All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.
1 John 4:15 NLT
We are living in a moment of global disillusionment.
Many are stepping off the treadmill of worldliness — the endless chase for visibility, security, success, and self-definition.
What once promised meaning now feels hollow. What once energized now exhausts. And when the noise of striving quiets, a deeper question surfaces:
- If I’m no longer living for the world, what am I living for?
- What is my calling? What is my purpose?
Here is the surprise of the Kingdom of God: purpose does not begin where the world trained us to look.
In the world, purpose flows from achievement.
In the Kingdom, everything flows from relationship.
Not ambition.
Not strategy.
Not self-actualization. (I know… we were lied to.)
But relationships of trust — first with God, and then with one another.
John does not address purpose by pointing us to assignments or outcomes. He anchors us in something far more foundational: union. God lives in us. We live in God. From that shared life, everything else flows.
Calling in the Kingdom is not discovered by climbing higher. It is revealed by abiding deeper.
Union Before Assignment
John’s declaration encourages us to remember the truth.
God does not visit you.
God does not empower you temporarily.
God dwells in you.
And you do not merely follow God from a distance.
You live in Him.
This mutual indwelling is not the reward for maturity; it is the starting place of Christian life. Before God sends us, He unites Himself to us.
You do not work toward union.
You work from union.
Knowing God Is Participation, Not Performance
To “know God” in Scripture is never informational.
It is relational. Participatory.
You do not know God because you:
- pray flawlessly
- lead effectively
- perform consistently
You know God because He has made His home in you.
Walking with God is not spiritual striving.
It is remaining present through trust.
Abiding faithfulness — not intensity — sustains the walk.
Koinonia: Purpose Lived in Relationship
This indwelling life is never solitary.
If God lives in you
and God lives in them,
then Kingdom life is meant to be shared life.
This is koinonia — not community as a program, not forced togetherness, not ministry efficiency — but participation in the same indwelling presence.
We do life together not because it is productive, but because it is faithful.
Community is not a distraction from purpose.
It is one of the primary places purpose is revealed.
A Moment of Realignment
I took a walk recently to clear my mind.
I was wrestling — with life, finances, and calling. As I walked and spoke honestly with the Lord, the Holy Spirit interrupted my thoughts. Not in metaphor. Not in abstraction. But in clear, unmistakable English:
“Do nothing from selfish ambition.”
It exposed how easily even good things can drift into self-built kingdoms. How subtly calling can become identity management. How quickly ministry can turn into ambition clothed in spiritual language.
Union dismantles ambition.
Abiding confronts self-promotion.
Koinonia replaces control with trust.
When we stop trying to build something for God, we rediscover that we are already living with Him.
Purpose Clarified
Purpose is not first about impact.
It is about intimacy expressed over time.
If your purpose is to know and walk with God,
and God lives in you,
then your purpose is not fragile.
Even in:
- weariness
- obscurity
- small gatherings
- unresolved questions
You are not off course.
You are walking.
Purpose is not suspended when productivity slows.
Purpose is fulfilled whenever you remain.
A Call to the Spirit
Pause here.
Holy Spirit, You already dwell within us.
Search us. Align us. Lead us.
Ask Him:
- Who am I called to do life with as the beloved?
- Where am I still building my own kingdom?
- Who are You calling me to walk with in trust, not ambition?
Do not rush the answer.
The Spirit often names people before He names plans.
The Way of the Kingdom
When we cease building our own kingdoms, we are finally free to turn and follow God.
Union becomes our foundation.
Faithfulness becomes our posture.
Community becomes our context.
And purpose becomes clear, steady, and unshakeable:
To know God — and to walk with Him, together.
Prayer
Father in Heaven, we yield our striving, our ambition, and every kingdom we have tried to build apart from You. Re-center our lives in union with Christ, teach us to abide instead of perform, and lead us into relationships shaped by trust, humility, and love. Strip away what is not from You, align our steps with Your presence within us, and give us grace to walk faithfully with those You have called us to walk with. We choose again to follow You — not for recognition, but for shared oneness — trusting that as we remain in You, Your Kingdom will unfold through our lives. Amen.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.
Philippians 2:3 NIV
Igniter Ministries 