Kingdom Citizens
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
Ephesians 2:19-20
What would happen if our children deeply understood that they belonged in God’s kingdom each day of their lives? Imagine for a minute around who each child would become. How would she interact with others? What we he do with his time and energy? What adventures and influence could your child have in bringing shalom to this world? Perhaps some of those imaginations are acts of faith, foreshadowings of the good works that God has prepared for them to do (Ephesians 2:10)
These 3 devotions will support your children to identify as citizens of God’s kingdom, focusing on one area each day. We hope and pray these become foundations for each child to stand firmly on in the day and weeks to come.
Devotion One: People of love
Start by reading Ephesians 2:19-20 together and talk about what it means to be a citizen. It means you belong to a certain group of people. What does it mean or feel like when you belong somewhere? Let’s name some places where we each feel like we belong.
Right, so in the same way, we belong to God, so we are like citizens in God’s Kingdom! It’s who we are, what we call an identity. Your identity helps you know how to be in this world. We’re going to talk some more about what that means over the next few days, so let’s get ready to explore what a Kingdom citizen looks like!
Ok, time to imagine! Give each person a piece of paper and split it into four areas by drawing some lines to divide it up. What does love look like to you? What makes you feel loved? Let’s draw a picture of what that might look like in one of these boxes. Take a few minutes to draw and imagine together, letting thoughts and wonderings come freely among your family.
Next, read 1 John 4:11 together from the New American Standard Bible: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Who do you think are the Beloved? Yes, us, because God loves us. As the Beloved, how are we supposed to be? Yes, loving. But, a big part of being Beloved is to remember that we are loved, and to receive that love. Let’s receive God’s love right now while we say that verse again. Repeat 1 John 4:11 and encourage your children to hold out their hands in a posture of receiving, like they would get a gift.
Now, what does it look like to love others? Let’s draw a few examples of that in the last few boxes we have on our pages. Spend a few minutes drawing and talking about the various situations where you can be people of love–at school, at home, at a playground, etc.
Close with a short prayer.
Devotion Two: People of peace
What’s the first thing we learned about who Kingdom citizens are and how they are supposed to be? Yes, people of love, who receive God’s love, then show that same love to others by being patient, kind, generous and full of joy and peace!
What does it look like to be full of peace? Maybe it’s easier to think about the opposite of peace, what does that look or feel like? Show me in your body what it might look like to not be at peace. Now, can you show me what it looks like when your body is at peace? Wow, great job!
The Bible tells us this about who we are in 2 Corinthians 5: “All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between himself and us. And God gave us the work of bringing people into peace with him.” Imagine if God was at war with you, how do you think you might feel about that? Aren’t you glad that God has made peace with us? He did that because He loves us.
What do you think it might look like for you to be a person of peace to God and others? Do you feel like you need to make peace with any in your life right now?
Let’s pray and ask God to help us people peaceful citizens of His Kingdom!
Devotion three: People of power
Ok, we’re on our third day of talking about being Kingdom Citizens. What we the first two we talked about? Right, love and peace.
Before we read our Bibles, let’s talk about powerful things. Name some things that are powerful. Good, what makes these things powerful?
Ok, pick one or two powerful things and draw what it might look when they are full of power and I’m going to read from the Bible.
Read Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Wow, so Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will give us power. What do you think this power looks like?
One example of this power at work is in Acts 3, just a little while after the verse we just read. Read Acts 3:1-10 together. What did the Holy Spirit power do through Peter in this story? Yes, healed someone. How do you think we can have this kind of power?
What other kind of things do you think the Spirit gives us power to do?
Let’s close in a prayer, asking God to help us be people of power that helps others to know about who God is.