Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

The night started just like any other night. A clear, star-lit sky. Sheep sleeping in the field. The shepherds finishing their evening meal around the campfire. Quiet talk about families and the price of wool. But this was no ordinary night. . An angel of God coming to proclaim the coming of the Messiah, and the heavenly host glorifying and praising God! The shepherds going to Bethlehem to find th...

Bookends are those supports that keep books from falling over on a shelf or desk. By way of analogy, there are two events that bookend the life of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel accounts of Luke and Matthew: two angelic appearances, two unlikely recipients of the angel’s message, and two responses that teach us how to live in this Advent season. . Angels appeared to two unlikely sectors of societ...

This time of year, many people set out nativity scenes that depict baby Jesus in the manger to remind us of our Savior’s humble birth. My family’s nativity set was made of sturdy wooden pieces so the kids could touch the figures and play with them. Even children can understand something of the beauty and wonder of Jesus Christ’s birth (Matthew 11:25-26). But even though He was born in Bethlehem, t...

When discussing Christmas with family or friends, I get a variety of responses when I say these words: No cross, no cradle. Some reply with a puzzled look, others have laughed saying the opposite is true. Every once in a while, someone will nod. They know exactly what I’m talking about. . God became a real human and walked among us, but He didn’t choose to descend from atop a lofty mountain or eme...

Christmas season is always something I look forward to. Excitement can be seen and felt everywhere I turn: music is coming from shops, and people are singing carols. The Christmas season brings to town upcountry folks, and the streets of the cities are full of people as the shopkeepers have brought in new merchandise just for the Christmas season. The atmosphere in people’s homes changes as well....

In the book of Malachi, we see God’s chosen people imploring Him to be gracious to them even while they keep disrespecting Him and showing contempt for His commands. . By God’s law, they are to make unblemished animal sacrifices to God for their sins. Instead, they sacrifice blind, diseased, and injured animals. Even the priests offer God what they themselves do not want. God tells them He wants t...

I cannot fight this darkness deep I cannot find my way Help me, O my God . The faithful, godly people Have vanished from the world Help me, O my God . The poor and needy gasp for help That’s nowhere to be found Help them, O my God . The wicked encompass the earth They shout out, exalting all evil Help us, O my God . Your light has fought its way to me Parting through the mighty sea Help me, O my G...

As a teenager, one of the reasons I didn’t believe in God was because I didn’t think God cared about my individual struggles. There were people in far worse situations who needed God’s help, so I didn’t think He cared about me. It certainly didn’t feel like He listened to me when I tried praying. There were times I would beg God for help, but I wouldn’t hear a sound. . However, I found myself read...

One of my favorite Bible passages is Psalm 19. David, the psalmist, illustrates how God is a master communicator. This psalm has three parts: . 1) God speaks through creation; . 2) God speaks through His Word; and . 3) David’s response to both. . First, we see that God speaks through His work of creation. God’s creation preaches at all times, in all places, and in every language (verses 1-6)! . Se...

Isaiah 9:6-7 is part of an Old Testament promise of a Messiah: a Rescuer and King for the whole world! This passage lists tons of names that are ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. One of those names is Wonderful Counselor. We may not always think a lot about this name, but it has special importance for me because I meet with a counselor for my mental health. My counselor helps me process my thoughts a...

Maybe you’ve heard the saying: God will never give us more than we can handle. I’d never thought much about that idea until I found myself in Guatemala, begging God not to let both of my grandparents pass away while I was gone. . My grammy had been sick when I left for my semester abroad, and I’d said a different kind of goodbye to her. But now my pop-pop had cancer too? How could this be happenin...

I need help right now The waves are about to wash me away God, I need you right now This pain is too much for me to bear The sooner you help The sooner I can start to heal The sooner you help The easier things will be I can’t wait any longer This hurts too much God, I need you right now This overwhelms me Work quickly in saving me Come right away to rescue me Please, God, stop all this The sooner...

