BEGINNING TO WALK A THIRD PATHWAY

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I do not know what it is like where you live, but here in the USA, it is becoming increasingly difficult to walk the divide between Liberal and Conservative, Democrat and Republican while maintaining a Christian lifestyle…at least for my part.

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I have never identified strongly with either party, and though I always considered myself a Conservative, at least culturally, I am finding it more and more difficult to live a hard line along with what is currently being called Conservativism. Nor can I call myself a Liberal.

During this year’s 21 Days of Fasting and Prayer, I have been hearing the words, “Find the third path”. I have been wondering what this third path looks like, where it leads and about how to walk it. Over the next weeks I am going to be journalling some of my thoughts here about what the third pathway is and what it looks like.

We just put up this new piece of Writing on the Wall at Cornerstone. It is something our church board put together, and I think it is as good an onramp to this discussion as anything else.

21 DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYER 2026 MEDITATION 16

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Well, folks today is day 20 of our 21 days of fasting and prayer. We are on meditation 16. So I will be quickly catching up to finish these meditations over the next 24 hours. Here is meditation number 16 from 1 John.

1 John 4:7-12

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:7-12 (Source: Equip the Called)Theme: God is Love
1. Love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
2. God showed His love for you by sending His only Son into the world so that you might live through Him.
3. If God so loved you, you also ought to love one another; God abides in you when you love.

THINKING TIME:

  1. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING BORN OF GOD AND KNOWING GOD?
  2. WHAT IS THE GOAL OF KNOWING GOD?
  3. HOW DOES GOD’S LOVE FOR US COMPEL US TO LOVE OTHERS?

21 DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYER 2026 MEDITATION 15

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Here is our noon time meditation for this 19th day of the 21 days of fasting and prayer in 2026.

1 JOHN 4:1-6

 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

1 John 4:1-6 (Source: Equip the Called)Theme: Testing the Spirits
1. Do not believe every spirit, but test them to see whether they are from God.
2. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
3. The One in you is greater than the spirit of the antichrist in the world.

THINKING TIME:

1.HOW DO YOU TEST THE SPIRITS IN LIFE?

2. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SPIRIT OF ANTICHRIST ALREADY BEING IN THE WORLD?

3. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE GREATER THAN SPIRIT WHO LIVES IN YOU?

21 DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYER 2026 MEDITATION 14

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We are systematically working our way through the book of 1 John as we continue towards the end of our 21 days of fasting and prayer. I am looking forward to unpacking all that I have learned during this fast and the changes it has brought about in me.

1 JOHN 3:19-24

This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

1 John 3:19-24 (Source: Equip the Called)Theme: Assurance Before God
1. You can be assured before God; even if your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart and knows all things.
2. When you keep His commands, you have confidence and receive what you ask because you ask according to His will.
3. This is His commandment: believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another.

THINKING TIME:

  1. WHAT DOES CONFIDENCE LOOK LIKE IN YOUR LIFE?
  2. DO YOU SPEND TIME FOSTERING CONFIDENCE IN YOUR LIFE? WHY OR WHY NOT?
  3. WHAT ARE SOME THINGS IN YOUR LIFE THAT ARE STEALING YOUR CONFIDENCE TODAY?

21 DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYER 2026 MEDITATION 12

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Here is our afternoon meditation for the 21 days of fasting and prayer. This is day 16 of our 21 days! I have heard and learned so much and I have so many questions to seek of the Lord.

1 JOHN 3:4-10

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

1 John 3:4-10 (Source: Equip the Called)Theme: Children of God vs. Children of the Devil
1. No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning willfully; a transformed life is the evidence of new birth.
2. The Son of God appeared for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil.
3. Practicing righteousness is the sign that you are a child of God.

THINKING TIME:

  1. WHAT DOES TRANSFORMATION MEAN TO YOU?
  2. WHAT ARE THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL YOU RECOGNIZE AROUND YOUR LIFE?
  3. HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL TO KNOW THAT JESUS IS DESTROYING THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL IN YOUR LIFE?

21 DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYER 2026 MEDITATION 11

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Good morning everyone. I lost yesterday to sickness, today I am staying in until youth group to seal the healing I have received. I feel much better! But the fast marches on with or without me. So here is our 11th meditation of the fasting season.

1 JOHN 3:1-3

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

1 John 3:1-3 (Source: Equip the Called)Theme: Children of God and Purifying Hope
1. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.
2. You are already a child of God, and what you will be has not yet been revealed.
3. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies themselves, just as He is pure.

THINKING TIME:

  1. DESCRIBE IN WORDS THE GREATNESS OF GOD’S LOVE FOR YOU.
  2. DESCRIBE IN WORDS THE BEAUTY OF WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR CHILDREN OF GOD. BE SPECIFIC IF YOU CAN.
  3. WHAT IN YOUR LIFE REMAINS TO BE PURIFIED?

21 DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYER MEDITATION 10

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Welcome to the noon time meditation on the first day of our final week of Cornerstone’s 21 days of fasting prayer. We are on meditation number 10.

1 John 2:26-29

I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

God’s Children and Sin

28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

1 John 2:26-29 (Source: Equip the Called)Theme: The Anointing and Abiding
1. The anointing you received from Him (the Holy Spirit) teaches you all things and is real.
2. Abide in Him so that you may have confidence and not be ashamed at His coming.
3. Everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him and reflects His character.

THINKING TIME:

  1. WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT TEACHING YOU TODAY?
  2. HOW DO YOU PRACTICE ABIDING OR CONTINUING IN THE SPIRIT?
  3. WHAT PART OF RIGHTEOUSNESS ARE YOU BEING LED TO PRACTICE TODAY?