October 29, 2025 • 26 mins
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?
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life.
Shalom to you and your home.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:38):
Howdy, folks.
I want to welcome you back toanother episode of Life Around
the Fire.
And as a reminder, I haven'tdone this in a while, but excuse
me, we are a podcast that isdevoted to spiritual growth.
And what we mean by spiritualgrowth is this growth in our
relationship.
(00:58):
First and foremost with God,then in our relationships with
one another.
What we're going to be doingtoday is launching a new series
that we've entitled CovenantAlignment.
And once a month, for the nextfew months, we're going to be
inviting a teacher by the nameof Stephen Cruz to highlight for
(01:24):
us some of the key aspects ofcovenant alignment, what that
really means, and some of theaspects of how we go about
living this out.
And so without really anyfurther ado, Stephen, I want to
welcome you again.
And please have your liberty andopen up the uh topic of covenant
(01:45):
alignment.
SPEAKER_01 (01:46):
Okay, great.
Hello, everybody.
Life around the fire.
Thank you, David.
So yeah, we're going to jumpright in.
Everything we're going to betalking about in this series on
covenant alignment haseverything to do with
relationship, relationship withone another, and obviously
relationship with our God.
And so today we're going to beon a begin on a journey of
(02:11):
unpacking this topic of covenantalignment.
We'll be discussing biblicaldoctrine and defining what it
is, what it looks like, andexactly how believers get into
alignment.
And so a little background forme, it all started back in 2018.
As we walk along this journeytogether, you'll begin to
(02:34):
realize that 2018 was a pivotalyear for my walk in the Lord.
I uh I was at a prayer serviceand a sower sowed a seed.
Something was tossed out and Icaught it.
And I've been unpacking it eversince then.
(02:54):
And so that's what I would liketo do today is uh sow a seed for
you.
And with that, you know,Christianity is the only
religion where man's God comesand lives on the inside of them.
So, in you know, theologicalterms, we're we're talking about
(03:14):
Christ in you, the hope ofglory.
And the topic of covenantalignment is simple, yet it is
very deep, and there's a mysterybehind it that's hidden within
the scriptures.
And so today we're gonna startto unveil that topic layer upon
layer.
And so we'll begin with thedefinition of a covenant.
(03:36):
It's a legal binding agreementbetween parties.
In the Hebrew, the word forcovenant is berit, and it is
characterized by a set ofobligations and
responsibilities.
This this term for covenant isderived from the verb berah,
which means to select the bestor to cut, and signifies a
(03:59):
binding relationship that ofteninvolves sacrifices and the
shedding of blood as a sign ofthe covenant.
And in Hebraic thought, acovenant creates oneness.
And so the mathematical equationfor this legal binding agreement
fuses the two into one.
(04:19):
And so the equation is one plusone equals one.
For example, when God createdEve from Adam in Genesis chapter
two, Adam decreed, This is nowbone of my bones and flesh of my
flesh.
In covenant, there is noseparation.
What affects one affects theother.
(04:42):
And so one, the math equation isone plus one equals one, is the
same when we are in covenantwith Yeshua.
The enemy cannot distinguishwhere he ends and we begin.
This is why the blood of Jesusis essential.
It seals us or protects us, andit identifies us as his own.
(05:06):
And so as we move into thedefinition of alignment, it's
two people agreeing with eachother.
It's a very simple definition.
And so when we align our mind,our will, our emotions, our
thoughts, our habits, ourcharacter, our systems, our
(05:28):
times, our tasks and activities,when we bring these things into
agreement with heaven's patternand God's will, we see that we
align with God's nature and hispromises.
And so the question today wouldbe are you out of alignment?
(05:52):
Many spend their lives fightingspiritual battles that alignment
could resolve.
And so when our inner world, ourthoughts, our speech, our habits
reflect heaven's patterns,heaven's authority manifests in
our lives.
(06:12):
And so, simply put, alignment isagreement.
And when we're in agreement,we're able to walk in authority.
And for Christians, ouralignment 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, thetwo become one flesh.
(06:37):
And in covenant with Yeshua, webecome one spirit with him as
well.
And when we are in a in acovenant, the enemy cannot
distinguish where you end andwhere Christ begins.
The blood of Yeshua is ourspiritual boundary line.
