Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

Even as the tears slip off my cheeks I will rejoice Even as my heart grows still I will rejoice And when fear circles around me Hissing in mocking contempt I will rejoice Though the wind may howl in my face Though the skies turn black in deepest pain Though the things I love be taken from me Though all my works are just in vain I will rejoice When I am overcome by the beauty of a sunset I will rej...

Stephen died for his faith. Because Stephen performed signs in Jesus’ name and shared the gospel, some of the Jews seized him and testified against him. Instead of defending himself, Stephen took the opportunity to share God’s story. And then he called the Sanhedrin (probably some of the same Jewish religious leaders who sentenced Jesus to death) stiff-necked and stubborn, and he accused them of m...

In England during the 1800s, prisoners were taken far away from their home and sent to Australia. If you committed a crime, a judge could sentence you to punishment in Australia. At that time, few people in England knew where Australia was. Later, some people started calling it the continent Down Under since the southern hemisphere is down on most European maps. And it is really south. In going to...

When everything else is in chaos, God remains the same. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the One we can cling to when we feel afraid, or when things aren’t working out like we hoped. When we lose someone close to us, we can go to God for comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). When we’re not sure how to make choices about the future, we can turn to Him (Psalm 32:8). We can know God is the s...

What do you think of when you hear or see the word “handcrafted?” Something made by someone’s hands? The verb “handcraft” doesn’t just mean to make something by hand, but also to make it skillfully. What about the word “wonderfully?” The biblical Hebrew word translated wonderfully is “palah,” and it means to be distinct or to be distinguishedset apart for a certain purpose. Can you think of anythi...

“You never listen to me! You never do what I ask. Well, you’re always nagging me! Carter had come home from school to his parents yelling at each other again and, even an hour later, it was still going on. Can you guys please stop arguing? Carter said. I can’t even concentrate on my homework. How is doing your homework going to help you? his dad said, eyes burning. You won’t get anywhere in life....

Do you find yourself asking God to forgive a sin over and over again? When we’re tempted to sin, the enemy whispers in our ears, It’s no big deal! Such a tiny sin! But after we give in to temptation, the enemy yells, Shame on you! You knew better! How do we respond to the enemy’s attacks? We look to Jesus and His promises. God has promised, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will...

Standing on top of a massive boulder in the Hoodoos of Yellowstone, I felt like I was on top of the world. Fog wrapped around the mountains and hills surrounding me, cloaking the morning in beauty. As solid as the rock under my feet was, I knew it had been broken off from a surrounding mountain and relocated by a landslide years ago. Mountains are shaken, just like our lives. That which we once de...

Guys, I have a confession to make. I’m a twenty-five-year-old Bible college graduate, and I JUST realized that the armor of God is, well, God’s armor. And even though this is a new discovery for me, it was old news to Paul’s original audience, the church in Ephesus. The Bible frequently uses different words or phrases to remind readers of another part of the Bible. And that’s exactly what’s going...

It’s so hard to know what to do. Life is complicated, and sometimes it can be hard to know if we’re doing the right thing. To know if we’re doing enough. There are definitely times when we need to take action, but there are also times when there’s nothing we can do except get on our knees and pray. And when we as Christians come to God, the Holy Spirit helps us discern when it’s time to actand how...

Lieutenant Karso knew they were losing. She had led her unit into battle with high hopes, but now her troops were tired, hungry, and demoralized. The enemy had been using cheap tricks and psychological warfare for weeks. Karso opened her mouth to call for a retreat, when she saw something cresting over the hill. It was their flag. The banner they fought under. She had often overlooked their flag w...

When a catastrophe occurs, how do you normally react? Do you want to dive right in and help, or do you often find yourself standing on the sidelines? I can empathize with Jesus’ disciples when they were confronted with five thousand ravenously hungry people. Their first reaction was to send the people away, to remove the problem. Throughout my own life, when I’ve faced tough situations, I always w...

In the church where I grew up, we enjoyed the accompaniment of two primary instruments during the hymns we sang: the piano and the organ. On rare occasions, one of the deacons might play his guitar during worship music. So, when our youth choir was given the opportunity to include a tambourine in a performance, I volunteered to play. I was handed the little percussion instrument with no instructio...

