Life Around "The Fire"
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Life Around "The Fire"
Stephen Crews: Part 2; Covenant Alignment (And Daily Faithfulness)
Hungry for a faith that feels alive, guided, and grounded in peace? We dive into covenant alignment as a relationship that reshapes daily life—less striving, more trusting—and learn how seeking first the kingdom reframes every choice, habit, and plan. Instead of chasing clarity, we begin with obedience, stepping when God says step, and discovering that direction often arrives mid-journey. Along the way, we talk about how character outlasts speed, why boundaries protect what we love, and how to build simple rhythms of prayer and Scripture that actually bear fruit over time.
We also open up a needed mindset shift: this walk isn’t a list of can’ts; it’s an invitation to participate in what heaven honors. That includes the Sabbath and the biblical feasts, not as salvation requirements but as relational rhythms that align us with God’s timing. Our Sukkot story brings the point home with a tangible moment of healing and a deeper experience of peace—a reminder that resistance can be an invitation to breakthrough when our will aligns with God’s. If you’ve ever felt like you’re fighting battles you didn’t need to fight, this conversation offers a reset and a way back to the straight and narrow without shame.
You’ll hear practical guidance on self-awareness, choosing better inputs, and avoiding the detours that lead to unnecessary warfare. We reflect on Abraham’s obedience, the prodigal story’s overlooked older brother, and the simple courage it takes to say, “If Your presence doesn’t go with me, I won’t go.” The heart is clear: become a person who is blessed to be a blessing, walking in the works prepared for you with integrity, patience, and joy.
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Shalom to you and your home.
All right, guys. Want to welcome you back to episode number two of Covenant Alignment with Steven Cruz being our teacher. And Steve, I'm going to let you go ahead and just pick up from where you left off. Maybe do a little recap from the first episode to your folks who haven't listened to that have an idea where we're going.
SPEAKER_00:Hello, everyone. Life around the fire. Yeah, we want to do a just a recap. Episode two here. We talked about covenant alignment and what that kind of starts looking like for us as believers and followers of Yeshua, Jesus. And essentially a covenant alignment is a you know, can be equated to a marriage agreement, right? To becoming one flesh. When we're born again, we're born by the Spirit of God and we were made one with Him. And so the mathematical equation that I threw out there was one plus one equals one. And so it's it's a divine addition where we're not doing our own thing, but we're we're following the ways of the kingdom of the Lord. And it's all centered around relationship, around Matthew 6, verse 33, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And so I believe that as we just begin to unpack these episodes of Covenant Alignment, it's going to become more and more clear to all of us that this is about relationship, and it's uh a relationship that has ebbs and flows, and there's ups and downs, and there's mistakes and failures, there's victories and wins. And I think for us as believers, as Christians, we must continue to put one step in front of the other. We cannot get, you know, if we fall down, we can't stay there. We got to get back up and continue to walk and be the man or the woman of God that God has created us to be. As you know, a marriage is a partnership. The Lord wants to co-labor with you. Um, I always say that the Lord won't move a parked car. And so we got to at least get it in gear and start heading down the road in the direction that he showed us. And that's what we saw with the life of Abraham in Genesis 22, where God showed him the next step for him to take. And he said, Go here and I'll show you more once you get there. And we see that see that throughout all of Scripture. We see that with some of the prophets where you know the Lord said, Hey, go to this town. When you get there, I'll show you, I'll show you more once you get there. And so we see that played out in Jesus' life. You know, he gets baptized, he gets immersed by by his cousin John, and immediately the Holy Spirit drive, you know, sends him out into the wilderness to be tested. And then from that time, he's you know, pulling away to hear from the follower the instructions for the day, the the plan, and you know, getting away in private. I think that is a big key with Covenant Alignment is canceling and silencing all the other voices in our daily lives to be able to hear that still small voice of the Holy Spirit of where he's directing us. You know, I always wake up and start the day with, you know praying for my family, and then I go into ministry and stuff like that. It always ends with, you know, Lord, order our steps today. And if your presence doesn't go with us, I do not want to go. For it is in your going with us that we are made distinct. How will the people know that you're with us if you do not go with us? And so if I've gotten to this place in my walk with the Lord, that you know, if he's