And so when we're talking aboutcovenant alignment, there's
(07:01):
there's there comes a problemthat always comes up is that you
can see, and once you begin tosee it, you won't be able to not
unsee it anymore.
And so the problem is whenmisaligned believers, misaligned
believers results in unnecessarywarfare.
And so again, the question is amI fighting battles that
(07:23):
alignment could resolve?
I believe that many believerslabor in constant warfare
because their lives are out ofalignment with heaven's order.
In Amos chapter 3, verse 3, itsays, Can two walk together
unless they be agreed?
You know, we have to agree withwho God says he is and what his
(07:43):
word says.
And to back that up with noneother than our Savior's words
himself, Yeshua in Matthewchapter 7, verses 21 through 23,
Jesus says, Not everyone whosays to me, Lord, Lord, will
enter the kingdom of heaven, butthe one who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven.
(08:05):
On that day, many will say tome, Lord, Lord, we did not
prophesy in your name and castout demons in your name and do
mighty works in your name.
And Jesus says, I will declareto them, I never knew you,
depart from me, you workers oflawlessness.
And so Jesus is saying that Inever knew you.
(08:26):
Depart from me.
And this word simply means, youknow, to know I never knew you.
To know is simply anunderstanding and knowledge
gained through experience orpersonal relationship, which
reflects a deep and intimateconnection.
And it's not experienced outsideof covenant.
(08:49):
And so we can do many greatthings for God, but the Lord is
saying, you know, I never knewyou.
I don't know you.
Who are you?
And so that's a real uh wake-upcall for me.
That am I doing things to makehis name known based out of
relationship, or am I strivingto do things in my own strength?
(09:15):
And obviously, when we do thingsoutside of the will of God, it
brings unnecessary battlesbecause the Lord is not with us.
We've we have gone on byourselves.
You know, I'm reminded of Mosesback in the wilderness.
He says, you know, Lord, if youdo not go with us, we do not
(09:36):
want to go.
You know, it's your spirit thatmakes us distinct.
It is in your going with us thatwe are distinct.
And so covenant alignment is ais a great topic for for the
believers, for the body ofChrist to start diving into.
And I think I believe that tounderstand what it is, you we
(10:04):
need to go back to thebeginning.
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 theNoahic covenant, we see the
Abrahamic covenant, we see theMosaic, the Davidic, the New
Covenant.
I know we're all familiar withthe new covenant, right?
Yeshua, the cup of the newcovenant and his blood.
(10:29):
It fulfilled the Mosaiccovenant, right?
He is the Lamb of God.
So there is no more templesacrifices anymore because Jesus
came and fulfilled that uhtemple sacrifice, the the
Levitical rituals, right?
(10:51):
But when we think about, for me,I'm not a I'm a I'm not as
natural-born Israeli, I'mGentile.
And so I got saved in my late20s, and so for you know, a
better better half of my life, Iwas without a God and without a
(11:14):
people.
And so when the Lord called meto himself and he saved me by
his grace, you know, it wasn'tuntil I fully started to
understand, you know, what haveI been born into?
I've been born into a family anda kingdom.
I've been grafted in, is whatApostle Paul says in Ephesians
(11:35):
and in Romans chapter 11.
And so going back to theAbrahamic covenant is pivotal
for Christians to understand notonly who we are, but where our
family has come from, ourancestors.
(11:56):
And so when we see in Matthewchapter 15, verse 24, Jesus said
that he was only sent to thelost sheep of the house of
Israel.
It wasn't until Apostle Paul inthe book of Acts that the gospel
message was taken to thenations.
(12:21):
And so I believe that theChristian walk is the
continuation of Israel'scovenant story.
Romans 11, chapter 17 says,chapter 11, verse 17 says,
Gentile believers are graftedinto the olive tree of faith.
To understand our Christianidentity, we must understand
(12:42):
Abraham.
And to confirm this with theword, in Galatians chapter 3,
verse 29, Apostle Paul says, ifyou belong to Christ, you are
Abraham's seed and heirsaccording to the promise.
And so, what is that seed?
What is that, what is thatpromise?
(13:02):
What is that covenant story thatwe've been grafted into?
And so I want to dive into thewhat is the Abrahamic covenant
for just a little bit, goingback to Genesis chapter 15,
where God established arelationship between himself and
Abram's descendants.
