Stephen Crews: Part 1; Covenant Alignment

What if the battles wearing you down aren’t yours to fight—but signals that your life is out of alignment with the covenant you’re already part of? We open a new series with teacher Stephen Crews to explore covenant alignment: a clear, scriptural path from striving to authority, from constant warfare to steady union with God.

We start by defining covenant as a binding oneness—one plus one equals one—and alignment as active agreement with God’s will. Stephen traces the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 15, where God alone walks the blood path, pledging to fulfill his promises by his faithfulness, not our effort. That scene becomes the root of Christian identity for Jew and Gentile alike, the reason Paul calls us Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise. Forgetting our roots breeds confusion and fuels replacement theology; remembering them anchors our practices in a story bigger than our timelines. If authority follows agreement, then misalignment often explains the friction we feel: thoughts that contradict truth, habits that dilute devotion, and speech that reduces faith to performance.

From there, we move to Genesis 22 and the sobering clarity of worship as obedience. Abraham says “Here I am,” takes the next step without seeing the full staircase, and trusts God to raise the promise if needed. That’s avodah—worship as service, surrender, and work offered to God. The thread runs to Jesus in John 13: knowing his identity and destiny, he takes the towel and serves on the way to the cross. Real authority flows from yielded identity, not noise. The question becomes practical: are we fighting battles that alignment could resolve?

We close with simple, tested ways to realign: calibrate your inner world with Scripture, speak what God speaks, prune distractions that steal attention, and order time around presence and faithfulness. Let the blood of Jesus define your boundary and belonging. Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, then take the next faithful step. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs clarity in the fight, and leave a review to help others find the series. What area of your life will you realign this week?

Chapters

• 1:14 Welcome And Series Launch
• 1:42 What Covenant Alignment Means
• 3:55 Alignment, Authority, And Unnecessary Warfare
• 11:32 Grafted In: Our Abrahamic Roots
• 13:43 The Abrahamic Covenant Explained
• 19:14 Worship, Obedience, And Genesis 22
• 24:53 Living Alignment: Seek First The Kingdom
• 25:55 Closing And Listener Invitations

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:38

Howdy, folks. I want to welcome you back to another episode of Life Around the Fire. And as a reminder, I haven't done this in a while, but excuse me, we are a podcast that is devoted to spiritual growth. And what we mean by spiritual growth is this growth in our relationship. First and foremost with God, then in our relationships with one another. What we're going to be doing today is launching a new series that we've entitled Covenant Alignment. And once a month, for the next few months, we're going to be inviting a teacher by the name of Stephen Cruz to highlight for us some of the key aspects of covenant alignment, what that really means, and some of the aspects of how we go about living this out. And so without really any further ado, Stephen, I want to welcome you again. And please have your liberty and open up the uh topic of covenant alignment.

