Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: PSALM 27:7-10; JOHN 14:18-20; ROMANS 8:31-39 It can feel terrible to feel all alone in the world. Whether you’re going through a time when you don’t have a lot of friends in your life or you feel like you can’t connect with others when you’re around them, loneliness can hit you hard and upset your life. When you feel like no one cares about you, know that God is always there. He always loves...

READ: MATTHEW 20:16; MARK 9:33-37; GALATIANS 5:13-16; PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11 Have you ever been picked on? Or have you made fun of others for being different? In our broken world, this is an all-too-prevalent reality. But here’s the thing. When we pick on others, we’re acting like chickens. Think about it—chickens have a pecking order. The bigger, stronger chickens have the most power and access to fo...

READ: EPHESIANS 2:1-10; 3:14-21; 6:10-18 Ephesians is a short book—only six chapters. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Ephesus, but everything in it is for us as well! This small letter contains some large truths. In fact, if you want a brief overview of the good news of salvation, along with your standing in Christ as a believer, and instructions for godly living, you’ve come to the right...

READ: PROVERBS 17:17; 27:17; ECCLESIASTES 4:9-10; JOHN 15:12-15 Do you ever meet someone and think something like, “I hope your weirdness matches my weirdness, so we can be friends”? I do! The Bible says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend” (Proverbs 27:17). The longer I walk with God, the more I realize what a gift those friends who sharpen me really are. I have a friend who sh...

READ: LUKE 15:1-7; ROMANS 7:15–8:4, 38-39; 2 PETER 1:3-4 When kittens are rescued and placed in a new family, they have a lot to learn—which usually includes learning not to scratch the furniture! Still, their rescuers are patient and help them learn how to live in their new family. This is kind of like our story as Christians. We were lost before God rescued us, like an orphaned kitten caught in...

READ: 1 CHRONICLES 29:10-14; PSALM 62:5-8; EPHESIANS 2:4-10 Emil hadn’t dreamt about dinosaurs since he was eight. Yet here he was with a full-sized Tyrannosaurus rex , in a top hat no less, right in front of him. “If you’re going to eat me, do it quickly, I have other things I’d rather be dreaming about,” Emil said, surprised by his lucidity. Usually, he couldn’t control what he said or did in hi...

READ: EXODUS 15:13; PSALM 36:7; ISAIAH 54:10 Unfailing love of Jesus, unending mercy renewed, Unfailing strength in my weakness— for your name is Faithful and True. Unceasing comfort in sorrow, untold delight in my heart, Unceasing hope for tomorrow— for your mercy I see from afar. Jesus, my Savior, I praise You, Jesus, the One I adore, Jesus, the face of the Father— my God, my King evermore. This...

READ: ISAIAH 61:1-3; JOHN 16:16-33; REVELATION 21:1-5 Every seven weeks, I watch an IV drip two hours’ worth of liquid medication into my arm. That’s the reality of a chronic illness— it’s never-ending. It’s most likely not going away. Not before Jesus returns anyway. Living with Crohn’s disease feels like a part-time job. I have to watch what I eat (goodbye, hot dogs), go to doctor’s appointments...

READ: LUKE 24:1-49 After Jesus was raised from the dead, the women who went to the tomb were surprised to find it empty. Then angels appeared and told them Jesus had risen! So the women rushed back to tell the apostles and all the others what they had seen, but they didn’t believe the women because what they said seemed to be nonsense. Later that same day, as two of Jesus’s followers were walking...

READ: MATTHEW 13:1-9; JOHN 15:1-17; 19:41–20:18 John 20 contains one of my favorite scenes in all of Scripture. On Easter Sunday, Jesus’s disciples discovered His tomb was empty, but they had not yet seen the risen Lord. They were probably confused and concerned, suspicious that something terrible had happened. In the midst of all this confusion, Mary Magdalene began to weep, unable to leave the e...

READ: MARK 16:5-7; LUKE 24:1-53 You might have grown up hearing the “Easter story” and the gospel message over and over again. Maybe you understand that Jesus died, that He rose…that He was dead and then alive again. What was it like, though, for those who experienced all of this firsthand? For the people who knew Jesus and interacted with Him while He was on earth, it had to be incredibly difficu...

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 15 One day, unless Jesus returns first, I will die. And honestly, that’s a scary thought for me. I’ve known Jesus as my Savior for as long as I can remember, and I trust that He will hold me even in death. But sometimes I think I use the promise of the resurrection—that Jesus will raise us from the dead at His return—as an excuse to avoid my fear of death instead of actually fa...