(13:23):
God promised that Abram, that hewould be, his offspring will be
as numerous as the stars, and hewould be a father of a multitude
of nations.
And in Genesis 15, we see Godestablishing a covenant with
Abram through a traditionalancient Near Eastern blood
ceremony.
(13:44):
And the ceremony is where twoparties would walk between
divided animals to affirm theircommitment to the agreement.
Basically, the animals would beslain, they would be cut into
halves, and each laid overagainst the other, and the blood
of the animals would pour downinto the middle of the pathway.
Basically, you're creating ablood, a valley of blood.
(14:07):
And then once that was done, thetwo parties would walk through
the slain animals, signifyingtheir mutual agreement.
They would walk back and forth.
And this walk would effectivelyestablish the covenant
relationship.
And in doing so, both partiesacknowledged that they failed to
keep the terms of the agreement,they deserve the same fate as
(14:27):
these animals.
However, when we look in thescripture though, two people who
didn't walk through.
God put Abram into a deep sleep,and God passes between the
pieces of the slain animalsthrough the valley of blood by
himself, symbolized on a smokingfirepot and a flaming torch.
(14:49):
This act shows that God alone isresponsible for fulfilling the
covenant, making itunconditional and based entirely
on his character andfaithfulness, not on human
effort.
By placing Abram into a deepsleep, God demonstrated that the
covenant did not depend onAbram's actions.
God alone walked between thesacrificed animals, enacting
(15:11):
both sides of the ceremonialblood path.
And in doing so, God declaredthat he himself would uphold the
covenant unconditionally.
And this act powerfully affirmedthat the Abrahamic covenant
would be fulfilled in itsentirety by God's sovereign will
and in his appointed time.
(15:36):
The Abrahamic covenant isestablished by God and is upheld
by his faithfulness.
And it is foundational to theJewish and Christian theology,
symbolizing God's initiative andforming a chosen people.
(15:58):
Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 29, for you are a people holy to
the Lord your God, and the Lordhas chosen you to be a people
for his treasured possession outof all the peoples who are on
the face of the earth.
In Genesis 17, the covenant isthen reaffirmed and expanded.
God changes Abraham's name toAbraham, which means father of
(16:20):
many nations, and he establishesthe biblical covenant between
himself and Abraham andAbraham's offspring, which is an
everlasting covenant.
This defines Israel's identity.
Israel is a people of covenant,and this covenant includes
responsibilities.
(16:43):
Understanding the Abrahamiccovenant is foundational to the
Christian faith.
Without a proper grasp of thiscovenant, Gentile believers risk
losing sight of their spiritualheritage and opens the door to
erroneous ideas such asreplacement theology.
To understand the Abrahamiccovenant is to perceive the very
(17:06):
root of the Christian faith.
Through both Israel and thenation find their place in God's
redemptive plan.
Those who are grafted in throughtheir face must not forget the
root that bears them, lest theylose sight of their inheritance
and fall into the air ofbelieving that God has forsaken
his people.
And so that's the breakdown ofthe beginning of covenant
(17:32):
alignment.
And so the question is for ushow do we get into alignment?
Basically, simply put, thecovenant alignment is the
process of synchronizing ourlife, our thoughts, and our
actions with the will andpurposes of God as understood
(17:54):
through this covenantrelationship.
Where every decision that wemake is a covenant before God.
And that align that aligningwith this covenant means seeking
divine will through prayer andfaithful living.
It's about surrendering personaldesires to divine purpose and
(18:18):
living a life of accountabilityand consistency in accordance
with the covenant.
And this brings us to one of myfavorite chapters in the Bible.
It's Genesis chapter 22.
(18:41):
This is a the worship chapter.
This is the everyone knows thestory.
Abraham is offering Isaac on thealtar.
And we see that covenantalignment is about presenting
(19:06):
our whole self before the Lord.
And so the key key statementhere in this episode is worship
is the culture of the kingdom,and the culture is obedience.
In Genesis chapter 22, we'regoing to go kind of verse by
verse here.
Verse one, he says, Hanay, hereI am, Lord.
(19:28):
He was presenting himself.
Abraham was presenting himselfbefore the Lord, his whole
being.
That word Hanaini means, youknow, a bowing low, a
surrendering to what the Fathermay have him to do.