SPEAKER_01: 1:46

Okay, great. Hello, everybody. Life around the fire. Thank you, David. So yeah, we're going to jump right in. Everything we're going to be talking about in this series on covenant alignment has everything to do with relationship, relationship with one another, and obviously relationship with our God. And so today we're going to be on a begin on a journey of unpacking this topic of covenant alignment. We'll be discussing biblical doctrine and defining what it is, what it looks like, and exactly how believers get into alignment. And so a little background for me, it all started back in 2018. As we walk along this journey together, you'll begin to realize that 2018 was a pivotal year for my walk in the Lord. I uh I was at a prayer service and a sower sowed a seed. Something was tossed out and I caught it. And I've been unpacking it ever since then. And so that's what I would like to do today is uh sow a seed for you. And with that, you know, Christianity is the only religion where man's God comes and lives on the inside of them. So, in you know, theological terms, we're we're talking about Christ in you, the hope of glory. And the topic of covenant alignment is simple, yet it is very deep, and there's a mystery behind it that's hidden within the scriptures. And so today we're gonna start to unveil that topic layer upon layer. And so we'll begin with the definition of a covenant. It's a legal binding agreement between parties. In the Hebrew, the word for covenant is berit, and it is characterized by a set of obligations and responsibilities. This this term for covenant is derived from the verb berah, which means to select the best or to cut, and signifies a binding relationship that often involves sacrifices and the shedding of blood as a sign of the covenant. And in Hebraic thought, a covenant creates oneness. And so the mathematical equation for this legal binding agreement fuses the two into one. And so the equation is one plus one equals one. For example, when God created Eve from Adam in Genesis chapter two, Adam decreed, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. In covenant, there is no separation. What affects one affects the other. And so one, the math equation is one plus one equals one, is the same when we are in covenant with Yeshua. The enemy cannot distinguish where he ends and we begin. This is why the blood of Jesus is essential. It seals us or protects us, and it identifies us as his own. And so as we move into the definition of alignment, it's two people agreeing with each other. It's a very simple definition. And so when we align our mind, our will, our emotions, our thoughts, our habits, our character, our systems, our times, our tasks and activities, when we bring these things into agreement with heaven's pattern and God's will, we see that we align with God's nature and his promises. And so the question today would be are you out of alignment? Many spend their lives fighting spiritual battles that alignment could resolve. And so when our inner world, our thoughts, our speech, our habits reflect heaven's patterns, heaven's authority manifests in our lives. And so, simply put, alignment is agreement. And when we're in agreement, we're able to walk in authority. And for Christians, our alignment begins with being born again by the by the Holy Spirit, the Ruach Elohim, the Spirit of the Living God. And in a marriage context, the two become one flesh. And in covenant with Yeshua, we become one spirit with him as well. And when we are in a in a covenant, the enemy cannot distinguish where you end and where Christ begins. The blood of Yeshua is our spiritual boundary line. And so when we're talking about covenant alignment, there's there's there comes a problem that always comes up is that you can see, and once you begin to see it, you won't be able to not unsee it anymore. And so the problem is when misaligned believers, misaligned believers results in unnecessary warfare. And so again, the question is am I fighting battles that alignment could resolve? I believe that many believers labor in constant warfare because their lives are out of alignment with heaven's order. In Amos chapter 3, verse 3, it says, Can two walk together unless they be agreed? You know, we have to agree with who God says he is and what his word says. And to back that up with none other than our Savior's words himself, Yeshua in Matthew chapter 7, verses 21 through 23, Jesus says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, we did not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name. And Jesus says, I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. And so Jesus is saying that I never knew you. Depart from me. And this word simply means, you know, to know I never knew you. To know is simply an understanding and knowledge gained through experience or personal relationship, which reflects a deep and intimate connection. And it's not experienced outside of covenant. And so we can do many great things for God, but the Lord is saying, you know, I never knew you. I don't know you. Who are you? And so that's a real uh wake-up call for me. That am I doing things to make his name known based out of relationship, or am I striving to do things in my own strength? And obviously, when we do things outside of the will of God, it brings unnecessary battles because the Lord is not with us. We've we have gone on by ourselves. You know, I'm reminded of Moses back in the wilderness. He says, you know, Lord, if you do not go with us, we do not want to go. You know, it's your spirit that makes us distinct. It is in your going with us that we are distinct. And so covenant alignment is a is a great topic for for the believers, for the body of Christ to start diving into. And I think I believe that to understand what it is, you we need to go back to the beginning.

