Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: EZEKIEL 1; REVELATION 1 When you start reading the Bible, it doesn’t take long to realize there is some strange stuff in prophetic books like Revelation and Ezekiel, especially the visions about crazy creatures and symbols that seem bizarre in our contemporary context. Why are those things in the Bible if they’re hard to understand and interpret? Well, since everything in the Bible is there...

READ: PROVERBS 19:11; 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-5; PHILIPPIANS 2:1-13 Frigid air made my eyes water as I pulled my cloak tighter around me. I watched my breath come out in little puffs of white, an ode to the snow that most certainly lingered on the horizon. Night would soon be upon me, and I needed to make camp and a fire, but my cloak called to me. Opening the folds of my leather cloak, I pulled out on...

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 2:12-16; GALATIANS 5:16-26; EPHESIANS 5:1-20 I’ve always had a sweet tooth. On one special occasion, this served as a great qualification for a unique job. My family and I had joined with others in our community for a fun-filled summer day, complete with a barbecue, picnic, games, and a dessert contest. I had been asked to arrive early and help judge the desserts. My mouth wate...

READ: NEHEMIAH 8:8-12; PSALMS 16:9-11; 68:3-6 Some of us have grown up thinking that Christians are meant to be serious all of the time. It’s like we see a group of people having fun and laughing loudly and we think, “No, that’s not for us.” Some people are even hesitant to become Christians because they’re worried about all they would have to give up. They might wonder whether or not they would e...

READ: EPHESIANS 6:18-20; PHILIPPIANS 2:12-16; 1 PETER 3:15-16 As Christians, we’re called to share the good news of Jesus with others. And this is a wonderful thing—it’s an honor to be entrusted with such a task. But have you ever been around somebody telling others about Jesus in a way that just doesn’t seem all that great? It might feel like this person is bragging because they know Jesus and ot...

READ: LAMENTATIONS 3:19-22; ROMANS 12:15 Have you ever heard of lament? In Christianity, lament is the practice of telling God about your hurts, anger, and disappointments—and asking Him to do something about it. Sometimes we find it hard to lament something we have lost. We tend to prefer laughter to crying, joy to anxiety, celebration to nostalgia, and happiness to mourning. Anxiety, sadness, an...

READ: PSALM 51; REVELATION 21:1-5 God can make all things new. That’s what the Bible tells us. It’s easy to believe, too, when it’s spring and everything is changing in the world around us. But it can be harder to see in fall and winter, when trees start to lose their leaves. The whole world becomes a bit barren. Everything looks gloomy and gray. But then the weather starts to warm a bit; little s...

READ: GENESIS 1:20-31; ISAIAH 11:6-9; ROMANS 8:18-25 How do you feel about spiders? Many people have strong opinions about these web-making creatures. They often inspire fear or disgust. But the reality is, although some spiders’ venom can cause pain or illness to humans, most spiders are harmless to large beings like us. In fact, there are a lot of things we can appreciate about spiders. They con...

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 2:12-17 A child and a spoil of war. Forced to live with the enemy, far from home. Then, as a young woman, a war prize again, forced to serve the nation’s most powerful leader. Finally, exiled to an island for her Christian faith. This was the life of Julia Ota, who lived over four hundred years ago. Japanese warriors invaded her Korean home and swept her back to Japan, an unjus...

READ: GENESIS 1:26-31; PSALM 139:12-16; ISAIAH 64:8 When you look at yourself in a mirror, what do you think? Maybe you like who you are, or maybe you’re critical of yourself. Either way, God shows us the right way of seeing ourselves in His Word. In Psalm 139:13-14, King David pondered how the Lord created us. He said: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I...

READ: PSALM 46; MARK 4:35-41 Have you ever heard the meteorological term supercell? It’s an unusually large storm cell, and its clouds form the shape of a huge anvil. This kind of weather system has separate updrafts and downdrafts, and it produces severe wind and thunderstorms, large hail, and even tornadoes. A supercell can be a good analogy for what it feels like to have a panic attack. It begi...

READ: GENESIS 2:1-3; MATTHEW 11:28–12:13; LUKE 5:16 Are you running on empty? Are you overburdened with clubs, hobbies, schoolwork, sports, church activities, part-time jobs, or other commitments? In our fast-paced world, it can be easy to say “yes” to too many things and fill our lives so full, there’s no room left for rest. The following might be signs you need to take a step back and take some...

READ: JOHN 15:1-17; 1 CORINTHIANS 3:5-11; PHILIPPIANS 2:1-13 If you’ve been part of a church, you’ve probably been told that, as Christians, we are called to serve others, help the hurting, and bring about justice (Micah 6:8; Matthew 25:35-40). That’s part of how we participate in the kingdom of God. And we also know that Jesus will return to right every wrong, make all things new, and get rid of...