It’s said the new star indicates the birth of a great prince, said the trembling servant. The Sorcerer didn’t take the news well and immediately called for the servant’s execution. The Sorcerer’s only fear was an ancient prophecy which stated that a prince of Otherworld would someday destroy his evil reign. No prince can stop me. The Sorcerer cast a spell over the land rumored to be the prince’s b...

If you’ve ever run a race, you might have experienced a sudden boost of energy when you saw the finish line. Or maybe you’ve entered a contest, and when it became difficult, stayed motivated by remembering the prize you’d receive if you won. Maybe you’ve pushed through challenging classes in school by remembering the hope of summer vacation. In the book of 2 Thessalonians, we can see the church in...

***Editor’s Note: Today’s devotion is a fictional telling based on true biblical events. The following story is how one author imagines a day in Leah’s life.*** Three children. Three ways I tried to prove myself to Jacob. Yet here I am, pregnant again. Unloved. Standing outside in the glaring sun, I watch my sister Rachel. We used to be so close. Now she feels like a stranger as she tosses her hea...

“You sure you want to do this? the man behind the desk asks me, hoping I will change my mind. I nod. Yep. Sure do. The man rubs his temples, clearly agitated. It’s my duty to tell you this is not a good idea. It’s taken you years to save this much money. If you withdraw all your retirement funds now, you won’t have anything to live on later. I shrug, refusing to budge. I need the money now. There’...

READ: EXODUS 3:14-15; JOHN 4:4-42; 18:1-11 The book of John is vastly different from the other three Gospels. John carefully crafted his account to demonstrate Jesus is the great I AM (God’s personal name used in the Old Testament) so his audience would continue to believe in Jesus as Messiah, the promised rescuer. John uses a lot of sevens, which is considered a number of holiness or completeness...

The Gospel of Luke is actually part of a two-part series by Luke, called Luke-Acts. Together they show Jesus establishing His kingdom here for all of humanity and the early church living out and expanding that kingdom (Acts 1:6-8). Luke emphasizes Jesus came for the lostthe poor, marginalized, oppressed, and hurtingboth Jew and Gentile. Luke focuses on the justice and mercy of the gospel, illustra...

Who is Jesus? This is the question Mark wants his audience to wrestle with. Throughout his account of Jesus’ life, Mark shows different people, including Jesus’ disciples, as they wrestle with the same question: Who is Jesus? Mark illustrates how people didn’t really know who Jesus was. They figured out He was the Messiah, the Son of God who came to rescue them, but they thought that meant He woul...

Each of the four Gospels tells the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection in a way that will make the most sense to its original audience. Matthew was written to Jewish Christians, so he emphasizes the fact that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, the fulfillment of the Jewish Scriptures. In fact, he tells the story of Jesus in a way that intentionally parallels the story of Israel. Jesus is calle...

Have you ever wondered why the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all so different? If they all tell the same story, why aren’t they all the same? To answer those questions, we need to understand what genre these four books are written in. The Gospels are ancient biographies about Jesus. If you’ve ever read a modern biography, you probably know they are pretty different from the Gospels. M...

Dear Jason, I was encouraged to hear about the success of the control mission and how you’re doing in Sector 2 in your most recent transmission! Here in Sector 8, things have been continuing on with the mission. We’re gathering good data on chemical components and viability for transporting the material back to base. Hopefully that’s something we can do soonI really miss seeing you! I was talking...

Church has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’m used to sitting through sermons and standing for worship sets. But there are some Sundays when I don’t want to sing. I move my lips with the words, but nothing comes out. These songs are meant to glorify God, but my flesh is weak. My selfish nature resists doing things I don’t feel like doing. In Zephaniah 3:17, God turns the tab...

When we first arrived in this valley, the lush landscape rose around us. Now it is a desert floor. The wind blows the sand, and it whistles as it hits usthe remains of a people that used to be a vast army, but we waged a battle against the Lord. Then we craved to return to the Lord, but it was too late for me and the vast army of bones around me. We laid here for years with the hot sun bleaching o...