not gonna go with me or he's not in it, then I I simply won't leave the house. Otherwise, the things that we could be be building or doing could be in vain, or it could be a divine delay in the sense that it's not beneficial or the right timing to go do something, whether that's going to the grocery store or going to go do ministry, either way. You know, there's there's grace to to get this thing right. The Lord is uh is with us in this in the walk. That's why they call it a walk, it's not a marathon. The Lord is more cons more concerned about our character and develop developing our character than anything else. And so what we saw in the last the first episode was a life of obedience is played out in Genesis chapter 22 with Abraham. And we see when he obeyed the Lord, the Lord knew the Lord found out that he could trust him. And so I like to say that uh worship is the culture of the kingdom, and the culture is obedience. And so obeying our our father, you know, I have have a have a son, and through this having my own son, I'm gleaning more of my own relationship with with Abba Father in heaven, of you know, he sees just like I see for my own son, things that are good for him and things that are not good for him. I see this divine correlation between, you know, our father, his thoughts are not our thoughts, and his ways are not our ways. And so my my son can think he wants to go do something, but Papa is seeing, you know, that that's dangerous. You know, he might not want to do that right now. And so the Heavenly Father is guiding our steps as well with that same mindset as he has the best intentions in mind. And I think covenant alignment really speaks to life around the fire in the ministry, where it's built on relationship, loving God and loving others. And so as we begin to unpack this over the next few months, we're gonna begin to see where the two really do become one. When you're newly born again and into the kingdom of God, you know, there's a lot of lot of self that has to be shed. You know, it says to the Bible says to, you know, to become a living sacrifice. We have to die to the old self because we are a new creation creation in in Christ Jesus. And so we can't bring our old kingdom of darkness habits, patterns, and thinking into the kingdom of God anymore. We have to really examine our lives and really be determined that you know we want to see the gospel commandment of go ye therefore and bear fruit. Make disciples of of all nations come to pass. You know, we want to hear good and well and faithful servant. But you know, are we willing to do God's things, God's ways? And a lot of man's wisdom can get in can get in the way of that. And so seeking first the kingdom of God is really the uh the essence of covenant alignment. And so we gotta, as believers, we've gotta create spiritual disciplines. You know, our prayer life, our our getting in the word time, you know, we need to make set boundaries and maintain those boundaries. You know, we it takes time to bear fruit. We can sow a seed, and we know we live in a microwave society. We want it to come forth and bear fruit right then and there, but that's not how the kingdom of God works. That's not how agricultural works. You know, you sow a seed, you gotta water it, you gotta nurture it, you gotta give it some grace, some truth, some time. And then when it's just right, the the seed will come forth and bear fruit that we can eat of. And so when we establish prayer rhythms, when we pursue revelation, when we embrace disciplines, when we maintain boundaries that are healthy, we'll begin to be over a period of time seeing that we're becoming more in aligned with the kingdom of heaven, which is the covenant that has been cut with us through Yeshua's sacrifice at Calvary, his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father. And so covenant alignment is a is a it's simple, but it's so deep and so just plentiful. There's so much to eat of, there's so many directions that we can go. And so we're just gonna take this journey together as we the Lord begins to reveal revelation. We're gonna unpack it. And so key as some key aspects here of Covenant Alignment is daily faithfulness. You know, we have to be faithful. Like I said, God is not gonna move apart, car. We're the only ones that are in control of ourselves. God is not gonna trump our free will. That's why he gave it to us. He wants people to freely choose him and obey him. And from that, he partners with us and blesses us. And so in Covenant Lima, there's there's not only boundaries, but yet there's blessings that are attached that we'll get into in the future, where, you know, that that's the latter part of that verse in Matthew 6, 33, seek first the kingdom, kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then all these things will be added unto you. And so the Lord wants us prosperous, He wants us healthy, He wants us whole. He wants us making His name known in the earth. And so it's not that we're not gonna have trials and tribulations because those things build our character. You know, the book of James talks about, you know, you have need of endurance that you're you're testing, it's producing something. You know, don't give up, continue on in the in the faith of the Lord. And so as we