READ: MATTHEW 11:28-30; ROMANS 3:23-24; 5:6-11; COLOSSIANS 1:12-14 I’ve decided to begin looking for a house. Prices are coming down a little, and I have a good chunk of money in savings. It just feels like the right time. My parents explained the best next step would be to get pre-approved for a mortgage loan. This will let me know how much I can spend. So, I called the bank down the road to star...

READ: MATTHEW 12:34-37; ROMANS 5:1-11; 1 JOHN 4:16-19 We all know the feeling. We’re going about our day and something happens—a difficult conversation, a snag at school or work, a major food spill on our clothes, forgetting our lunch, etc. When something happens to mess up our plans or efforts, it’s like a bump that pushes us off course. When things don’t go our way, often a bit of what’s in our...

READ: PSALMS 136:1-26; 139:7-12; 1 JOHN 4:7-21 I was driving my usual route in town when I noticed something out of the ordinary—a mystic cloud of steam puffed from the streets’ vents alongside my car. It looked majestic, floating there in the broad daylight of the winter day. I kept driving and noticed the street was lined with other billowing vents, large cotton-ball puffs floating next to me wh...

READ: PSALM 119:105-112; PROVERBS 3:3-6; ROMANS 8:35-39; HEBREWS 12:1-3 We face unknowns day by day. We don’t know what life will be like next year or even next week. There are constant twists and turns. Some things happen so suddenly and so out of the blue that, left to our own resources, we could be left paralyzed. Sometimes the unknowns, and the fears that come with them, can be overwhelming. B...

READ: PSALM 32:1-5; ROMANS 6:12-14; 8:1-4; 1 JOHN 1:9 Do you ever feel down and defeated by things you’ve done that were wrong? Do you find yourself asking God for forgiveness several times before you really feel forgiven? If so, you’re not alone; we all feel this way sometimes. But there is good news. Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we can know that God has already forgiven all our sins—past,...

READ: GENESIS 12:1-4; 21:1-5 One thing I’ve always had to keep practicing is patience. I’m more patient now than when I was younger, but having to wait for things still irritates me more than I would like. And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to wait longer for the things that are important to me. When I was in school, I was surrounded by change, even if it didn’t feel like it at the time. Every yea...

READ: OBADIAH 1:1-21 I hadn’t read the book of Obadiah until about two years ago. It’s the shortest book in the Old Testament (it’s only one chapter), and it can be confusing. The book mostly centers on poems that cast judgement on the people of Edom, who were related to the Israelites through Abraham’s family and who lived on the opposite side of the Dead Sea from the Israelites. These two people...

READ: PSALM 77:10-15 Have you ever made a scrapbook? Whether in digital form or with paper pages, scrapbooks can be a creative way to remind us of the people we love and the things we learn as we go through life. Thinking about scrapbooks can help us understand an important part of our relationship with God. It’s good to take time to remember all the ways God has blessed us, whether by helping us...

READ: PSALM 124:6-8; LUKE 12:22-31 As Valeria and Galena sat in the courtyard, working away at some handicrafts to sell at the market in the next town over, Galena watched the setting sun and pondered their situation. The famine continued with no signs of letting up. Their parents had died several months ago, and the two sisters had to care for each other in their small, impoverished village. “Gal...

READ: ISAIAH 41:8-14; PHILIPPIANS 4:4-20 I gulped. A flat tire? What now? I’d recently joined a ministry to share the good news of Jesus with others. To take on this role, I needed to raise money for expenses. I talked with lots of people in my hometown about supporting me financially, hoping they would partner with me through their donations and prayers. That evening, I’d set up an appointment to...

READ: MATTHEW 7:24-27; 1 PETER 2:4-10 Not long ago, we were scattered like pebbles across the ground. Unwanted, forgotten, far from found. That was, until the day He came. Bare feet scudding across the sand, bending down to gently pick us up and place us in His hands. Rejected by others, chosen by Him. He told us that He had been rejected too. Despised, beaten, spit upon, and ultimately killed. Af...

READ: PSALMS 16:7-11; 139:1-12; ISAIAH 41:10; 1 JOHN 1:5 I lay to rest, where do my thoughts go? To dangers, to darkness, to fears Though there’s no light around me I can see the light of my great God My heart pushes me to find my God To seek Him with prayers as I try to sleep I set my eyes on the One who saved me Fears can do nothing to shake me Securely, I rest in the hands of God Knowing my Fat...