And sure enough, as soon as hepositioned his heart, in verse
(19:50):
2, the order and the commandcame.
God said, Go to one of themountains, and when you get
there, I will tell you more.
And so faith is taking a stepwithout seeing the whole
staircase, right?
So Abraham went.
And then verse 4, after threedays, Abraham saw the place.
(20:12):
Verse 5, he says, I and the boywill go over there and worship
and come to you again.
So Abraham is speaking to theservants that went with him on
the journey.
And he had the faith.
He says that I and the boy willgo over there and worship and
come to you again.
(20:34):
This word for worship is AbuDah.
It's it's plural.
It's it's not only worship, butit's work and it's service unto
the Lord.
Abraham's faith, obviously Isaacwas the promised child, right?
How could God be asking him tosacrifice his, you know, the
(20:58):
promised child, right?
And his the child of his oldage, you know, he was beyond
years of having of him and Sarahwere beyond the years of
childbearing.
So this was a God, God, Godthing, right?
But now God's telling him to gooffer Isaac on the mountain to
(21:21):
sacrifice him.
When we see in Hebrews chapter11, verse 19, he says that God
considered Abraham consideredthat God was able to even raise
him from the dead, from whichfiguratively speaking, he did
receive him back.
Abraham had a faith that ifGod's asking me to do something,
he has a bigger plan than what Ican see for myself.
(21:43):
And so there's a level of trustwith covenant alignment as well,
where we're not depending uponour own thinking.
You know, Proverbs says, leannot on your own understanding.
And so that understanding wasthat God would bring Isaac back.
He knew that Isaac was thepromised child.
And somehow, if God was going toask him to sacrifice him as a
(22:07):
burnt offering, he would receivehim back.
And this type of faith wascounted to Abraham as righteous.
And I'm reminded of uh similarlywith Jesus at the table in John
chapter 13, and the fact thatJesus, knowing where he was
(22:30):
going, that he had come from Godand was going back to God, rose
from supper.
And that's when he wrapped thetowel around his waist and got
up and washed the disciples'feet before he went to the
garden, before he went to beingarrested and being crucified
ultimately, which was ademonstration of love and
(22:50):
sacrifice.
And so if you're not familiarwith the story, Genesis 22,
Abraham goes to sacrifice hisson on the altar.
And just as he's about to do itin verse 12, you know, God stops
(23:16):
him, provides uh uh alternatesacrifice, the ram and the was
caught in the thicket by hishorns.
He says, For now I know that youfear me.
And because you have obeyed myvoice.
And so when we think aboutcovenant alignment, it's it's
(23:37):
obedience, right?
We we have to be doers of theword.
John chapter 4 tells us that Godis looking for those who will
worship him in spirit and intruth.
True worship is a bowing low, asurrender, a complete submission
and obedience, saying, Not mywill, but yours be done, God.
(23:58):
God made covenant and thentested Abraham to see if he
would obey and align with God'swill.
Aligning with God is aboutseeking first his kingdom and
his righteousness, being aliving sacrifice of a vessel of
honor prepared for every goodwork.
And so as we begin to close outthis episode, this is the the
(24:26):
first of several in the series.
A lot of information here tounpack, but if you don't catch
one thing here, this being adoer of the word, seeking first
the kingdom of God and hisrighteousness.
That's the essence of being inalignment covenantally with God,
(24:46):
is seeking first his kingdom andhis righteousness.
That's how we get into covenantalignment.
It's it's a lifestyle of saying,not my will, but yours be done,
God, and waiting for that stillsmall voice to lead you in paths
(25:09):
of righteousness for his name'ssake.
SPEAKER_00 (25:15):
Amen.
Thank you, Stephen.
We're going to go into episodenumber two, and uh I'm gonna
encourage you to please be inprayer for us as we embark on
this, because this is a verysignificant addition to life
(25:35):
around the fire, and the Lord'shand is on this, and we want to
be obedient to that.
I like what Stephen said abouttaking the first step, even if
you don't see the wholestaircase.
That first step of obedience.
And so I appreciate yourprayers.
We love you.
And if you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, please feel
(25:58):
free to drop us a line atlifereontheire at gmail.com.
That's our email address.
Or you can just type in Life Ronthe Fire and look us up on the
web.
