Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: GENESIS 1:26-31; PSALM 139:13-17 As I was washing dishes recently, I got to thinking about how amazing the human body is…and how great the God who created us is. As I picked up each dish and took care of it, I was grateful for my ability to do that. As I felt my heart beating inside, I had a new kind of amazement. From fingers that can grasp the smallest objects to hands with the ability to...

READ: MATTHEW 6:25-34; 11:28-30; LUKE 2:40-52; EPHESIANS 5:15-17 When you see little kids playing, do you ever find yourself getting a little nostalgic for those “good old days” when you didn’t have any responsibilities? The older we get, the more time we spend on school, chores, part-time jobs, extracurriculars, or volunteer work. Meanwhile, little kids spend their days playing, coloring, explori...

READ: PSALM 116:1-2; PROVERBS 3:5-6; HEBREWS 13:8; 4:14-16 One of my coworkers approached me about examining our new employee handbook. We just hired a third-party organization as our human resources department, so they redesigned our old handbook. My job was to compare the two. While I was going through them, I came upon a small section titled “open-door policy.” It basically explained that our s...

READ: ISAIAH 55:8-9; 2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10 When I was in high school, I struggled with depression and anxiety. A boy broke my heart, none of my friends understood me, I struggled with family issues at home, and it felt like nothing in my life went right or ever would go right. Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” And Philippians 4:6-...

READ: PSALM 32:8; PROVERBS 16:9; MATTHEW 6:25-34; JAMES 4:13-15 I am a planner. I love to plan out my future and what I want to do next. Maybe you’re like me and you find yourself thinking a lot about the future and what comes next. What am I going to do after school today? Or this weekend? Or what am I going to do this summer? What am I going to do after I graduate high school? Sometimes, plannin...

READ: PROVERBS 19:11; EPHESIANS 4:31-32 "Oh no, I’ve been bitten!” I cried as my ankles began to itch and burn. Looking down, I saw the culprits scurrying away—tiny ants with the power to inflict pain and leave punctures on my skin. My husband and I were on vacation, and after an amazing—but blisteringly hot—day, we had been grateful for the coolness of the evening. But the ants had ruined it. I d...

READ: PSALM 119:130; PROVERBS 2:1-5 Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a deep sea diver? If you’ve been to the ocean, you know how beautiful it is to see waves crashing on the shore. And yet, when we begin to explore what’s beneath the surface, we see things that are even more beautiful. Deep sea divers find an amazing variety of marine life, from stunning sea creatures to colorful...

READ: NUMBERS 23:19; PSALMS 100:5; 102:25-27; MALACHI 3:6 If you had asked me three years ago if I could ever see my life being what it is today, I would have given a definite “no.” At the time, my family—and world— were in a completely different place. The changes that I’ve gone through were unexpected and unrequested. As you go through life, there are periods when big changes take place. Sometim...

READ: GENESIS 3:1-9; PSALMS 89:9; 107:29; EPHESIANS 2:4-10 Nyoka twisted her scaly blue body around and laughed as she watched the other merpeople, who swam behind her. The chilly ocean water and vibrant coral made it a perfect day for a game of capture the flag. As she continued to maneuver her way through the seaweed, looking for the red flag, a flash of a dark fin caught her eye. Nyoka had neve...

READ: PSALM 139:7-10, LUKE 15:1-7, 11-32 My dog Ellie likes a good run around the neighborhood. She likes to escape out the front door, even if it’s only open a crack. She doesn’t come back without a chase, she is NOT smart when it comes to the busy street we live on, and if there’s a rabbit she’s long gone! More often than not she comes home muddy. More than once she’s come home injured and needi...

READ: ISAIAH 9:6; ROMANS 5:1; COLOSSIANS 1:15-22 Jesus purchased peace for me, died upon that cursed tree; Now He is my hope and rest, beneath His blood our righteousness. Yes, He offers peace to all— always, ever, loving. Jesus fills my heart with song, paid the debt for every wrong; Now He makes my face to shine, His own love becoming mine. Yes, He offers peace to all— always, ever, loving. Chri...

READ: JOHN 16:33; ROMANS 1:12; 12:15; 2 CORINTHIANS 1:1-12 Second Corinthians 1:1-12 has been one of my favorite Bible passages for quite a while. Paul and Timothy are encouraging the Christians in Corinth, saying, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any...

READ: DEUTERONOMY 31:6; PSALM 94:14; JOHN 14:18 I am adopted from China. From what little I know (and understand), my biological mother abandoned me in a public area to be taken to an orphanage. Even though I was adopted as a little baby, I have insecurities about being abandoned or left behind again, although none of that has happened since I’ve been adopted. But I’ve heard that traumatic events,...

