Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

Have you ever been reading a Bible passage and a certain word or phrase keeps popping up over and over again? That happens to me with the word good when I read the book of Titus, and it’s why I think…

As a daughter of missionaries, I had memorized John 3:16 in both English and Portuguese. I knew that God loved me and that Christ had died for me. But it still felt like a generic kind of love. So, G…

People can push us down and mess with our minds. When others treat us wrongly, we can get into a dark place mentally and be scared to keep moving forward. When we have enemies coming against us, it c…

“Laila, don’t go in!” I yell, as my friend opens the door of an abandoned hut in the hills. “You can’t.” Ignoring my pleas, she whispers, her dark eyes staring back at me, “It’s not what you think…

Four different authors wrote accounts of Jesus’s life (called Gospels), and three of them recorded one of my favorite stories about Jesus: His interaction with a woman who bled for twelve years. This…

Do you find yourself reaching for the tissues at the end of a movie? Are you someone who chokes up when you hear a tragic news report? I am. Do you sometimes feel ashamed for shedding tears that you …

While talking to one of my friends, I was refreshed by their honesty about a current situation: “I was angry but God can handle our feelings.” There is often the temptation to put on the mask of per…

Wandering, lost, and alone. How long have I been like this? My sins are against me, sapping my strength. Bones wasting away, I groan in agony. Those I had trusted in betrayed and enslaved me—quite ho…

Are you getting enough sleep? So many of us are sleep-deprived; studies show we are tired at school, tired at work, and tired when we are driving our cars. During our teen years, most of us need eigh…

God strengthen me Sometimes I feel so weak God guide me Sometimes I feel so lost God hold me Sometimes I feel alone God care for me Sometimes I can’t care for myself God save me I cannot save myse…

In first grade, my teacher picked a leader for our class each day. The leader’s primary job consisted of taking the daily collection of lunch money to the school office. Additionally, the leader had …

“I must be the worst evangelist in the world,” I thought, as worry knitted itself inside of me. In church, I preferred being at the back, behind the scenes. Everyone around me was confident, talkativ…

The next morning, we continued down the forest path. After a couple hours, we came to a clearing on the top of a hill. I set down my pack with a grunt. My shoulders were sore where the straps had bee…

After a while, I kept walking. Mercifully, the sun continued its course in the sky and no longer beat down on me. I pulled a crust of stale bread from my pack and ate as I walked. I tried to remember…

The sun beat down on my back. Was I going the right way? Sweat poured down my face, stinging my eyes. I had known the journey was going to be hard, but I didn’t expect it to be—confusing. As I trudge…

Have you ever been at school, with nothing to eat, and felt so hungry? Have you been on a diet or had to fast for a doctor’s appointment? It isn’t fun when we can’t satisfy our physical cravings, and…

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.” God made the vast heavens with the glorious light of the sun and the calming reflection of the moon. An…

“I hope this isn’t a prank,” Jacob thought, waiting in the park by the daisies, just like the unusual parchment in his hand instructed. “It would be typical of me to fall for it.” Glancing around, …

Anna shifted her legs. Sitting in the crowded marketplace was hot, but she had come with many other people wanting to hear from this man named Jesus, who some said was the Messiah. Dust blew across h…

Hebrews 12 encourages us to run the race that God has set before us, which is possible when we keep “our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (verse 2). Not only did Jes…