Elisha is an Old Testament prophet, and God performed many mighty miracles through him. He healed Naaman of leprosy (2 Kings 5), raised a dead boy back to life (2 Kings 4), and stopped the Aramean army from doing violence (2 Kings 6). But in the midst of these stories, we also read about some of the small, quiet miracles God performed through Elishaanswers to prayer for the specific needs of his f...

It doesn’t matter when you pray. It can be early in the morning or the middle of the night. It can be on a good day or a hard day. It doesn’t matter when, God hears you no matter what. . It doesn’t matter where you pray. You can be at work or school when you talk to God, or you can be at home alone. You can pray while you’re in the car or having lunch with a group of friends. It doesn’t matter whe...

A fragment. A shard. A useless bit of glass. A piece among many. Split from the mass. Silenced. Alone. No comfort in sight. An endless abyss. As dark as the night. A yearning. A desire. A never-ending prayer. For comfort. For calm. For someone to care. A piece among many. Split from the mass. Silenced. Alone. A useless shard of glass. An answer to my petition. Peace. Hope. A light in the tunnel. A...

Do you ever feel down when you see others doing big things? Do you feel like you would never be able to serve like they do or make as big of an impact? Just because someone is better at something, or has found more success than you have, doesn’t mean what you’re doing isn’t good. We can’t base the value of our accomplishments on what others have done. God has given you your talents and gifts for a...

Imagine feeling so certain that if you did one simple thing, you’d have your deepest desire fulfilled. What if that desire was to be healed from years of suffering? And what if, after spending all you had on doctors, you heard about someone who could heal you, even when doctors couldn’t? This is the story of the woman who believed that if she could only touch the hem of Jesus’s clothes, she would...

Death feels so final and real. Death has been on my mind recently because I have a family member who is not in good health. Once someone passes away, we cannot get them back. But, death does not have to be the end. Because God sent Jesus to die for us, death doesn’t have to be final. It wasn’t final for Jesus; He rose from the grave! And it doesn’t have to be final for us and those we care about....

Many people sought Jesus during His ministry on earth. Some went to Him to get healed, and some longed to hear from Him and see His miracles. Jesus said that He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). He even spoke as if He were a shepherd who would go out and search for a lost sheep (Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:1-7; John 10:1-18). One such sheep was a man possessed by a legion of evil spirits...

Sometimes I struggle when I read the Bible. It sorts people into two groups: the righteous and the wicked. It says God blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked. That sounds kind of good, right? Justice. We should all want that. My problem is, I often don’t feel like the righteous guy. When I read: don’t covet (don’t want something that belongs to someone else), don’t lie, love God and people,...

I sat down for the umpteenth Sunday service. Same row. Same struggle. Same insecurity. Never perfect enough or perhaps just never enough. I was exhausted by the hamster wheel of performance and anticipated leaving church just like I’d come in. Until So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. “Did I hear that right?” I quickly turned my Bible’s pages to Galatia...

Do you feel like the world is falling apart? Do you wish someone would have the courage to step forward and fix it? Nehemiah knew what that felt like. He was a cupbearer to the Babylonian king, living in a time after God’s people had been exiled for worshiping idols and rejecting God’s good commands. Nehemiah was heartbroken when he heard the news that Jerusalem, the beloved city of God’s people,...

Kyren adjusted her pendant so that the beam of light emanating from it illuminated the paper in her worn, leatherbound notebook. “Day 52. The darkness is all-consuming. Do I even remember what light looks like? Thank God for these pendantsbut even they seem to be weakening after all this time in the deep. Still, we press on into the depths of the sea, deeper, perhaps, than anyone has gone before....

While I was reading Psalm 55 the other day, I was reminded of sixth grade. Most days, I did not want to go to school. I was a lot smaller that a lot of my classmates, and the hallways were packed full. As I struggled up the stairs in the current of backpacks, I often wished I could fly away. When I read Psalm 55, I found out David felt the same way. When David was having a really tough time and he...

As winter fades into spring, you might feel good about the transition. The birds are singing in the trees again, and the flowers are starting to bloom. As fall fades into winter and the last of the colorful leaves abandon the branches, you might not feel so pleased. The world might feel too cold and dark during that time. But spring will come again. God created a world with many seasons. In additi...