SPEAKER_00: 10:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 10:08

And when I think about going back to the beginning, I think about okay, there are many different covenants within the Bible, right? Within scriptures, we see the Noahic covenant, we see the Abrahamic covenant, we see the Mosaic, the Davidic, the New Covenant. I know we're all familiar with the new covenant, right? Yeshua, the cup of the new covenant and his blood. It fulfilled the Mosaic covenant, right? He is the Lamb of God. So there is no more temple sacrifices anymore because Jesus came and fulfilled that uh temple sacrifice, the the Levitical rituals, right? But when we think about, for me, I'm not a I'm a I'm not as natural-born Israeli, I'm Gentile. And so I got saved in my late 20s, and so for you know, a better better half of my life, I was without a God and without a people. And so when the Lord called me to himself and he saved me by his grace, you know, it wasn't until I fully started to understand, you know, what have I been born into? I've been born into a family and a kingdom. I've been grafted in, is what Apostle Paul says in Ephesians and in Romans chapter 11. And so going back to the Abrahamic covenant is pivotal for Christians to understand not only who we are, but where our family has come from, our ancestors. And so when we see in Matthew chapter 15, verse 24, Jesus said that he was only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It wasn't until Apostle Paul in the book of Acts that the gospel message was taken to the nations. And so I believe that the Christian walk is the continuation of Israel's covenant story. Romans 11, chapter 17 says, chapter 11, verse 17 says, Gentile believers are grafted into the olive tree of faith. To understand our Christian identity, we must understand Abraham. And to confirm this with the word, in Galatians chapter 3, verse 29, Apostle Paul says, if you belong to Christ, you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. And so, what is that seed? What is that, what is that promise? What is that covenant story that we've been grafted into? And so I want to dive into the what is the Abrahamic covenant for just a little bit, going back to Genesis chapter 15, where God established a relationship between himself and Abram's descendants. God promised that Abram, that he would be, his offspring will be as numerous as the stars, and he would be a father of a multitude of nations. And in Genesis 15, we see God establishing a covenant with Abram through a traditional ancient Near Eastern blood ceremony. And the ceremony is where two parties would walk between divided animals to affirm their commitment to the agreement. Basically, the animals would be slain, they would be cut into halves, and each laid over against the other, and the blood of the animals would pour down into the middle of the pathway. Basically, you're creating a blood, a valley of blood. And then once that was done, the two parties would walk through the slain animals, signifying their mutual agreement. They would walk back and forth. And this walk would effectively establish the covenant relationship. And in doing so, both parties acknowledged that they failed to keep the terms of the agreement, they deserve the same fate as these animals. However, when we look in the scripture though, two people who didn't walk through. God put Abram into a deep sleep, and God passes between the pieces of the slain animals through the valley of blood by himself, symbolized on a smoking firepot and a flaming torch. This act shows that God alone is responsible for fulfilling the covenant, making it unconditional and based entirely on his character and faithfulness, not on human effort. By placing Abram into a deep sleep, God demonstrated that the covenant did not depend on Abram's actions. God alone walked between the sacrificed animals, enacting both sides of the ceremonial blood path. And in doing so, God declared that he himself would uphold the covenant unconditionally. And this act powerfully affirmed that the Abrahamic covenant would be fulfilled in its entirety by God's sovereign will and in his appointed time. The Abrahamic covenant is established by God and is upheld by his faithfulness. And it is foundational to the Jewish and Christian theology, symbolizing God's initiative and forming a chosen people. Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 2 9, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. In Genesis 17, the covenant is then reaffirmed and expanded. God changes Abraham's name to Abraham, which means father of many nations, and he establishes the biblical covenant between himself and Abraham and Abraham's offspring, which is an everlasting covenant. This defines Israel's identity. Israel is a people of covenant, and this covenant includes responsibilities. Understanding the Abrahamic covenant is foundational to the Christian faith. Without a proper grasp of this covenant, Gentile believers risk losing sight of their spiritual heritage and opens the door to erroneous ideas such as replacement theology. To understand the Abrahamic covenant is to perceive the very root of the Christian faith. Through both Israel and the nation find their place in God's redemptive plan. Those who are grafted in through their face must not forget the root that bears them, lest they lose sight of their inheritance and fall into the air of believing that God has forsaken his people. And so that's the breakdown of the beginning of covenant alignment. And so the question is for us how do we get into alignment? Basically, simply put, the covenant alignment is the process of synchronizing our life, our thoughts, and our actions with the will and purposes