Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: PSALMS 13:1-6; 37:23-24; 2 CORINTHIANS 4:16-18 Are you going through a really difficult time? Do you wonder if there’s a way out? Perhaps you’re overwhelmed with grief, anger, or frustration. When we’re in the middle of painful situations, it can seem like they’re never-ending. Will the hurt ever pass? Is this it? Am I trapped like this forever? We may ask ourselves, Who can help me? Why doe...

READ: 2 TIMOTHY 2:15; 3:14-17 Do you ever find the Bible confusing and frustrating? That’s totally understandable! The books of the Bible were written thousands of years ago in different languages and in different times and places in history. It’s going to be difficult to understand at times. And it’s normal to read a passage for the first time and feel like you just don’t get it. Learning to unde...

READ: ROMANS 5:1-11; 15:13; HEBREWS 11 Hope is a four-letter word. Yet, between those four letters is a tremendous range of nuance. People can use hope to convey an innocent wish. “I hope it doesn’t rain on the picnic.” Or hope can be used to reveal an unrivaled desire. “I hope my grandma lives through Christmas.” Our hope often conveys what we want to happen, but it doesn’t change what will happe...

READ: ACTS 2:1-14; ROMANS 12:4-21; GALATIANS 5:22-23 When people first hear that Christians all receive the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14), there can be a sense of excitement as they anticipate a life-changing, empowering moment. In the Bible, we find the account of the day of Pentecost. Jesus’s followers are all sitting together, because after Jesus died and rose again, but before He ascended in...

READ: ISAIAH 58:6-12; JOHN 4:14; 7:38-39; GALATIANS 5:13-23 “Look over there, Jett—under those tall weeds!” Kyra jumped over a stream as she and her brother explored the area behind their new home. When they had lived by the sea, their family made their living as fishermen, but when the dragon wars encroached on their tiny coastal town, they had to flee inland. They hoped to make a fresh start in...

READ: PSALM 139; ROMANS 8:28-29, 38-39; PHILIPPIANS 1:6 At times, growing up is hard. Change is exciting, but at the same time such a difficult thing to go through. Feeling your body change. Seeing things around you shift. Knowing that your mind is growing and your perspective on things will not always be the same. Change feels strange, but as we experience it in ourselves and in the world around...

READ: ISAIAH 53:4-12; COLOSSIANS 1:22; HEBREWS 9:11-28; REVELATION 5:12 You gave up Your life, You are the Perfect Sacrifice— God’s precious Son, The Holy, Just, and Righteous One. Speak to us softly, O Lord, we pray, Speak to us clearly, O Lord, this day! You alone are good, Teach us, Lord, to live as You would— Holy and pure, By faith, Your blood the costly cure. Speak to us softly, O Lord, we p...

READ: GENESIS 1:26-31; PSALM 35:27; PROVERBS 3:11-12; ISAIAH 62:4 If you grew up in church, you’ve probably heard over and over that God loves you. And He does! But did you know that He also likes you? This is a truth I’ve struggled to accept. It’s easy for me to believe that God loves me, because that’s His job! It’s just who He is. But I can fall into the false belief that it’s only a duty-bound...

READ: EXODUS 34:6; PSALM 86; 1 JOHN 3:1 I stepped off the school bus and headed down the sidewalk toward my third-grade class. Sticking my hands in my pockets, I felt for the envelope with that day’s lunch money. I expected to find it there, but I wanted to reassure myself. However, I didn’t locate the envelope of coins in my pockets, or in my backpack. The payment for my lunch that day must have...

READ: JOHN 1:1-9; 8:12 Have you ever been outside during a cloudy night when you couldn’t see the moon or even the stars? The darkness can feel all-consuming. And trying to find your way through that darkness can lead to some serious scrapes and bruises! Sometimes, going through life can feel the same way. The darkness of sin and brokenness feels all-consuming. It’s easy to get lost. Thankfully, w...

READ: ROMANS 5:8-11; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:16-21; EPHESIANS 6:19-20 Would you like to be an ambassador to a foreign country and work in an embassy? You’d live in that foreign country and be able to speak for your country’s leader, because you would be their official representative. Did you know that the land the embassies are on is actually considered a really small part of their home country? So, say,...

READ: PROVERBS 12:15; 15:22; 19:20; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-27 I like to do things on my own. I never enjoyed group projects in school because it seemed like I was the one to be the most focused or the one who cared the most about grades, so then I ended up putting pressure on myself to pick up the slack from everyone else. Plus, I know what it is that I want to do, and working in a group is difficult...

