Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, went from town to town, place to place telling people about Jesus and helping to strengthen some of the first churches. Did you notice he seldom went alone? Paul almost always traveled with other Christians, such as John Mark, Barnabas, Silas, and Timothy. Ever wonder why Paul might have done this? When Jesus started His ministry on earth, it wasn’t long before He...

Skin color. Nationality. Language. Gender. Health. Economic status. Social status. Political views. Opinions We experience so many divisions in this broken world. We can feel blocked off from others, as if we’re living in a different world than they are. Our experiences in life can be vastly different based on the families we were born into and the ways we grew up. But as Christians, we have some...

In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables about God’s enormous joy when one person who was going their own way turns around to be reunited with God. In the third parable, a son demands his inheritance before his father dies, and then he goes and lives foolishly until he has nothing left. He gets a job feeding pigs and is so hungry he wishes he could eat the pigs’ food. When the prodigal son comes to...

She was meowing somewhere in the house. I kept calling her name, Belle, where are you? I heard a weak answering meow. I went upstairs trying to follow the sound. I checked under the beds and in the bathroom shower stall. Then she went quiet. I called again, Belle! as I came back downstairs. I listened hard for her voice again and heard a sound near the front door. Had she slipped outside without m...

When I was asked to give a devotional message to a group of high school students, I started my presentation by reading from the Bible about light and darkness. Then, I held up a large, empty cardboard box and said, There is nothing in this box, but there is something. What is it? After a long silence, I repeated the question. One student said, Air. Another said, God. I affirmed that air is everywh...

Lord, I’m so tired. I spend my day moving between grief and anger and apathy and frustration and fear, and I just end up exhausted. I want to scream and cry and sleep and hide from the world, all at the same time. Why is this happening? Everywhere I turn, people are hurting. My heart breaks for them every day, and I feel like I can’t do anything about it. My heart breaks for me too. I miss my frie...

When I was a teen, I wish I would’ve learned God doesn’t look down on me because of my anxiety. At that time, I didn’t even realize I was fighting anxiety. I just knew I was fighting fearand feeling like I was never safeeven though I knew it was completely irrational. I was afraid of failing, and I couldn’t figure out why. I felt like I couldn’t tell anyone, including God. I knew I wanted healing...

Welcome to the newly established eternal kingdom of Yahweh, Almighty God and Creator of Heaven and Earth. He has restored His creation and made all things well. Today, He commands the immediate removal of any items that have been rendered useless and obsolete. All items listed below should be turned in to the nearest Pruning Hook facility for recycling. These are not needed anymore. The risen King...

If you have ever been to a school graduation ceremony, you likely sat through at least one speech. Most graduation speeches have two components. The first reflects back on shared years at the school: significant events, fun times, hard times, and what we learned. The second looks forward to the years to come, including advice as we start the next chapters of our lives. The book of Deuteronomy in t...

Surrounded by friends, family members, and acquaintances, you plaster a smile on your face to cover up the sadness. A conversation is going on, but you’re not listening. You begin to wonder who you really are. Emotions well up; anxiety builds. You’re friendly, polite, appear happy and content, but inside you’re drowning. Have you ever felt like this? So did many people in the Bible. Particularly i...

Don’t be afraid, I tell myself. Don’t have those irrational fears. Don’t be scared of bugs, heights, crowds; eliminate those phobias. When I was feeling happy, hopeful, surrounded by friends, Do not be afraid sounded so simple and easy. But beyond the phobias is a fear deep inside I don’t understand. The fear that keeps me up at night. Fear of the dark and of the evil of the world. Of rejection, d...

I’m fifty-four years old, and one thing I wish I’d known about God when I was a teenager is that He doesn’t expect us to be perfect. As a teen, I attempted over and over again to do what God said in the Bible. But no matter how hard I tried, I kept failing. I knew God loved me, but I felt so bad when I sinned or made mistakes. I felt like I was disappointing Him. When I read Matthew 5:48, Be perfe...

One of my favorite Bible verses is Romans 8:38-39 because it says we are inseparable from the love of God. That’s a powerful statement. Few things in this shattered, divided world are inseparable. Friends lose touch with each other, separated by time or distance or disagreement. Families drift apart. Human love isn’t always strong enough to power through the brokenness of our imperfect lives. But...

