Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: JOSHUA 1:1-9; EPHESIANS 2:8-10 Joshua was given a monumental task. He was told to lead his people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River to their new home, the Promised Land. This happened directly after the death of Moses, the one who had led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the desert for forty years to the brink of the Promised Land. God told Joshua to be “strong and courageous”...

READ: ROMANS 6:1-23; 8:12-21 At times, the Christian life can feel a bit restrictive. Following God’s good ways means certain things are off limits because sin hurts us and those around us. Yet sometimes, saying no to sin doesn’t make us feel very free. It might feel like we’re missing out. But Romans 6 in the Bible has something else to chip in. It calls our life in Christ one of freedom, and it...

READ: 3 JOHN 1:5-8; ROMANS 15:7; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:4-6; EPHESIANS 4:1-6 In God’s family, we will encounter people who have different backgrounds, experiences, personalities, likes, and dislikes than ours. And this is a beautiful thing! But it can be challenging as we seek to learn from and be kind to each other through the differences. As fellow Christians, there’s good news. Even if we don’t have...

READ: JOSHUA 23:14; 1 PETER 1:3-9; 2 PETER 1:2-4; 3:9 Imagine this. You’ve just arrived at the best theme park in the state. You’re ecstatic to finally have enough money to be here—and you wouldn’t even be going if you hadn’t found a coupon for half-price tickets. But when the woman at the ticket booth looks at your coupon, she shakes her head. “I’m sorry,” she says, “but this coupon has expired....

READ: 1 SAMUEL 16:1-13; MATTHEW 23:23-39; COLOSSIANS 3:1-17 Appearances aren’t everything. We probably know this in our heads, yet how often do we find ourselves getting worried about what others will think of us based on how we look or what we do? Maybe you really care about your clothes, the image you portray to your friends, how you perform in school or sports, or having the latest technology....

READ: ROMANS 8:18-39; REVELATION 21:1-7 Some days, I end up not eating breakfast. I’m not saying this is something everyone should do, but sometimes it’s what happens to me. I may not eat anything till noon. All morning, my stomach groans and grumbles, communicating its annoyance. And when I finally do eat, I find a lot of joy and satisfaction in my food. My stomach is finally content. Lately, thi...

READ: PSALM 27:10; ISAIAH 49:15; 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-13; 1 JOHN 4:7-21 People don’t always love each other the way they should. Our world has been broken by sin, and we experience this brokenness in so many ways. You might see divorces happen and witness the heart-wrenching sorrow of two people separating after promising to be joined to one another for life. You might see parents abandon their chil...

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17; HEBREWS 12:1-3; 1 PETER 1:3 Growing up, I would eagerly await Easter. After long stretches of cold winter, I couldn’t wait for warmer months. The Easter season promised planting new flower seeds, hiding Easter eggs, and more time basking in the spring sun. During the six and a half weeks leading up to Easter, some Christians practice Lent, preparing for Easter by giving u...

READ: NAHUM 1:1-7; 2:1-10; 3:1-4, 18-19; ACTS 17:24-31 Sometimes I see all the bad in the world and I start to feel hopeless. With things like war and cancer in the world, does God even care? Well, the short book of Nahum in the Bible is a collection of poems that shows how God does address evil and does care about the bad things happening in the world. In it, the prophet Nahum tells about the com...

READ: REVELATION 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 17:14; 22:1-5 Worthy, worthy is the Lamb, Worthy is the great I am. He was slain in my stead, Bruised and buried, He rose from the dead. Ruling now in majesty, Day and night He pleads for me. Clothed in robes of purest light, The Lamb returns, dispels the night. King of kings upon His throne, High and holy is the Saving One. Worthy, worthy is the Lamb, Worthy is...

READ : 2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-17; EPHESIANS 4:20-32; COLOSSIANS 3:5-17 Closet clean-outs can be so satisfying. Getting rid of clothes that no longer fit can help make space for the things we really need—and like—in our closets. Instead of a cluttered and chaotic closet bursting at the seams with clothes that don’t really suit us, we see a space well-ordered with things that are functional and beautifu...

READ: JOHN 3:16-18; COLOSSIANS 4:3-6; 1 PETER 3:15-16 My niece got me thinking recently. She wrote me a letter asking what I would tell her about Jesus if she didn’t know about Him. She said she wanted to know so that she would know what to share with others. I was surprised when I didn’t have an immediate answer for her. As I spent time thinking, I considered the fact that you really need to know...

READ: ISAIAH 64:6; ROMANS 3:10, 23-24; PHILIPPIANS 3:3-11 Arlyn stood in a long line of travelers, each waiting for their turn at the weighing station. She watched the distance between her and the balance scale grow smaller. Her basket of jewels rattled as she tried to control her trembling. When she had gathered them in the dark depths of the mine, the jewels had appeared flawless. Now, against t...