walk, we begin to shed that old identity and come into our kingdom identity as sons and daughters of God. Another key aspect of covenant alignment is being aware, having self-awareness is is essential to being you know a fruitful disciple in God's kingdom. You know, if we're not self-aware, you know, we can be deceived. I mean, we we have to watch the circles that we're in, you know, the things that we're listening to, our ear gates, our eye gates, we have to the things that we watch, the things that we listen to, the people we hang around, you know, what is feeding us? You know, one of the key questions that I asked in the first episode was are you fighting spiritual battles that alignment could resolve? And so it's every aspect of our lives. It's not just obeying the voice of the Lord like Abraham did, you know. I mean, not many of us have those experiences where, you know, we're gonna be called to sacrifice our promised child, but you know, are you did the Lord tell you not to go do something? You went and did it anyway? Well, then that brought an unnecessary battle, and now we're crying out to the Lord to fix it when in reality we need to repent and come back to Him and get back into alignment. We're out of alignment. Where we're on a road, we've gone down the highway, we've gotten off on an exit and taking a detour. Well, that detour brought trials and tribulations and warfare that wasn't our portion, but because we went on our own beaten path, we need to get back on the road that he put us on in the first place, the straight and narrow way. And we'll find that, you know, we're we're battling the enemy and worn out when in reality we just need to get back on the road that the Lord told us to get on. And all these uh skirmishes and these disputes and these distractions vanish through getting back into a covenant alignment. And so I've seen that time and time again in my own life. The mandate for my home, as the priest of my home is seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. There's a lot of depth in that, but it's when you think about a covenant relationship with a marriage between a man and a wife, it's have you're one flesh. So what I do affects the other person. It's the same thing with Jesus, it's the same thing with Father, it's the same thing with the Holy Spirit. You know, we the Bible says we're not to quench the spirit or grieve the Holy Spirit, and so what we do does affect him. And so it's as simple as that of being mindful of the Holy Spirit, taking a step, walking diligently, and not being just wise in our own eyes. And so the last aspect of the covenant alignment that I'll share today before we move into some some questions and answers with David is a motivation for breakthrough. A lot of times we see that you know there's a resistance in our walk. And resistance is an invitation for breakthrough. And when we're in an alignment, it's a pathway to spiritual growth and unlocking, unlocking blessings. What's being held up will be released in the name of Jesus in your life. When we align our will with God's will, we can move from a place of our own personal desires to a state of divine purpose. And that's when we're fulfilling the works that He's called us to walk into as His worksmanship. You know, He has created you for a purpose. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and He has good works for you to walk in. And that is my heart's desire for not only my family, but the listeners here at Life Around the Fire that we would position ourselves to be blessed, to be a blessing, and to make his name known in the earth. And when we have, we position our hearts to do that, the Lord sees our heart posture and he'll come in with a grace and a mercy and an empowerment by his grace that will excel us forward in his divine strength, not on our own. Just from getting in alignment, just by repenting and coming back to the Father. And as I'm speaking, I'm reminded of the prodigal son story. We won't tap into that too much right now, but the prodigal son, I believe that story is just as much about the brother that stayed than it is the one that left and came back. The one that stayed, there's so much depth and richness in that story. That story is not much that the brother that stayed at the home that was with the father, and he said, you know, you know, you've your your son has squandered all his inheritance and you know, ruined your name and you've fattened a calf and thrown a party for him. And the father says, You know, son, you've you've always been in my house. You've everything that I have has been yours. He said, Your your your brother was dead and now he's alive. And so we we have to have this balance of you know really staying connected with the Lord of we have access to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the King of the Universe. And so we are royal sons and and daughters uh of the universe in that regard. When we really break it down to thinking like that, where we have access to something that others don't have. And if we're not tapping into that, if we're not uh focusing on our relationship with the Lord instead of pointing the finger what someone it's is or isn't doing, you know, it gets off of our purpose and our distraction as a as a child of God.
