Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: MATTHEW 14:23; JOHN 15:5-9 I love God and value my relationship with Him, but I have periods in my life when I struggle to make time to focus on being with Him. I do really well when I have a lot of structure surrounding my own faith. This was great when I was in college and I had built-in daily chapels, church on Sunday, and a weekly Bible study with my dorm floor. After I graduated I lost...

READ: GENESIS 1:14-19; PSALM 33:6; ISAIAH 40:26 BOOM! POW! BANG! The thunderous echoes of a fireworks display ring out. The noise isn’t always great, but fireworks sure are beautiful when they light up the night sky. Gasps of “ohh” and “ahh” can be heard as rockets whistle through the air and burst into umbrellas of brilliant, jewel-like sparks. The sky fills with many brightly colored lights, mak...

READ: MATTHEW 6:25-34; PHILIPPIANS 3:7-21 Lots of things in life can feel important in the moment. You might worry about your grades. You might think you need the most fashionable clothes. Maybe you feel pressure to be the best athlete on your team. Maybe you want to learn to drive and get your license and a car as soon as you can…but what happens when things don’t turn out like you’d hoped? When...

READ: PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11; JAMES 1:19-20 I had just entered my first summer in Romania as a missionary, and one morning I discovered a stranger at my apartment door spouting words I didn’t understand. To give some background information, the city had recently turned off the hot water to our apartment buildings, and this lasted for a month over that season. Lack of hot water created a challenge when...

READ: ROMANS 6:4-11; COLOSSIANS 3:1-4 Do you have a favorite book or movie that you like to read or watch over and over? Do you ever find yourself wishing you were part of the story? It can be fun to get wrapped up in a good story and imagine ourselves in it. And let’s not forget the epic story we’re already part of—the story of how Jesus saved the world from sin and death and how He will one day...

READ: PSALMS 34:15-18; 139:7-12; HEBREWS 13:5 When it all slips away When I am left alone The darkness surrounds me I feel like hiding When it all gets too heavy When life is hard to bear The world is too much for me I remember I’m not alone My Savior is with me He knows my pain My God does not forsake me No matter how hard life gets God loves me and heals me He helps me when I’m weak God is alway...

READ: MATTHEW 25:35-40; LUKE 2:15-20 Do you ever get that bored, depressed, or letdown feeling after Christmas ends? When all the fun and festivities come to a close and we wait for the new year to begin, it can be a bit, well, boring. But boredom can be a really cool opportunity to show Jesus’s love. Think about your community. Other people may be feeling bored, depressed, or let down too, especi...

READ: MATTHEW 2:1-12; 2 CORINTHIANS 9:15; JAMES 1:17 Galumph, galumph. The magi had been traveling for weeks. Nothing but sand under their feet and stars in the sky above. Though the heavens were scattered with twinkling stars, one stood out amongst them all. The star. The one leading them to the King of the Jews. It would be unthinkable to come empty-handed. So, before setting out, they had conte...

READ: GENESIS 4:2-5; EXODUS 3:1-4; 1 SAMUEL 16:11-13; LUKE 2:8-20 Shepherds couldn’t even testify in a court of law. That’s how much people looked down on us. They assumed we were liars. I hated that. Not to mention we were too dirty and “unclean” to enter the temple because we cared for animals, dealing with their manure and blood. But even worse was how people avoided me. They seemed to forget e...

READ: LUKE 15:11-32; ROMANS 5:6-8; 15:7; 1 JOHN 4:9 As a kid, the one thing I wanted for Christmas—every Christmas—was a puppy. Sometimes a collie, sometimes a German shepherd, sometimes a cocker spaniel. But always a puppy. Every year I got what was second on my list. One year it was the doll I wanted. One year it was a wristwatch. But never my puppy. Looking back on those days, it’s obvious to m...

READ: MICAH 5:1-4; MATTHEW 2:1-6; LUKE 2:1-15 Are you a detail-oriented person? Some people are, some people aren’t, and some people—like me—can be if it’s something they care about. Did you know God cares about the details? All the way back in the writings of the prophet Micah, He left us specific details about a ruler who would be coming. Micah 5:2 says, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you...

READ: 2 KINGS 6:8-23; PSALM 135:5-6 Wars, earthquakes, crime—all kinds of awful things are going on in the world. Sometimes it seems like there’s only bad news. But when things look bleak in our broken world, we can have hope as we remember that Jesus is coming back one day, and when He does, He’s going to destroy sin and death forever, and the world will no longer be a scary place. Instead, Jesus...