READ: GENESIS 3:14-21; JOHN 19:1-22 As an author, I love being able to write full circle endings—when all the loose ends are tied up and the reader is satisfied by the end. There are a lot of full circle moments in the Bible that are so easily skipped over because we don’t always understand their significance. One of those moments is when a crown of thorns is placed on Jesus’s head. You may have r...

READ: PSALM 23:4; MATTHEW 26:69-75; JOHN 21:15-19 Do you know what it feels like to be betrayed? Maybe you’ve had a family member or a friend violate your trust or turn their back on you when you really needed them. Jesus knows exactly how you feel. He knows the pain of being rejected by someone you love. In God’s Word, we can see that Jesus felt hurt and betrayed by those He was closest to. On th...

READ: ISAIAH 43:1; 49:13-16; 53:5-6; JOHN 20:24-27 Have you ever had something with your name on it—like a keychain, a necklace, a bag, or a jersey? Do you have a hard time finding things with your name on it? Do people sometimes forget your name or pronounce or spell it wrong? Our names are important to us. We’re alert to the sound of our own names. Have you ever heard a stranger say your name in...

READ: 1 PETER 1:1-5, 18-23; ROMANS 3:25-26; REVELATION 1:4-6 Even though I’m in my twenties now, my family still dyes eggs every Easter. It’s a tradition we’ve kept since I was little. In fact, I can’t remember not dying eggs on Easter. And this is just one of the many fun, color-filled traditions I associate with the holiday. We often have egg hunts using bright plastic eggs with colorfully wrapp...

READ: GENESIS 37:18-28; 50:19-21; ROMANS 8:28 When Joseph was seventeen years old, his brothers wanted to kill him. So they threw him into a pit, then sat down and ate lunch. After lunch, they pulled him out of the pit and sold him into slavery instead. Then, later, the wife of Joseph’s new Egyptian slave owner tried to have sex with Joseph, and he refused. Her vengeance landed him in prison where...

READ: MATTHEW 21:1-11; PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11 The governor was coming into town. Moriah had been waiting weeks to catch even a glimpse of the man. He was supposed to stay for the festival week and bring his entourage of soldiers and even a jester. Moriah had even heard the governor’s war horse would be the biggest she’d ever seen. The wide gates were heaved open by two men. At the front entry, an anno...

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:18; 1 PETER 1:3-8 “AH-CHOO!” That sound is not usually good news. It could mean someone is coming down with a cold. Sneezes and other symptoms show us the effects of germs on our bodies. Even though we can’t see germs without the help of a microscope, they have a significant impact on our lives. When you think about it, there are lots of things that affect us that we can’t se...

READ: PSALM 42; JOHN 14:25-27 I am prone to forgetting. I’m not talking about the usual things like my cell phone, car keys, or sunglasses—wait, they’re on my head. I’m referring to the more profound things. When I am downcast and my soul is disturbed, sometimes I forget to put my hope in God. Sometimes I forget to praise Him. But, as it says in Psalm 42, God is worthy of my praise. He is my Savio...

READ: EXODUS 16:4; MATTHEW 6:9-11, 31-34; JOHN 6:25-51 Father, we come, we kneel, we pray. As You have commanded we ask bread for today. Bread for today and today alone— Your grace we need for tomorrow’s unknown. Tomorrow’s unknown looms ahead— We fear it, Lord! We confess our dread. Ah, dark dread—may you forever be forbidden and crushed by His wounds on the Tree. His wounds run deep with healing...

READ: GENESIS 1:26-31; 2:7, 15; JOHN 1:1-5 God created everything in the world, including us. We were created in His own image. How incredible is that? Nothing else in this world has that same stamp from the Creator. Think about all the incredible things God has designed and made. The beautiful sunrises and sunsets, the flowers growing from season to season, the high peaks of mountains, the waves...

READ: ROMANS 6:1-11 Sometimes I watch the seasons progress with awe. Everything looks dead in winter, and then suddenly one day in the spring, daffodils start popping up, and soon after the trees blossom and turn green. God has a pattern of bringing new life. In the beginning, God created everything, including people. Adam was nothing more than dust before God gathered up that dust, formed it, and...

READ: MATTHEW 7:1-5; GALATIANS 6:1-10 “What are they doing?” I grumbled to myself, watching a bright orange pickup truck in my rearview mirror weave in and out of traffic behind me. The driver apparently wanted to go faster than the cars in front of them, and kept tailgating the other cars and zooming over to the next lane to try to get ahead. This orange truck was far enough behind me that I didn...

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-27; 1 TIMOTHY 3:1-9 Have you ever wondered what pastors do when they’re not preaching, visiting people in hospitals, or doing other pastoral things? Some people seem to think pastors study and read the Bible all the time. While pastors do study more than most people because they teach God’s Word at church, they’re really just like anybody else. Jesus continues to work in...