Breaking Cycles and Redeeming Time – the Power of Elul, part 1

Several years ago, I said YES to an invitation from the Lord to align myself with His rhythms, His times and His seasons. When you say YES to these things, you rarely understand the fullness of what you’re saying YES to. And that began a journey of learning and exploration with Him that still captivates me….

We know that Yeshua is the fulfillment of all the feasts and that we have dominion over all of creation (including time) through Him. Through Christ, we not only have access to God the Father, but we can also legally access higher dimensions, dimensions outside of time. Yet in the earth realm, God has put a rhythm in the very fabric of His creation, like the way that there is a particular time to plant and harvest crops. We can rise above the laws of earth, but we must understand and honor them first. If we break these laws due to ignorance or lawlessness, we will pay the consequences and may miss some wonderful things the Lord has given us. But if we align ourselves with His established rhythm, we will have an added grace propelling us, as we fulfill His plans and purposes in the earth realm.

Genesis 1:14 says that the heavenly lights were given to us for signs and seasons.  The Hebrew word for seasons is “moed”, which literally means “APPOINTED TIME.”  It is the same word used when referring to the Biblical feasts.

– Psalm 89:15, AMPC

Though not mentioned in Scripture (the months were not named until the Babalonian captivity), the  Hebrew month of Elul begins a Jewish tradition of 40 days of repentance in preparation for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The word Elul literally means “search.” We are given a time to search our hearts in preparation for Yom Teruah and, ultimately, Yom Kippur. In the Spirit, these 40 days are transitional, a “flex” time in the Spirit, where the rhythm of God’s grace makes it easier to break free of negative cycles.


Natural and spiritual laws apply to everyone, whether we believe in God or not, or whether we understand them or not. Is God cruel because I hit the ground after jumping off of a 10-story building? Did He throw me to the ground? No, I am just subject to natural laws….. Until I discover and begin operating by a higher law. Basically, we draw to ourselves the strongholds in our soul.

The Biblical term “stronghold” is just that – a strong hold.  THEY HOLD US IN A CYCLE! It is the structure that gives the enemy legal ground, and it is the place of agreement that allows demonic oppression. The Greek word for stronghold, taken literally, means: a fortress.

-II Corinthians 10:3-5, NKJV

The process of tearing down strongholds is basically the process of maturation, of being changed from glory to glory (II Corinthians 3:18) and of being transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).

Strongholds consist of:
1.  What is in our DNA; our generational memory
This law was created for blessing, to pass down good from generation to generation. But it also works negatively.

2. Our life experiences, positive or negative

3.  What we think (our core belief system, which includes our subconscious and unconscious minds—not our religious correct answers)

4.  What we feel (even emotions that have been repressed or shut down)
Emotions resonate strongly from any place there has been a hurt or trauma. And emotional thoughts are far more powerful than rational ones.

5.  How we see ourselves (generally a result of life experiences, how our parents saw us, what they said, how they taught us to see ourselves and what they modeled for us)

6.  Habits and patterns (usually survival mechanisms)
These habits and patterns may have been the only way we knew to cope or to survive. But at a certain place of maturity, they become a hindrance to destiny, and we must let them go.


God knows that we will sin (miss the mark), so everything about His interaction with us is redemptive. Revelation 13:8 calls Jesus the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But God has also built a redemptive rhythm into His created world, and into His seasons and feasts. Next week, you will learn about one of the most powerful seasons… a season where there is abundant grace to break cycles and to literally redeem time!

If you want a sneak peek, check out my audio teaching: Breaking Cycles and Redeeming Time

Until next time…

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