We would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, God bless you.
Adios, amigos.
Howdy, folks.
I want to welcome you back toanother episode of Life Around
the Fire.
And as a reminder, I haven'tdone this in a while, but excuse
me, we are a podcast that isdevoted to spiritual growth.
And what we mean by spiritualgrowth is this growth in our
relationship.
(00:58):
First and foremost with God,then in our relationships with
one another.
What we're going to be doingtoday is launching a new series
that we've entitled CovenantAlignment.
And once a month, for the nextfew months, we're going to be
inviting a teacher by the nameof Stephen Cruz to highlight for
(01:24):
us some of the key aspects ofcovenant alignment, what that
really means, and some of theaspects of how we go about
living this out.
And so without really anyfurther ado, Stephen, I want to
welcome you again.
And please have your liberty andopen up the uh topic of covenant
(01:45):
alignment.
SPEAKER_01 (01:46):
Okay, great.
Hello, everybody.
Life around the fire.
Thank you, David.
So yeah, we're going to jumpright in.
Everything we're going to betalking about in this series on
covenant alignment haseverything to do with
relationship, relationship withone another, and obviously
relationship with our God.
And so today we're going to beon a begin on a journey of
(02:11):
unpacking this topic of covenantalignment.
We'll be discussing biblicaldoctrine and defining what it
is, what it looks like, andexactly how believers get into
alignment.
And so a little background forme, it all started back in 2018.
As we walk along this journeytogether, you'll begin to
(02:34):
realize that 2018 was a pivotalyear for my walk in the Lord.
I uh I was at a prayer serviceand a sower sowed a seed.
Something was tossed out and Icaught it.
And I've been unpacking it eversince then.
(02:54):
And so that's what I would liketo do today is uh sow a seed for
you.
And with that, you know,Christianity is the only
religion where man's God comesand lives on the inside of them.
So, in you know, theologicalterms, we're we're talking about
(03:14):
Christ in you, the hope ofglory.
And the topic of covenantalignment is simple, yet it is
very deep, and there's a mysterybehind it that's hidden within
the scriptures.
And so today we're gonna startto unveil that topic layer upon
layer.
And so we'll begin with thedefinition of a covenant.
(03:36):
It's a legal binding agreementbetween parties.
In the Hebrew, the word forcovenant is berit, and it is
characterized by a set ofobligations and
responsibilities.
This this term for covenant isderived from the verb berah,
which means to select the bestor to cut, and signifies a
(03:59):
binding relationship that ofteninvolves sacrifices and the
shedding of blood as a sign ofthe covenant.
And in Hebraic thought, acovenant creates oneness.
And so the mathematical equationfor this legal binding agreement
fuses the two into one.
(04:19):
And so the equation is one plusone equals one.
For example, when God createdEve from Adam in Genesis chapter
two, Adam decreed, This is nowbone of my bones and flesh of my
flesh.
In covenant, there is noseparation.
What affects one affects theother.
(04:42):
And so one, the math equation isone plus one equals one, is the
same when we are in covenantwith Yeshua.
The enemy cannot distinguishwhere he ends and we begin.
This is why the blood of Jesusis essential.
It seals us or protects us, andit identifies us as his own.
(05:06):
And so as we move into thedefinition of alignment, it's
two people agreeing with eachother.
It's a very simple definition.
And so when we align our mind,our will, our emotions, our
thoughts, our habits, ourcharacter, our systems, our
(05:28):
times, our tasks and activities,when we bring these things into
agreement with heaven's patternand God's will, we see that we
align with God's nature and hispromises.
And so the question today wouldbe are you out of alignment?
(05:52):
Many spend their lives fightingspiritual battles that alignment
could resolve.
And so when our inner world, ourthoughts, our speech, our habits
reflect heaven's patterns,heaven's authority manifests in
our lives.
(06:12):
And so, simply put, alignment isagreement.
And when we're in agreement,we're able to walk in authority.
And for Christians, ouralignment 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, thetwo become one flesh.
(06:37):
And in covenant with Yeshua, webecome one spirit with him as
well.
And when we are in a in acovenant, the enemy cannot
distinguish where you end andwhere Christ begins.
The blood of Yeshua is ourspiritual boundary line.
