Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

I could feel it. The lethal virus that threatened humanity coursed through my veins. My chest tightened, making it difficult to breathe. It would only be a matter of time before the virus wormed its way into my heart and successfully shut down my body for good. I knew my days were numbered. I sensed the sickness seeping into my mind and polluting my innermost being. I couldn’t bring myself to acce...

No matter where you are in your faith, the book of Romans offers an amazing explanation of the foundations of Christianity. The core truths of knowing and following Jesus are life-changing. Romans is a letter written by the apostle Paul to Christians in Rome. The church was made up of Jewish and non-Jewish (Gentile) Christians, and they were confused about how they as Christians fit into God’s sto...

After searching for hours, he finally found her sitting on the hill, squinting to see in the distance, past the fields and vast emptiness to the old place. Do you think we’ll ever get back there? she asked. To the tree? He had tried. Many times. He shook his head and said, They will never let us back in. She lowered her gaze. Then we will die. He nodded. That’s exactly what they had been told woul...

“God is so _____. What word would you put in that blank? Holy? Good? Big? All these are true! But one word I haven’t thought of putting there until lately is beautiful. I don’t often think of God as beautiful, but according to Scripture, He is! In Psalm 27, David talks about how desperately he wants to be with God, gazing on the beauty of the Lord. I often think of beauty as something trivialafter...

Modesty gets a bad reputation. And some of that is totally fair! People have weaponized modesty to shame others, to tell them their bodies are sinful, or even to blame people who have been the victims of sexual assault. But this is not what Jesus intended for modesty. At its core, modesty is a heart posture. It’s a mindset that says, I am fully satisfied in who I am in Jesus, so I don’t need to dr...

The Bible features stories of imperfect peoplejust like usinteracting with Jesus. The woman at the well, the man on the cross next to Jesus these people were seen by a holy God, and they were recognized as people worthy of His attention. When we mess up, we feel the need to hide from God. Some of us never want to go back to Him because we feel too guilty. We may even feel like the mistakes we’ve m...

“Wish I could join in,” Juan thought bitterly, nursing his sore ankle while his friends played soccer in the park. “Everyone’s changing. Cole has left church, and Tre constantly demands his own way.” Loneliness crept inside Juan as he held on to his brand-new sketchbook. “Lord, help me,” he prayed. “I don’t fit in anymore.” A gust of wind blew open the sketchbook, and a drawing of Cole appeared wi...

When people do wrong to us, what is the first thing we want to do to them? Usually, it’s not something good. But as Christians, we know that God loves us with an enormous love, and He also calls us to love others. Even when people do wrong to us, we do not have the right to do wrong to them. Why? Because we did wrong to God. We sinned against Him again and again, and we still do! Because God is th...

I think of Andrew, Peter’s brother, as a seeker. When Jesus told His disciples to give the crowd of over five thousand people something to eat (Matthew 14:16), Andrew looked for a solution. I imagine him saying, Jesus, here is a lad with five barley loaves and two fish. Not enough to really feed this crowd. But Andrew pointed the boy out anyway. When they offered Jesus what they had, He multiplied...

If you grew up in church, it can be easy to take God’s Word for granted. And sometimes, the Bible can seem like just a bunch of weird stories and rules that make life boring. But the Bible is indeed special; this book is God speaking to us! God inspired people who listened to Him so that they wrote what He wanted to say. The Bible is the words of God Himself, and because this book is God speaking...

As a child of the eighties and a teen of the nineties, I’ve seen computers come a long way. My Granny was one of the only people I knew who had a computer in the late eighties and early nineties, and I was awed by the math and geography games I could play on it. To start the computer, Granny had to insert two different rigid floppy disks with the adeptness of a DJ, then wait for the computer to re...

Do you have a best friend? I do. She’s wonderful, and what’s awesome is she lives one door down from me! I’ve known her my whole life, but that doesn’t mean everything was always perfect. We’ve had many ups and downs, but we haven’t left each other’s sides. And for a long time, it was just me and her. She was the only best friend I had, and she is still my best friend But now, I have another best...

