is getting too long and so will hold some of it over for next time. Several of you have let me know that this teaching is a blessing to you and helping you. Thank you. That is a great encouragement to me. If you have questions or comments I would love to hear from you. Please keep this upcoming trip in prayer. Be a part of what the Lord is doing in the earth and become His prayer partner. I thank you for without you this would not be possible. None of us stand-alone but together in the Lord we can do great things for Him.

Newsletter – Covenant of Salt Part 3

UPCOMING TRIP

What Salt Is Not

Preach To The Land?

Covenant Confession

Covenant Friendship

In Closing