Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: PSALM 32:7-8; ISAIAH 42:16; LUKE 1:78-79; JOHN 1:1-12

Merrick lifted the candle as he clutched his tunic. He felt the sand underfoot as shadows danced on the cave walls. “Beautiful, yes?” Fa…

READ: ROMANS 5:6-8

There is no greater way to show love than to be willing to give up everything for someone else. That’s what Jesus did for us. He loved us so much that He gave up everything, inc…

READ: MATTHEW 11:28-30; 1 TIMOTHY 1:12-16; 2 PETER 3:8-18

“Just be a little more patient with me…all I’m asking is that you let me figure things out, let me grow, let me work on myself a little an…

READ: PSALM 32; 1 JOHN 1:8-2:2

Weighed down
By a wrong I should not have done
Trying to hide it
Hoping no one will ever know
Guilt eating me
Guilt over secrets on top of the wrong

Can’t go on like this
S…

READ: SONG OF SONGS 2; 8:6-7; EPHESIANS 5:25-32

Today we’re looking at a book in the Old Testament called Song of Songs. Many readers are confused when they find this love poem in the Bible. It ta…

READ: PSALMS 1:2; 119:103-105; 2 TIMOTHY 3:14-17

Have you ever canned food? Throughout much of history, people have canned and preserved food—often in glass jars. This has been an important way fo…

READ: ISAIAH 56:5; ACTS 11:26; 1 PETER 4:16

Do you know what your name means? Across cultures, names have meanings, and when we give names to babies, those meanings can be a beautiful way to commu…

READ: PSALMS 36:7; 94:18; 143:8-12; ISAIAH 54:10

Unfailing love…

We sin and sin again. We mess up and try to put the blame on someone or something other than ourselves. We fail to help the hurt…

READ: MATTHEW 4:1-11; 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13; HEBREWS 4:14-16

How can we resist temptation?

As Christians, when we encounter something we know Jesus wouldn’t want us to do, we have a choice. Will …

READ: ROMANS 8:28; 1 CORINTHIANS 13:12; REVELATION 21:1-5

It might seem odd, but I often think of kittens when I consider a very hard question: “Where is God with all the hurt going on?”

It’s a…

READ: JOHN 1:14; 3:16-17; COLOSSIANS 1:12-14

I think being a professional kitten rescuer might be one of the cutest jobs in existence. But the practical realities of the job are anything but cute.…

READ: EPHESIANS 1:3-14

We don’t always fully agree with everyone who shares our faith in Jesus Christ. Some people might judge us, and we might fall into judging them too. The decisions that we ma…

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 9:19-23; PHILIPPIANS 2:5-8

I sat down at a table lavishly spread with traditional Romanian foods. And that was the day I began eating meat again.

Years ago, at age sixteen, …

READ: PSALMS 9:10; 63:1-8; ACTS 17:27

When I search for You 
You’re not hard to find 
When I need a friend
You are always kind

When I ask for help
You are always there
Whenever I’m in a mess
You still sh…

READ: JOHN 14:18; REVELATION 21:1-5; 22:20

One semester, while my friend was taking a seminary class on Tuesday mornings, I’d watch her two-year-old daughter. These mornings were typically filled …

READ: MATTHEW 20:1-16; 2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-15

Veena had to hold herself back from running to the fruit stand. She’d finished her first week on the job—pulling weeds from the pine-melon fields—and no…

READ: JOHN 1:18; ROMANS 12:19; REVELATION 21:3-4

Do you have a favorite place to think or pray? I do. Most mornings I grab my coffee and head to the back porch. There, I meet with God in prayer, a…

READ: JOHN 16:33; ROMANS 8:17-39; 1 PETER 1:6-7

I once saw a bowling team that called themselves, “It’s All Good.” Wouldn’t it be awesome if the saying “it’s all good” were true? Sadly, troubles a…

READ: PSALMS 73:28; 119:67-71; 2 CORINTHIANS 1:4-7; HEBREWS 12:5-12

Let’s continue our study on suffering. Suffering exists because God’s good world has been broken by sin. Today, we’ll talk about…

READ: PHILIPPIANS 4:6-8, HEBREWS 4:14-16; 1 PETER 5:7

When I was thirteen, I attended my first church camp. I experienced life-changing things, like when I encountered 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your …