Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

I’m hoping for a good explanation of what happened out there today, Kali. Captain Vesper crossed his arms as I joined him on the bridge of the Goshawk, the largest ship in the Maldi exploration flee…

When you think about memorizing Scripture, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Maybe you think about an elementary Sunday school class where you memorized a verse for a piece of candy. Pe…

When we get down, we want a hand to help us up. We want someone to be kind to us. We want people to understand what we are going through and give us grace. That’s not always what happens, though. Som…

Have you ever seen someone get shamed in public? Scornfully pointing out people’s faults or putting down their differences is a sad part of our broken world. Whether on the news, on the Internet, or …

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Hebrews 1. The words have been taught before, in earlier books, but in Hebrews they are drawn together in order to form a clear picture of Jesus: He is the…

A lot of us love the warm glow of helping someoneand the recognition it brings. Hearing praise and gratitude can make us feel our lives are meaningful and can even give us energy to do more good. But…

Gregory (Grigor Lusavorich), born in the third century AD in Armenia, was raised as a Christian in Caesarea in Cappadocia. After he returned to Armenia, while a loyal servant to Armenian King Tiridat…

Weariness can hit anyone. Weariness drives happiness and peace away. Here are some good ways to respond when you’re becoming weary. One, lean on God’s help. God gives you strength and endurance when…

Sin is deadly. No one knew that better than the priests who daily carried out God’s good laws. These laws are found in Leviticus, a book of the Bible that details regulations for holy living for the …

1 John 1 is about walking in the light. It talks about following Jesus and confessing our sins to Him. Today, I want us to think more about 1 John 1:9. It’s a verse that is so simple, yet so easily m…

Where do you find peace? How do you react when you’re faced with challenges and situations that are anything but peaceful? When Paul and Silas were in prison, they still praised God. They had an inn…

Close your eyes, and imagine a dark night. You are standing in a field, and surrounding that field is a thick forest that stretches miles in every direction. It is long after sunset, and there are no…

The Exodus is my favorite Bible story. It’s an edge-of-your-seat narrative where an underdog hero defies the most powerful ruler in the world and rescues his people from slavery. Unfortunately, somet…

A few summers ago, my husband and I were invited to an outdoor wedding. The reception was in a barn, and the summer humidity was at full strength, so we assumed attire would be casual. I wore a sundr…

“Brenilia, meet me at the oak tree. Love, Emerald.” Shuddering, I read the words inscribed on a stone outside my cottage. Intrigue takes over. Who is Emerald? What could she want? How long I have li…

People tend to talk about peer pressure as if it only affects teenagers, but the truth is, it doesn’t magically go away once you turn twenty. And because peer pressure will always be a part of life, …

“Where do I go from here?” I wondered, looking at my story. I had just finished typing out another novelanother novel for the collection of manuscripts sitting on my computer. My head swirled with st…

The corpse lay still and silent as maggots wriggled and writhed along its curves and crevices. If it could have tasted anything, it would have recoiled at the pungent mucus seeping into the pores of …

“What’s up with me?” The nagging thought attacks you at your most vulnerable. You’re in a room full of people, but you’re estranged. A part of you longs to join in, but you watch on, displaced and wo…

I. was saddened this past week when I heard about someone who had been a strong Christian all their life but didn’t feel God for the past few months and now wasn’t sure about God or their faith anymo…