And so when we're talking aboutcovenant alignment, there's
(07:01):
there's there comes a problemthat always comes up is that you
can see, and once you begin tosee it, you won't be able to not
unsee it anymore.
And so the problem is whenmisaligned believers, misaligned
believers results in unnecessarywarfare.
And so again, the question is amI fighting battles that
(07:23):
alignment could resolve?
I believe that many believerslabor in constant warfare
because their lives are out ofalignment with heaven's order.
In Amos chapter 3, verse 3, itsays, Can two walk together
unless they be agreed?
You know, we have to agree withwho God says he is and what his
(07:43):
word says.
And to back that up with noneother than our Savior's words
himself, Yeshua in Matthewchapter 7, verses 21 through 23,
Jesus says, Not everyone whosays to me, Lord, Lord, will
enter the kingdom of heaven, butthe one who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven.
(08:05):
On that day, many will say tome, Lord, Lord, we did not
prophesy in your name and castout demons in your name and do
mighty works in your name.
And Jesus says, I will declareto them, I never knew you,
depart from me, you workers oflawlessness.
And so Jesus is saying that Inever knew you.
(08:26):
Depart from me.
And this word simply means, youknow, to know I never knew you.
To know is simply anunderstanding and knowledge
gained through experience orpersonal relationship, which
reflects a deep and intimateconnection.
And it's not experienced outsideof covenant.
(08:49):
And so we can do many greatthings for God, but the Lord is
saying, you know, I never knewyou.
I don't know you.
Who are you?
And so that's a real uh wake-upcall for me.
That am I doing things to makehis name known based out of
relationship, or am I strivingto do things in my own strength?
(09:15):
And obviously, when we do thingsoutside of the will of God, it
brings unnecessary battlesbecause the Lord is not with us.
We've we have gone on byourselves.
You know, I'm reminded of Mosesback in the wilderness.
He says, you know, Lord, if youdo not go with us, we do not
(09:36):
want to go.
You know, it's your spirit thatmakes us distinct.
It is in your going with us thatwe are distinct.
And so covenant alignment is ais a great topic for for the
believers, for the body ofChrist to start diving into.
And I think I believe that tounderstand what it is, you we
(10:04):
need to go back to thebeginning.
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 theNoahic covenant, we see the
Abrahamic covenant, we see theMosaic, the Davidic, the New
Covenant.
I know we're all familiar withthe new covenant, right?
Yeshua, the cup of the newcovenant and his blood.
(10:29):
It fulfilled the Mosaiccovenant, right?
He is the Lamb of God.
So there is no more templesacrifices anymore because Jesus
came and fulfilled that uhtemple sacrifice, the the
Levitical rituals, right?
(10:51):
But when we think about, for me,I'm not a I'm a I'm not as
natural-born Israeli, I'mGentile.
And so I got saved in my late20s, and so for you know, a
better better half of my life, Iwas without a God and without a
(11:14):
people.
And so when the Lord called meto himself and he saved me by
his grace, you know, it wasn'tuntil I fully started to
understand, you know, what haveI been born into?
I've been born into a family anda kingdom.
I've been grafted in, is whatApostle Paul says in Ephesians
(11:35):
and in Romans chapter 11.
And so going back to theAbrahamic covenant is pivotal
for Christians to understand notonly who we are, but where our
family has come from, ourancestors.
(11:56):
And so when we see in Matthewchapter 15, verse 24, Jesus said
that he was only sent to thelost sheep of the house of
Israel.
It wasn't until Apostle Paul inthe book of Acts that the gospel
message was taken to thenations.
(12:21):
And so I believe that theChristian walk is the
continuation of Israel'scovenant story.
Romans 11, chapter 17 says,chapter 11, verse 17 says,
Gentile believers are graftedinto the olive tree of faith.
To understand our Christianidentity, we must understand
(12:42):
Abraham.
And to confirm this with theword, in Galatians chapter 3,
verse 29, Apostle Paul says, ifyou belong to Christ, you are
Abraham's seed and heirsaccording to the promise.
And so, what is that seed?
What is that, what is thatpromise?
(13:02):
What is that covenant story thatwe've been grafted into?
And so I want to dive into thewhat is the Abrahamic covenant
for just a little bit, goingback to Genesis chapter 15,
where God established arelationship between himself and
Abram's descendants.