of God as understood through this covenant relationship. Where every decision that we make is a covenant before God. And that align that aligning with this covenant means seeking divine will through prayer and faithful living. It's about surrendering personal desires to divine purpose and living a life of accountability and consistency in accordance with the covenant. And this brings us to one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. It's Genesis chapter 22. This is a the worship chapter. This is the everyone knows the story. Abraham is offering Isaac on the altar. And we see that covenant alignment is about presenting our whole self before the Lord. And so the key key statement here in this episode is worship is the culture of the kingdom, and the culture is obedience. In Genesis chapter 22, we're going to go kind of verse by verse here. Verse one, he says, Hanay, here I am, Lord. He was presenting himself. Abraham was presenting himself before the Lord, his whole being. That word Hanaini means, you know, a bowing low, a surrendering to what the Father may have him to do. And sure enough, as soon as he positioned his heart, in verse 2, the order and the command came. God said, Go to one of the mountains, and when you get there, I will tell you more. And so faith is taking a step without seeing the whole staircase, right? So Abraham went. And then verse 4, after three days, Abraham saw the place. Verse 5, he says, I and the boy will go over there and worship and come to you again. So Abraham is speaking to the servants that went with him on the journey. And he had the faith. He says that I and the boy will go over there and worship and come to you again. This word for worship is Abu Dah. It's it's plural. It's it's not only worship, but it's work and it's service unto the Lord. Abraham's faith, obviously Isaac was the promised child, right? How could God be asking him to sacrifice his, you know, the promised child, right? And his the child of his old age, you know, he was beyond years of having of him and Sarah were beyond the years of childbearing. So this was a God, God, God thing, right? But now God's telling him to go offer Isaac on the mountain to sacrifice him. When we see in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 19, he says that God considered Abraham considered that God was able to even raise him from the dead, from which figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. Abraham had a faith that if God's asking me to do something, he has a bigger plan than what I can see for myself. And so there's a level of trust with covenant alignment as well, where we're not depending upon our own thinking. You know, Proverbs says, lean not on your own understanding. And so that understanding was that God would bring Isaac back. He knew that Isaac was the promised child. And somehow, if God was going to ask him to sacrifice him as a burnt offering, he would receive him back. And this type of faith was counted to Abraham as righteous. And I'm reminded of uh similarly with Jesus at the table in John chapter 13, and the fact that Jesus, knowing where he was going, that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. And that's when he wrapped the towel around his waist and got up and washed the disciples' feet before he went to the garden, before he went to being arrested and being crucified ultimately, which was a demonstration of love and sacrifice. And so if you're not familiar with the story, Genesis 22, Abraham goes to sacrifice his son on the altar. And just as he's about to do it in verse 12, you know, God stops him, provides uh uh alternate sacrifice, the ram and the was caught in the thicket by his horns. He says, For now I know that you fear me. And because you have obeyed my voice. And so when we think about covenant alignment, it's it's obedience, right? We we have to be doers of the word. John chapter 4 tells us that God is looking for those who will worship him in spirit and in truth. True worship is a bowing low, a surrender, a complete submission and obedience, saying, Not my will, but yours be done, God. God made covenant and then tested Abraham to see if he would obey and align with God's will. Aligning with God is about seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness, being a living sacrifice of a vessel of honor prepared for every good work. And so as we begin to close out this episode, this is the the first of several in the series. A lot of information here to unpack, but if you don't catch one thing here, this being a doer of the word, seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That's the essence of being in alignment covenantally with God, is seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness. That's how we get into covenant alignment. It's it's a lifestyle of saying, not my will, but yours be done, God, and waiting for that still small voice to lead you in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

SPEAKER_00: 25:15

Amen. Thank you, Stephen. We're going to go into episode number two, and uh I'm gonna encourage you to please be in prayer for us as we embark on this, because this is a very significant addition to life around the fire, and the Lord's hand is on this, and we want to be obedient to that. I like what Stephen said about taking the first step, even if you don't see the whole staircase. That first step of obedience. And so I appreciate your prayers. We love you. And if you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at lifereontheire at gmail.com. That's our email address. Or you can just type in Life Ron the Fire and look us up on the web. We would love to hear from you. In the meantime, God bless you. Adios, amigos.