Caymen opened his sack and rummaged through the contents. I have everything I need. He breathed deep of the green pasture where he’d spent the night. The melodious water of the creek beckoned again, and he drank, refreshed. Caymen saw the morning sun break over the horizon and continued his journey. Hours later, Caymen slowed his steps as he saw the path before him forking in two different directi...

Many of us are familiar with Jesus’ Great Commission to His disciples in Matthew 28:19-20, telling us to go and make disciples of all nations. I love these Bible verses, and so does the church as a whole. We’ve emblazoned them on laptop stickers and bracelets. Serving others is a trendy thing to do. But sometimes we forget to look at the big picture, at the words that come right before go and make...

Your friends are the loveliest people you know: kindhearted, considerate, and nonjudgmental and they’re atheists. So, what happens when you’re the only Christian in your circle of friends? There are typically a few ways this can play out: 1. You don’t tell them you’re a Christian. There are moments when it seems awkward or even impossible to bring up your faith. You pray for your friends and hope...

Have you ever walked in your sleep? I have. My one and only time sleepwalking was at summer camp when my camp counselor led my cabin on a hike and overnight campout. My cabinmates and I hiked uphill through on-again, off-again drizzly rain for what felt like hours before we reached our camping spot. Around midnight, I dreamed that one of the girls woke us up and announced we were going on a midnig...

We often think of the Old Testament as dull and dry. Some parts are filled with stories that are familiar to some of us, like Noah’s ark. But the rest of the Old Testament eh, not so much. A lot of us don’t like to read the books of the prophets because many of them seem so full of gloom and doom. But let’s take a closer look at a small portion of a large prophecy book. Isaiah is considered the ea...

READ: MATTHEW 8:5-13; LUKE 5:1-11; JOHN 2:1-11 Coming from Egypt, my family found it tough to live in Canada. We weren’t used to the weather, the system, the people, anything! We didn’t have much money, and my parents were trying to find jobs. Life wasn’t easy. Our main source of transportation was a local bus. We lived in a rented basement, and my mother was pregnant with my little sister. One da...

I know that God hears me every time I pray, but does He answer me in the way I want or expect? Not always, but I know He hears me just the same. I am comforted when I remember God knows what’s best for me. He hears my prayers. He knows what’s on my heart (Psalm 139:1-4). He sees everything that’s going on in my life. He helps me because He loves me, and I am His creation. God is the potter, and I...

Have you heard the story of the bleeding woman? It’s moving, powerfulfull of courage, faith, and compassion. This important moment is recorded in three of the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. To set the scene, Jesus has started His ministry. Going from town to town, He has selected twelve followers and is preaching and performing miracles. Large crowds press around Him as He’s on His way to...

You thought someone was going to be part of your life forever, and then suddenly they’re just gone. They left you. They moved on. Now, you’re left wondering about others in your life and trying to figure out if they are going to abandon you too. Human abandonment is one of the most difficult things you will ever deal with (Psalm 55:12-14). Having someone purposefully leave you behind hurts and can...

Have you ever thought you were communicating one thing, but the way you acted actually communicated another thing? The Corinthians found themselves in a similar problem because of the way they practiced communion. The early church often ate communion alongside a common meal. And while that’s perfectly fine, a problem was arising where some of the poor in the church were leaving these meals hungry,...

How do you picture God? Maybe you picture Him as an old man, sitting on a throne up in the clouds somewhere. Or maybe you picture some kind of enormous cosmic vortex. No matter what comes to mind, there are a couple things we need to realize. One, God the Father is spirit. He doesn’t have a physical body like you or me or Jesus (who is God the Son). Two, God’s attributes (His qualities and charact...

How can a person have wisdom? Wisdom comes from God. He makes it freely available to anyone who seeks Him. Here are simple ways to get wisdom. First, pray and ask God to give you wisdom. He is the giver of all wisdom, and He wants you to earnestly desire and seek after His wisdom. Second, open the Bible daily and read. Reflect and meditate on the Word of God. You could read in the morning or befor...