READ: MATTHEW 18:21-35 Many of us love a good revenge story. In movies, books, and TV shows, we love the story of someone who takes matters into their own hands and gets back at the bad guy—we want to see the bad guys get what they deserve. Many of us have been on the receiving end of bullying or mistreatment, and we know what it’s like to want revenge. But what happens when we’re the ones doing t...

READ: PSALM 25:3; ROMANS 8:31-39; HEBREWS 10:19-23 Have you ever followed a celebrity who ended up in trouble? It can make us feel embarrassed that we were ever supporters of this person as their wrongdoings are exposed. We may regret ever spending time following them. It can be so disappointing. People disappoint us in other ways, too. Maybe you’ve looked up to a parent or other adult in your lif...

READ: PSALMS 90:1-4; 136:1; 2 PETER 3:8-9 We humans were made to be curious creatures. God made us to learn and to always be full of questions about Him and the world He made. One deep question we very quickly reach is: “Who or what made God? If every effect has a cause, what caused God to exist?” The answer is, nobody made God; nothing caused God to exist. He didn’t come from anywhere—He just alw...

READ: GENESIS 1 Lord, how I long to turn your creation into art. How I long to paint the light, Where there once was dark How I long to sing of the waters, Where there once was nothing How I long to write of the flowers, Where once no land was found How I long to sketch the stars, Where once the sky was empty How I long to play a melody the birds would sing, Where the fish will splash along How I...

READ: MALACHI 3:6; HEBREWS 13:1-8; JAMES 1:17 We live in a world where things are constantly changing. Music, friendships, clothing styles, circumstances—they all change. Some changes are good; some are not so good. But even in the midst of all this change, we can rest knowing that Jesus will always stay the same. He will always love us and always keep His promises. And once we’ve put our trust in...

READ: PSALM 145:1-3; ACTS 16:22-25; ROMANS 12:10-18 When you think about snow days, what comes to mind? Maybe sleeping in, then going sledding in all that fresh snow, then drinking hot chocolate to warm up? Snow days can bring unexpected fun and rest, but they can also bring disappointment sometimes. Have your plans ever been derailed by a snow day? While it’s fun to get the day off from school, s...

READ: JOHN 10:11-18, 27-30; GALATIANS 1:1-4; 1 PETER 3:13-18 I’ve heard many an argument about who raised Jesus from the dead. The truth of the matter is that God raised Him from the dead. Something important to know about God is that He is one God, and He is also three persons—that’s why we sometimes refer to God as the Trinity (from the Latin word for triple or three at a time). Scripture tells...

READ: ECCLESIASTES 4:9-12; ROMANS 12:15; HEBREWS 10:23-25 When my closest cousin, Jeanna, was barely a young woman, she lost her fight with cancer. I mourned her death with daily tears longer than I expected to. Then I learned of a way to honor Jeanna and others who were battling a cancer diagnosis. I signed up for a walk-a-thon to raise funds for cancer research. Most people taking part in this e...

READ: 1 SAMUEL 17:34-36; PSALM 23:1-6; EZEKIEL 34:11-12, 22 One of Jesus’s names is the Good Shepherd. Throughout the Bible, we find glimpses of what this means, and in John 10:11, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” I’ve heard teachers illustrate what Jesus does for us by explaining how shepherds care for their sheep by feeding them and making...

READ: MICAH 4:1-7; JOHN 10:11-18; REVELATION 21:1-5 In the book of the Bible called Micah, the prophet Micah speaks of God’s coming judgment against the nation of Israel: the impending invasion from the nation of Assyria. The book begins with an image of God coming down and bringing judgement. The vivid imagery describes mountains melting like wax (Micah 1:4). All of this because Israel had contin...

READ: EPHESIANS 1:7-9; 2:1-10; 3:14-21 When I was young, I didn’t realize the extent of God’s grace. As a child, I prayed over and over asking God to forgive me for my sins. I thought maybe it took a special kind of prayer to be saved from sin and death, and I wanted to make sure I said it. I knew that God loved me, but I just didn’t realize how big His love was. Now I can see God’s love much bett...

READ: PSALM 62; MATTHEW 7:24-29; JOHN 16:31-33 Perhaps you know how it feels to seek shelter from the storms of life. I know I do. We often look for safety and security in anything we can, like sailors trying to cast an anchor. But it soon becomes clear that “everything is futile,” or empty—like vapor that’s here one moment and gone the next (Ecclesiastes 1:2). No matter how hard we try to find th...