READ: LUKE 2:4-7; JOHN 1:1-18 Christmas tends to get a lot of hype as far as holidays go. I love the holiday personally. It’s a time when I get to celebrate with my family, share presents, and eat good food. It’s also a time I get to remember the story about how God became a human. After living through 25 Christmases, I’ve noticed the same themes tend to pop up. I hear stories about Mary and Josep...

READ: PSALM 62:5-12; MATTHEW 2:1-11; LUKE 2:1-7 From the time we’re young, Christmas can leave us feeling disappointed. As a little kid, you might have longed for a certain gift and gone without it. You might have hoped a family member would be around to celebrate the holiday season with you and found that they were too busy with work or they weren’t able to travel because of weather or sickness....

READ: LUKE 1:26-56; 2:1-35; 1 TIMOTHY 4:12 In Luke 1, when the angel Gabriel suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Mary was probably no more than sixteen. As if the angel wasn’t terrifying enough, he also brought distressing news: she—still a virgin and engaged to be married—would soon become pregnant with the Son of the Most High God. Talk about rocking your world! Things were different then, and Mar...

READ: GALATIANS 4:4-5; REVELATION 21:1-5 When He came the first time The world was in dire need Arriving as a newborn baby Not atop a gallant steed This might come to some’s surprise The way He came to us But, Jesus comes with power and love Not with pompous fuss When He came the first time He changed the world forever Now those who trust in Him are His And His love for us He will not sever But, d...

READ: ISAIAH 9:1-7; MATTHEW 1:18-23 God with us. Closer than our very breath, YH-WH, “I am,” here (Exodus 3:14). From the seeking of humanity in the Garden of Eden, when we first sinned and God called to us, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). To the seeking in the desert, when the LORD spoke to Hagar and she said: “You are the God who sees me” (Genesis 16:8-13). To the pivotal moment of Love come dow...

READ: PSALMS 39:4-7; 90:1-17 When I was young, my family would visit my grandmother 750 miles away, and at night, she would sit with me on her lap and read from her Bible and tell stories of her life. She often said, “It wasn’t long ago I was your age.” I would look at her gray hair and wrinkles, in disbelief that she could think that. She was in her fifties. For me, a lifetime passed just waiting...

READ: LUKE 2:25-35 Long ago, God promised Simeon that before he died, he would see the Messiah. And so, Simeon waited. I imagine that, as he grew in years and felt his physical strength lessen, Simeon became weary of anticipating and expecting. The Bible tells us that Simeon looked forward to “Israel’s consolation” (Luke 2:25). No doubt Simeon saw the trials of the nation around him and wondered w...

READ: EPHESIANS 6:10-20 If you live in a part of the world where the winters get cold and snowy, you’re probably used to putting on layers of warm clothes before venturing outside. Hats, mittens, coats, and boots protect us from the cold and wind, and they can also help us understand today’s Bible passage. In Ephesians 6:10-20, Paul urges the Christians in Ephesus to “put on all of God’s armor so...

READ: PSALM 25:16-18; 1 PETER 1:3-13 Lonely, sad, life isn’t what I hoped Desperate, scared, I feel alone No one is for me, I stand by myself Many are against me, I can’t face them I need mercy, need someone to help I need strength, need to be held I cannot go forward on my own I turn now to cry to You, my God When troubles are big, my heart sad I know You notice and You care When anxiety is great...

READ: ACTS 2:42-47; 4:32-35; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:25-26 For a few years, my family and I lived near enough to our church’s meeting location that we could bike to church services. The youngest ones, too little to bike any distance, could ride in a bike trailer behind a grown-up’s bicycle. I was too big for the trailer, but I didn’t have a bike of my own. Sometimes I would try to keep up with my family...

READ: ISAIAH 53; LUKE 2:1-21 Listen. Can you hear it? That whisper of hope on the horizon? The echoes of an infant King born in a manger. The culmination of hundreds of years of prophecy born in a tiny babe in Bethlehem— Immanuel, God with us. The rush of the season, the crush of life— expectations from within and without. How will we hear if we don’t choose to be still and listen? Advent is about...

READ: JOHN 14:6; TITUS 2:10-14 Have you ever helped decorate a Christmas tree? In many families, this is a yearly tradition, especially in the United States of America. Some families even like to add new ornaments every year! In some cases, each person will make their own ornament, or the family will go to a store together and have each family member pick out one new ornament. Then, they’ll put al...

READ: MATTHEW 7:1-5; JAMES 4:11-12 It’s such an easy temptation. How quick we as humans are to make judgments by pointing a finger at someone else instead of looking at the problems in our own lives. It can be so easy to criticize the way other people live. When was the last time you found yourself judging others for the things they do that are different from what you think is right? It’s easier t...