Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

Blustery winds ferociously blew the trees. Sitting on the train, waiting for it to leave the station, I was mesmerized as bending branches were pulled by the wind. Powerless, they could not resist or…

I have to admit, the last thing I wanted to do was teach Bible camp. Give up a week of my summer? For a bunch of little kids I didn’t even know? I attended church, sure, but it’s not like I was a Bib…

“This is madness,” I sigh, trudging uphill through the snow, my face burning, the rucksack dragging me down. I’d hoped that going to Aunt Alana’s cabin would be a retreat from the worries churning i…

Where do you find yourself on the introvert-extrovert spectrum? People who are more extroverted tend to value their time with other people because the interaction and conversations give them energy. …

I didn’t use to think about God very often. But did you know that God is with us throughout our day, even if we’re not thinking about Him? When I was in high school, I really struggled with what peo…

On the night before Jesus went to the cross, He washed the feet of His disciples. This was a very unusual act that surprised them, especially Peter, because only servants were required to do this, an…

My Gran collected crystal animal ornaments. They would be on display in the living room looking ordinary most of the time, until the sun shone on them. Immediately the sun’s rays transformed the crys…

The teacher was at his wits’ end. His search for truth had led him to understand some of the gospel, but he could not escape the never-ceasing pull of “a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for …

Growing up in my village with my parents was a joyful and fulfilling experience. But I realize now that there are many things I did not bother to observe keenly during those years. My mum reared some…

Sickness, accidents, conflict, persecution. Our world is broken, and hardship is inevitable in our lives. But how should we respond to hardship? Paul, the apostle, was familiar with suffering. After …

Have you ever been the target of a bully? In today’s passage, Daniel gets a dose of what a bully with clout can do. About two years have passed since Daniel and his friends were taken captive by King…

Have you ever moved? If so, was it sudden or was there time to prepare and say goodbye to friends? Moving can create a lot of mixed emotions. It may be exciting in one way—yet produce anxiety in othe…

A paradox is a phrase that seems to be self-contradictory, backward, and impossible—like “less is more” or “this sentence is false.” Paradoxes might seem confusing, but they make you think and ofte…

My favorite verse in the Bible is Jeremiah 1:5. This is what God said to Jeremiah when He called him to be a prophet: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set…

I worry, a lot. I worry about mistakes I’ve made in the past, and I worry about the future. I worry that my actions and insensitivities may have hurt people I care about. I worry that I have not hand…

Silent. I cover up the darkness within. If I do not speak of what is hidden, I think that none shall know. But in my silence I inwardly groan and waste away. It is as if a heavy hand presses down up…

Filling a basin with water in the upper room, our Lord Jesus Christ washed the feet of His disciples. He then tenderly dried each foot with a towel He had hung around His waist. This included the two…

There are many challenges people face every day. The world we live in is dysfunctional, torn apart by imperfection. Sin has twisted God’s good creation, but Jesus came to heal the brokenness we inhab…

People make promises but often fail to fulfill them. Sometimes people change their minds about the promises they’ve made, or lie about them, or even forget they made a promise at all. Other times, pr…