SPEAKER_02:And so maintaining that singular focus in our walk is just an is a critical not only to be self-aware, but you know, really tap into what is available to us as covenant sons and daughters that's a good uh good point for us actually to highlight regarding uh this whole topic of covenant alignment because sometimes a person can feel as though this whole thing is about a bunch of stuff that we can't do. We're not supposed to be doing this, we gotta eliminate this, have to eliminate a variety of things. And the emphasis on we we got to do this. Versus we get to. The fact that we have things that are available to us that we might not even know about. And that seems to be the emphasis that I'm hearing coming through that there are things that are in that God has provided for us in covenant and certain things that are available that Jesus, when he came, didn't come to eliminate them, he came to illuminate them. And part of it deals with things that are established by God, such as the Sabbath, such as certain festivals. And the fact that in my recent experience it's been very refreshing for me to see that those haven't been eliminated, because I come from a background where I was taught that those things were done with. Jesus came, they're no longer needed, that we are Gentiles, we don't have to adhere to that. And the fact of the matter is that's really not the point. The point is not we get to. It's not doing it will make it so that we have relationship with God. It's not that we have a relationship with God, we can participate. And Sukkot was one of those recent festivals and you celebrate it. Is that correct, Sidney?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, we do.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and so can you just share a little bit about your own personal experience with Covenant Alignment in regard to celebrating that festival?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we get we've been celebrating it now for seven, eight years. It is the festival to renew our our covenant with the Lord. And so it's just interesting that uh what we here in America we have cultural holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas and such, and everyone is very excited, and you know, but we don't get as as excited as the feast of the Lord, where the Lord adds to our holiday calendar, and we kind of like put our hands up, you know, stiff arm it kind of a thing. But when uh when you engage in it by faith and and start to celebrate it and and remember and demonstrate and long look forward to because it's not only a remember, Sukkot's not only a remembering, it's a looking forward to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And so it's it's not a this has nothing to, you know, the feast of the Lord like Secot has nothing to do with salvation, it's about relationship where you know the Bible does say that the sheet nations are going to come year after year and then going forward and of celebrating the feast of Secco in Jerusalem. And so it is a pilgrim's feast where this is a continual celebration going on for eternity. So when we celebrate at home, it's just I think the biggest highlight to answer your question, David, is we're aligning with what heaven is doing right now. And so there's power when we align and the proper time with what heaven is doing, when we get in agreement with the ways of the Lord, where you know, like the Sabbath, the Lord is on, He's the Lord of the Sabbath, he's heaven is honoring the Sabbath as well. You know, God is resting too, God is on the feast, God is remembering Shakota and having a feast as well. And so it's it's just that tapping into that, just a shift of the mindset of uh I get to do these things. And it just brings brings our walk of faith alive. And and the Lord always shows up in my life in our home. It's just it's just remarkable. When we just love on him, he loves on us.
SPEAKER_02:When you say shows up, what what brings you what what do you mean?
SPEAKER_00:Well, showing up meaning the inward witness of the Holy Spirit. There's a joy on the inside, there's a peace that's unexplainable. I mean, we've seen the Lord move and in healings. Yeah. I remember one year specifically, it always comes to mind. We had friends over. My wife had sprained her ankle, and we were we entered into the feast of Sukkot, and she was hobbling around, her foot was all swollen. Then we got into the into the sukka that we we make on our back porch. We had friends over, and my friend was like, you know, I can't remember exactly what he said, but he said something like, you know, I think you need to like pick up your mat and go, kind of a thing, like just like Jesus said to the the paraplegic, and my wife, a light bulb went off, and she received like that, you know, this is an opportunity for God to to heal you, and she didn't pass it by. And her ankle was instantaneously healed. She walked out of there on her own two feet with you know, like there was no ever an issue or a sprain. So that one really stands out where there's when I say the Lord showed up or he shows up, for me and my household, it's uh it's a tangible presence. You can it's the peace, the inward peace, the atmosphere changes. Earth aligns with heaven. You know, we pray in the prayer, you know, your will be done on as on earth as it is in heaven. We we just align. You think about like the stars or the planets or the moons aligning when heaven and is heaven and earth are in agreement, they align, and there's a you know, the Jacob's ladder, so to speak, is open where there's you know, there's a free flow of the just the healings, the provision, the blessings, the peace. So I I think for us, the peace is the main thing. You can tangibly s taste the peace of God in our home, not only internally but externally. There, the atmosphere is set. The Lord shows up in the sense that it is just if you haven't ever experienced that. Man, when the Lord shows up, you know it.
SPEAKER_02:That right there breaks it down and brings us to a point where it's really, really, really important for us to once again emphasize that relationship versus just religion is what we're talking about in Covenant. I think there are many of us who experience enough of religion trying to do it, trying to be good, trying to do it, and really feeling more empty than we felt before we began. But when the Lord shows up and makes his presence real and it brings about that inner peace that goes beyond understanding, a tangible shifting of the atmosphere. Come on, man. Being aligned. And so once again, folks, we actually really care about what's going on and and more than just uh saying we love you. We really do, we love you. And if you have any thoughts, uh questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at life around the fire at gmail.com. That's our email address, or type in Life Around the Fire and look us up on the web. In the meantime, God bless you. Adios, amigos.