When someone has mistreated or hurt us, it feels like we have a right to hate that person. Even if we know the Bible teaches we should forgive, sometimes we just don’t want to. One of the ways Jesus taught about forgiveness was by telling a parable where the king represents God and the servants represent us. The king in the story wants to make sure his finances are in order, and he discovers a ser...

No other love we can experience will ever compare to the love Christ Jesus offers. We may get glimpses of love shown by others, but it will never compare to what Jesus has to offer. His love is so pure, strong, measureless, fulfilling, and satisfying. He completely understands us. He has provided for us when we fail. He always longs for us to be in relationship with Him. John 3:16 displays a simpl...

The Book of Ruth is known for the loving relationship between Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi. But while these two women demonstrate both love and unity, there were barriers that Ruth and Naomi had to cross along the way. Looking at how they crossed these barriers can help us get a picture of how Jesus crossed every barrier to live in union with us. Now we, His church, can embody this unity with...

Broken, I come now They are not sorry Broken, I come now They damaged me in the darkest way Broken, I come now Each day a new sorrow Broken, I come now Still living in pain Lord, heal my heart When no apology has been said Lord, heal my heart When the pain is deep Lord, heal my heart When the injuries are many Lord, heal my heart As I wait for Your return Emily Acker Because He loves us, Jesus mad...

Maybe your parents just got a divorce. Maybe someone you love died. Maybe you moved and started going to a new school, and you miss your friends. Maybe you feel alone in your pain. We live in a broken world where bad things happen, and because bad things happen, we hurt and feel the emotional pain this sinful world brings. We may wonder why God doesn’t shield us from all these hardships. After all...

I feel them before I see them. They slither over my feet, wind their way up my jeans. Smooth yet sticky. Tendrils like tar that move like worms, like snakes. I try to pull them off, kick the tendrils away. But every time I shake one from my skin or my clothes, it whips back, clings tighter. The tendrils come faster. It’s like one great octopus has claimed me for its meal. More tentacles attach the...

God is the source of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). He sees every tear we cry. He is always with us, even in the times when we feel alone. Many of the Psalms talk about heartache and pain. The psalmists cry out to God for help in times of weakness and fear. They testify that He gives comfort to the weary. And God knows what is on our hearts and minds all the time, even when we keep our feelings...

Other people talk about dreams they have and plans they’ve made for their future. I listen to them and I wonder “what is my plan? What do I really want for my life? Is there some big goal I am trying to reach?” It makes me feel scared and disappointed when I realize that I don’t have exciting plans like others do. Maybe you feel the same way. But regardless of where we are in our lives or how much...

When I was working at a bank, a lady came to the door. I tried to explain that the inside doors were shut but she could still go through the drive-up. She didn’t understand what I was trying to say. She left, not knowing she could’ve done what she came to the bank to do. I felt horrible. I thought, “I should have opened the door and made sure she understood before she left! I failed.” But God stil...

We train for lots of things in our lives. We might train to play an instrument or train to get a good grade on a test at school or train to win a race. I ran track for two years in high school. I left practice exhausted, but I felt stronger. The physical training was good for me, even on the days when I didn’t feel like moving. I love Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 4, as he writes to the young pastor T...

When you feel like giving up, where do you look for inspiration to persevere? The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians by an unknown author. The audience was struggling to keep their faith amidst persecution, and some of them thought that the laws and sacrifices of their old faith were easier than following Jesus. Hebrews reminds readers that Jesus is greater than anything else and enc...

When God created the first humans, Adam and Eve, they didn’t criticize each other. They were content to love each other without making judgments. But when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sin entered the world, appearances began to matter. They were ashamed of their bodies. We see this fixation on appearance throughout human history. The account in 1 Samuel 16 is a great example. When God told the p...

One of my favorite Bible passages is Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep. I’m amazed by the idea of a God who loves His children so much that He will leave the ninety-nine to chase down one. Just picture this story for a moment and imagine what you would do if you were the shepherd. You have one hundred sheep, and you lose one. Do you choose to leave behind the rest of your flockall ninety-nine sheep...