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-11 Have you ever thought, “I’d give all my money for that”? We may have this thought about possessions we really want to have, but it also may occur to us when someone we love is hurt. We might be hesitant to give our hard-earned dollars to something that feels distant, like the church offering or an organization we don’t know much about. But when someone we love is serious...

READ: EPHESIANS 6:13-18; HEBREWS 4:12 Have you ever tried to cut food with a dull knife? The process can be frustrating—and messy! Similarly, a dull pencil can hardly write, and a dull chisel will not only make slow progress, but it might end up ruining the item it’s supposed to be shaping. A dull tool rarely does its job well. But there is one tool that never needs sharpening—the Word of God. Heb...

READ: PSALMS 34:4-10; 46:1-3; JEREMIAH 29:13-14; 1 PETER 5:6-7 Since I was eleven, I would write down the exciting points of my life and put them in my journal. It was a way to acknowledge all the hidden thoughts and emotions in my mind. This journal was also filled with anxious thoughts. These pages would often be left negative and unresolved. And when I reread them, I would get anxious and mad a...

READ: MATTHEW 28:20; ROMANS 8:12-25; REVELATION 2:12-17 Just when you think it can’t get any darker, I murmured as I watched over the hidden compound where we had to bring more Believers that morning. A small girl and her older brother were wrapped in a ragged blanket, hungrily eating hot soup. I wished we had arrived sooner, but now their parents were gone. There was a rustle in the dense trees j...

READ: 1 SAMUEL 20:41-42; ROMANS 12:10, 15-16 Do you ever feel ashamed for crying? Sometimes, it can feel like we need to be tough and strong, not weepy. But that’s not what we see in the Bible. In 1 Samuel 20:41, for example, we see how the mighty warrior-king David openly wept when he had to move away from his best friend Jonathan. It says, “David got up from the south side of the stone Ezel, fel...

READ: PSALMS 27; 63; 84 We sing of Your power, We lift up Your might, We praise Your goodness and grace! We exalt You as holy, We kneel to Your Name— But for a glimpse of Thy face. In Your face is delight that none can contain, gladness, glory, and beauty! For You are our Maker, our soul’s one desire— Our spirit is thirsting for Thee. Your presence, O God, Your beauty we seek, Your face as fair as...

READ: GALATIANS 5:16-25, 6:7-10; COLOSSIANS 3:1-17 Have you ever thought about how your habits form you and take you places? For example, if you have a habit of brushing your teeth every day, your teeth are likely healthy. If you were to neglect this habit, it would be quite obvious. Developing intentional, healthy habits is something that we, as Christians, are called to do. But there are other h...

READ: ISAIAH 41:10; JOHN 14:18; 15:12-15; HEBREWS 13:5 Have people ever let you down so much that you don’t want to get up again? I know I have felt like this many times. Or maybe you see all of your friends hanging out, and you feel like you’re the “backup friend.” Many times in my life, I saw my friends hanging out without me, and they would rarely talk to me. I’d always have to be the first one...

READ: ROMANS 12:16-21; EPHESIANS 4:31-32; 2 TIMOTHY 2:22-26 Have you ever worked on a complex math problem, only to realize that you made a mistake partway through? By the time you get to the end, there’s no fixing it. All you can do is start over from the beginning. The same can be true in our relationships with other people. Sometimes, we realize that a problem has been building and building in...

READ: MATTHEW 14:22-23; LUKE 5:16; 1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18 Have you ever had to face the same problem over and over again? I think we all have from time to time. A few months ago, I had a difficult situation at work. It went on for quite some time, and I relied heavily on the Lord for guidance. It was during this time that I was reminded of the importance of prayer. The problem that I faced leaked...

READ: LUKE 11:9-13; JOHN 16:1-15; EPHESIANS 1:18 In college, I had a professor who started class discussions about readings by showing us a picture of a lightning bolt striking the earth. Then she’d ask the question, “What struck you?” Sometimes, I like to ask myself this kind of question when I read the Bible. I like this simple approach of just looking for one thing that sticks out to me. It cou...

READ: PSALMS 32:1-11; 103:4; JOHN 8:12; ACTS 26:9-18 Blinking open his eyes he looked out into darkness. “How long have I been here?” he asked the darkness. “Innumerable days,” came the melancholy response. “How long shall I stay here?” he asked the darkness. “An insurmountable time,” came the dreary response. “Who shall stay with me?” he asked the darkness. “None but your shadow,” came the disdai...