READ: ROMANS 8; 1 PETER 2:9-10 My hands shook with my effort not to take The List out of my pocket. You can’t control me, I whispered through gritted teeth. I just wanted to walk into this building full of, I imagined, lovely people and be okay. Two steps from the door, my fingers curled around The List. I tried to squeeze my eyes shut as I felt myself unfold the paper. There, scrawled across the...

READ: 2 TIMOTHY 3:14-17; HEBREWS 4:12 When you do the same thing over and over again, it’s easy to get tired of it. This can even be true of reading the Bible. If you’ve ever had your Bible reading routine feel like something you’re just trying to get through and you’ve longed for it to be something more—longed to learn more and get more out of it—you can find a way to make things different. You c...

READ: PSALM 13:1-6 How long, God? Why is it taking forever for things to get better? Why can’t my life turn around and be all that I hoped for? Why do you feel so far from me? How long, God, is it going to feel like this? How long can I survive like this? You may have had thoughts like these at times, and they are similar to the thoughts of David when he wrote Psalm 13. In this psalm, David asks G...

READ: GENESIS 28:15; DEUTERONOMY 31:1-13; PROVERBS 3:26 Have you ever read Deuteronomy 31:8? It says, “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” The book of Deuteronomy consists of messages that Moses gave the Israelites about the future. At the time, God had already parted the Red Sea and delivered the...

READ: PSALMS 19:1-4; 148:1-14; ISAIAH 55:12 A silver moon, a single star, shining in the morning dark. Waves are gently rolling in, riding on the restless wind. Sleek and smooth, sands lie fresh, washed by the ocean’s salty breath. Daybreak beams soft and bright, rejoicing in the coming light! So may we, with hope revived— praise Him with the morning tide. Today’s poem was inspired by a moment whe...

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:20, 35-38, 42-44, 54-57 Have you ever read verses in the Bible that talk about how we’ll be raised from the dead like Jesus was? It’s one thing to picture Jesus being raised from the dead after only three days, but it can be harder to imagine how bodies that have been dead a long time could ever be alive again. But maybe a metaphor for resurrection would help. Have you ever...

READ: 1 SAMUEL 17; 2 TIMOTHY 1:9-10 Dear Mother, Grandfather’s stories are true. The giant smells. Now his stories feel like mine. But I suppose that’s the purpose of a story. To let you know you’re not alone. It might be the giant’s breath or body, but we could smell it from a mile away. Like rotten meat. Like that time when a mouse died in the wall and we couldn’t reach it. The smell of the army...

READ: ROMANS 8:31-39; 1 PETER 5:6-11 I have many tactics that I use to try to deal with anxiety, and it seems like I am always trying something new. Recently, I was thinking about how I tend to try to push aside the worst-case scenarios that come into my head and stress me out, and I wondered if there might be a better solution. What if, instead of trying to push aside the worst-case scenarios and...

READ: MATTHEW 5:43-47; JOHN 16:29-33 My brother was selected to participate in his middle school’s play, so my family gladly showed up to watch the performance. While we sat in the audience, some unknown person crept into the parking lot and broke into our minivan. Although the would-be thief found nothing to steal, this individual did leave a mound of broken glass and a shattered window in our ve...

READ: MARK 14:66-72; LUKE 19:1-10; ACTS 3:18-22; ROMANS 2:4 What do you do after you sin? That probably wasn’t the question you were expecting. We all know that we sin, but do we like to think about that? I certainly don’t. After we sin, sometimes we think we can just forget about it, pretend it never happened. “Deny and it shall disappear.” For example, after King David had Bathsheba taken to his...

READ: JOHN 15:12-17; ROMANS 5:10-11 When you look around at school or at church, how can you tell which people are friends with each other? It’s pretty easy, right? They hang out together. They choose to sit near each other, they talk and laugh and update each other on their lives. They might do things together like play games or sports or work on projects. After a while, they probably start actin...

READ: PSALM 107:1, 23-32; MATTHEW 8:23-27 My life lately has been more like a ship tossed around on a stormy sea than a little canoe making its way across a peaceful pond. Relationship issues have come up and I have dealt with loss. As much as I want peace, it is hard to find. Nothing has come easy for me. I identify with the merchants mentioned in Psalm 107. Out on the sea, they experienced waves...

READ: ISAIAH 61:1-3; LAMENTATIONS 3:22-26; LUKE 4:14-21 Picture this. You’re standing barefoot on the shores of a beautiful ocean. As you walk along the water’s edge, breathing in the salty air and feeling the cool spray of the sea, you stop. You’ve seen something that catches your eye: a little orange starfish just offshore. You get closer, and your heart sinks when you see that two of its arms a...