Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

The seminarian smiled as he walked along, clutching his Bible. Judgment Day was shaping up to be everything he had ever expected, with plenty of earthquakes and lots of angels. He caught up with ano…

Have you ever felt stuck between two phases of life? I know I have. The “in-between times,” as I like to call them, can be really difficult to navigate. Maybe you’re moving from middle to high schoo…

Church is boring. Trust me, I know. When I was an energy-filled young boy, the decrepit, 1970s-style church building—with its mildew smell and lifeless music—threatened to suffocate me. “Singing? Lis…

How much does God love you? The answer is: a lot! But sometimes “a lot” can be hard to picture. To show us how faithful His love is, God gave us an analogy in the Old Testament: the story of Hosea a…

You may have heard of the old TV show Father Knows BEsther The 1950s American sitcom was about a father and his family. You may or may not enjoy old black and white sitcoms, but the title brings an a…

Do you ever feel like life is all about rules? Rules at school, different rules at home, and maybe even more rules at church. Can following rules save you from sin and death? Can doing good things …

In college, I shared an apartment with a buddy. We lived in complete poverty: we owned a couch, a desk, a chair, and an old TV. Late one afternoon, I fell asleep on the floor. I heard some noise and …

Dear Unforgiveness, I nurtured you after someone hurt me. You grew in the soil of my misery, and I watered you each day with anger and frustration. Like ice, you crept into my heart, teaching me to …

The rich young man approaches Jesus with one question on his mind: “What must I do for eternal life?” When Jesus tells him to obey the law given to Moses for all of Israel, the man is confident he …

As I looked through a science textbook recently, I noticed an article in the biology section on a great unsolved mystery of science: death. And I realized this is a subject that scientists—and the re…

There was something about His eyes, the way He looked at her. It was unsettling. She thought she knew all about men, understood how they thought. But this was different. “Go call your husband,” He s…

It seemed like every time Lauren got over one worry, another one quickly came to rest on her shoulders. She felt weighed down with fear. Some nights, she could hardly sleep because of it. And, some m…

When I am really stressed out or confused by something happening in my life, I like to be by the water. I will often go somewhere by myself with my Bible and sit on the shore. I like to hear the spli…

“How can I be sure that I’m saved?” It’s a very common question for Christians of all ages. We pray for God to save us, and we try to do what’s right, but somehow we’re still afraid. What if I died …

Sometimes, it’s hard to share the thoughts and feelings weighing most heavily on our hearts. Maybe we’re struggling with depression, bullying, a parent’s divorce, the death or illness of a loved one,…

Have you ever been deceived? Confused, lied to, twisted around, and pulled into a pit of despair? We all have. Deception is one of the enemy’s favorite tactics. The devil is “the father of lies” (J…

I don’t know much about my great-grandfather. His last name was Kirchner, and he died long before I was born. I only know what my parents told me— that he was born in Germany, was a member of a Luthe…

A large crowd, an oral presentation, a piano recital, kicking a much-needed field goal—these are just some of the things that can fill us with intense dread and sudden insecurity. When we read God’s …

Many people have made it their mission to save the planet on which we all live. It is a noble calling. This planet is beautiful. It’s the place God created humans, who are made in His image (Genesis …