(13:23):
God promised that Abram, that hewould be, his offspring will be
as numerous as the stars, and hewould be a father of a multitude
of nations.
And in Genesis 15, we see Godestablishing a covenant with
Abram through a traditionalancient Near Eastern blood
ceremony.
(13:44):
And the ceremony is where twoparties would walk between
divided animals to affirm theircommitment to the agreement.
Basically, the animals would beslain, they would be cut into
halves, and each laid overagainst the other, and the blood
of the animals would pour downinto the middle of the pathway.
Basically, you're creating ablood, a valley of blood.
(14:07):
And then once that was done, thetwo parties would walk through
the slain animals, signifyingtheir mutual agreement.
They would walk back and forth.
And this walk would effectivelyestablish the covenant
relationship.
And in doing so, both partiesacknowledged that they failed to
keep the terms of the agreement,they deserve the same fate as
(14:27):
these animals.
However, when we look in thescripture though, two people who
didn't walk through.
God put Abram into a deep sleep,and God passes between the
pieces of the slain animalsthrough the valley of blood by
himself, symbolized on a smokingfirepot and a flaming torch.
(14:49):
This act shows that God alone isresponsible for fulfilling the
covenant, making itunconditional and based entirely
on his character andfaithfulness, not on human
effort.
By placing Abram into a deepsleep, God demonstrated that the
covenant did not depend onAbram's actions.
God alone walked between thesacrificed animals, enacting
(15:11):
both sides of the ceremonialblood path.
And in doing so, God declaredthat he himself would uphold the
covenant unconditionally.
And this act powerfully affirmedthat the Abrahamic covenant
would be fulfilled in itsentirety by God's sovereign will
and in his appointed time.
(15:36):
The Abrahamic covenant isestablished by God and is upheld
by his faithfulness.
And it is foundational to theJewish and Christian theology,
symbolizing God's initiative andforming a chosen people.
(15:58):
Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 29, for you are a people holy to
the Lord your God, and the Lordhas chosen you to be a people
for his treasured possession outof all the peoples who are on
the face of the earth.
In Genesis 17, the covenant isthen reaffirmed and expanded.
God changes Abraham's name toAbraham, which means father of
(16:20):
many nations, and he establishesthe biblical covenant between
himself and Abraham andAbraham's offspring, which is an
everlasting covenant.
This defines Israel's identity.
Israel is a people of covenant,and this covenant includes
responsibilities.
(16:43):
Understanding the Abrahamiccovenant is foundational to the
Christian faith.
Without a proper grasp of thiscovenant, Gentile believers risk
losing sight of their spiritualheritage and opens the door to
erroneous ideas such asreplacement theology.
To understand the Abrahamiccovenant is to perceive the very
(17:06):
root of the Christian faith.
Through both Israel and thenation find their place in God's
redemptive plan.
Those who are grafted in throughtheir face must not forget the
root that bears them, lest theylose sight of their inheritance
and fall into the air ofbelieving that God has forsaken
his people.
And so that's the breakdown ofthe beginning of covenant
(17:32):
alignment.
And so the question is for ushow do we get into alignment?
Basically, simply put, thecovenant alignment is the
process of synchronizing ourlife, our thoughts, and our
actions with the will andpurposes of God as understood
(17:54):
through this covenantrelationship.
Where every decision that wemake is a covenant before God.
And that align that aligningwith this covenant means seeking
divine will through prayer andfaithful living.
It's about surrendering personaldesires to divine purpose and
(18:18):
living a life of accountabilityand consistency in accordance
with the covenant.
And this brings us to one of myfavorite chapters in the Bible.
It's Genesis chapter 22.
(18:41):
This is a the worship chapter.
This is the everyone knows thestory.
Abraham is offering Isaac on thealtar.
And we see that covenantalignment is about presenting
(19:06):
our whole self before the Lord.
And so the key key statementhere in this episode is worship
is the culture of the kingdom,and the culture is obedience.
In Genesis chapter 22, we'regoing to go kind of verse by
verse here.
Verse one, he says, Hanay, hereI am, Lord.
(19:28):
He was presenting himself.
Abraham was presenting himselfbefore the Lord, his whole
being.
That word Hanaini means, youknow, a bowing low, a
surrendering to what the Fathermay have him to do.
