Navigating the rest of July
The decree you need to make to see your future!
Important Message
Today - Sunday July 13 - is the 17th of TAMMUZ. This is actually the day where Moses returned and saw the just-built golden calf and in his anger broke the first set of tablets given by God. This begins a 3 week period - ending on the 9th of Av.
For the next 3 weeks we need to continue to decree I WILL SEE MY EXPECTED END.
This decree has actually caused me to hear and see new things that have unlocked what I needed by revelation to advance through this intense season I have been in. I have seen this decree working! I did not come up with this, the Lord is saying this is what we must say.
In a month of decision, how will we choose, how will we worship, we must decree that we will somehow see our expected end! By God’s grace… He is empowering us to see new things and to advance past the places we have previously been.
Encouragement/Reminder
Tammuz is a key month to set aside time to think through what God has done to bring you to where you are now. You may want to write down His blessings, the ways He’s been faithful to you before, and any words He’s been speaking to you. I’ve heard Tammuz called “the film strip month.” This is like a review of God’s faithfulness that will ignite your Faith again and cause you to choose rightly next month when we get to the 9th of Av (more on this later).
Waiting on the Lord becomes the critical issue to move through this month well. The Israelites (Exodus 32) had to wait for Moses to come back down the mountain from meeting with God and they chose to meditate on everything they did not know, including their concern over when or if Moses was coming back. We always have a choice to let our thoughts loop on what we don’t know, what is causing us to be in anxiety or fear… or we can forge a new pathway in our brain by practicing gratitude and meditating on what God has done for us, letting Faith rise up.
The Israelites’ decision to choose Fear over Faith was already made by the time Av came around.* The people had established their response in Tammuz (to let fear drive them to idol worship instead of waiting to hear from God). The way we move through Tammuz secures how we will respond in doubt and unbelief, or how we will be able to rise up in faith and defeat the giants and take the land. (what is your “land”? your own heart? your family being made whole? things you’ve prayed for or the Lord has already promised He will bring you into?)
*on the 9th of Av, spies who had been sent into the promised land returned and 10 gave a negative report of giants they believed couldn’t be defeated, only Joshua and Caleb said we can indeed take the land, the Lord is with us. The people chose the negative report and entered into a curse, and wandered the desert for another 40 years until an unbelieving generation died off. yikes!)
Decree: I WILL SEE MY EXPECTED END.
This gets really simple and practical here… We are able to choose Faith when we hear from God. When we see God, when we hear that word from Him, then we are able to choose Faith. We cannot choose faith of our own accord. It requires that we hear God.
Noise blocks our ability to hear Him. You could also call these Distractions. Say “I will not be distracted this month!”
Be radical, be aggressive, against any and all distractions, even those that would seem like “good things.” Ask the Lord, should I be engaging in this? Should I be focusing on this? We must learn to become a strategic people. You can ask God for everything - am I supposed to be here Lord? Hear this… He will guide your every step.
I have personally found these areas to create the most “noise” or “distraction” for me, and I have had to work with the Lord to establish rhythms and boundaries that may seem radical but allow me to keep the world’s noise Low and be able to hear Him more clearly. Consider these areas and how the noise they produce may be cutting you off from communing with God and hearing clearly:
Social media
News
Phone usage
Loose lips - speaking from emotions
TV / entertainment apps
Music
Your own judgements
Next month is about our choice. In Av, the people had to choose to trust God or not. If we will wait upon the lord this month, we will be positioned to be able to make the right choice next month that will secure our future… or we are in danger of prolonging the promise and wandering for another “forty years.”
Helpful Tools / Resources for Kids
I’ve put together a few things in a google drive folder:
Some phone lock screens I made to help myself make decrees and remember what this month is about (I only made a few, some cuter and some man-friendly lol… if you want to make your own it’s easy to do in Canva, Unsplash has amazing photos)
Bible verse memory card - kid and printer friendly
This is a very interesting take on understanding the context of Exodus 32, I really enjoyed reading it: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/246635/jewish/The-Golden-Calf.htm
New to this email list? Want more to help you understand and enjoy this month of Tammuz, even as you enjoy July?
You can reference my original post from the beginning of the month here.