And sure enough, as soon as hepositioned his heart, in verse
(19:50):
2, the order and the commandcame.
God said, Go to one of themountains, and when you get
there, I will tell you more.
And so faith is taking a stepwithout seeing the whole
staircase, right?
So Abraham went.
And then verse 4, after threedays, Abraham saw the place.
(20:12):
Verse 5, he says, I and the boywill go over there and worship
and come to you again.
So Abraham is speaking to theservants that went with him on
the journey.
And he had the faith.
He says that I and the boy willgo over there and worship and
come to you again.
(20:34):
This word for worship is AbuDah.
It's it's plural.
It's it's not only worship, butit's work and it's service unto
the Lord.
Abraham's faith, obviously Isaacwas the promised child, right?
How could God be asking him tosacrifice his, you know, the
(20:58):
promised child, right?
And his the child of his oldage, you know, he was beyond
years of having of him and Sarahwere beyond the years of
childbearing.
So this was a God, God, Godthing, right?
But now God's telling him to gooffer Isaac on the mountain to
(21:21):
sacrifice him.
When we see in Hebrews chapter11, verse 19, he says that God
considered Abraham consideredthat God was able to even raise
him from the dead, from whichfiguratively speaking, he did
receive him back.
Abraham had a faith that ifGod's asking me to do something,
he has a bigger plan than what Ican see for myself.
(21:43):
And so there's a level of trustwith covenant alignment as well,
where we're not depending uponour own thinking.
You know, Proverbs says, leannot on your own understanding.
And so that understanding wasthat God would bring Isaac back.
He knew that Isaac was thepromised child.
And somehow, if God was going toask him to sacrifice him as a
(22:07):
burnt offering, he would receivehim back.
And this type of faith wascounted to Abraham as righteous.
And I'm reminded of uh similarlywith Jesus at the table in John
chapter 13, and the fact thatJesus, knowing where he was
(22:30):
going, that he had come from Godand was going back to God, rose
from supper.
And that's when he wrapped thetowel around his waist and got
up and washed the disciples'feet before he went to the
garden, before he went to beingarrested and being crucified
ultimately, which was ademonstration of love and
(22:50):
sacrifice.
And so if you're not familiarwith the story, Genesis 22,
Abraham goes to sacrifice hisson on the altar.
And just as he's about to do itin verse 12, you know, God stops
(23:16):
him, provides uh uh alternatesacrifice, the ram and the was
caught in the thicket by hishorns.
He says, For now I know that youfear me.
And because you have obeyed myvoice.
And so when we think aboutcovenant alignment, it's it's
(23:37):
obedience, right?
We we have to be doers of theword.
John chapter 4 tells us that Godis looking for those who will
worship him in spirit and intruth.
True worship is a bowing low, asurrender, a complete submission
and obedience, saying, Not mywill, but yours be done, God.
(23:58):
God made covenant and thentested Abraham to see if he
would obey and align with God'swill.
Aligning with God is aboutseeking first his kingdom and
his righteousness, being aliving sacrifice of a vessel of
honor prepared for every goodwork.
And so as we begin to close outthis episode, this is the the
(24:26):
first of several in the series.
A lot of information here tounpack, but if you don't catch
one thing here, this being adoer of the word, seeking first
the kingdom of God and hisrighteousness.
That's the essence of being inalignment covenantally with God,
(24:46):
is seeking first his kingdom andhis righteousness.
That's how we get into covenantalignment.
It's it's a lifestyle of saying,not my will, but yours be done,
God, and waiting for that stillsmall voice to lead you in paths
(25:09):
of righteousness for his name'ssake.
SPEAKER_00 (25:15):
Amen.
Thank you, Stephen.
We're going to go into episodenumber two, and uh I'm gonna
encourage you to please be inprayer for us as we embark on
this, because this is a verysignificant addition to life
(25:35):
around the fire, and the Lord'shand is on this, and we want to
be obedient to that.
I like what Stephen said abouttaking the first step, even if
you don't see the wholestaircase.
That first step of obedience.
And so I appreciate yourprayers.
We love you.
And if you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, please feel
(25:58):
free to drop us a line atlifereontheire at gmail.com.
That's our email address.
Or you can just type in Life Ronthe Fire and look us up on the
web.
We would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, God bless you.
Adios, amigos.
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