Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

Lying on my dorm room floor, I wiped tears from my eyes. Why did I keep doing things I knew grieved the heart of God? Perhaps it was growing up in a strict home? The countless rules just fueled my de…

How do we speak the truth of the gospel when the world doesn’t always value truth? When I consider the changes my country has made in the name of tolerance toward various beliefs and ideas, fear cast…

“Jesus is coming,” Nathanial whispers. “He’s coming.” “Jesus,” I say, scratching another sore on my arm until it weeps. “Oh, you Samaritans! Don’t you know anything?” Nathanial sighs. “He’s the…

“What will you do after you graduate?” If Ashlynn heard those words one more time She rubbed her forehead with tired fingertips. As the computer loaded yet another search for college options, Ashl…

The Hagia Sophia (Church of the Holy or Divine Wisdom) is a world-renowned monument built during the Byzantine Empire. It’s had quite a history! It was built as a church, later became a mosque, and n…

Have you ever felt like you couldn’t accomplish anything in life? Have you ever felt afraid or unable to do what God called you to do? Well, you’re not alone. Throughout the Bible, many people though…

To be honest, I’m not very good at patience. I struggle with waiting. I begin to think the worst has happened when my friends are ten minutes late for a party at my house. I can’t sleep when I’m wait…

Do you still feel guilty about it? That thing you did. Maybe it happened yesterday, maybe it happened eight years ago. No matter what it was, you may be holding on to unnecessary guilt. Guilt does ha…

Where is He? Where is Jesus of Nazareth? Where is our crucified King? We’ve come to mourn Him, to weep and wail. On Friday, we watched Him die. This world bullied Him, beat Him, broke Him. Man drove…

This is ridiculous,” I said, adjusting my helmet while keeping my spear crooked in my arm. “Why do we need all of these soldiers here. The man is dead, isn’t he?” The guard next to me shrugged. “…

It was the worst Saturday ever. The sun had come up, and the birds were still singing just like any other day. But to Jesus’ disciples, the whole world had been destroyed. Jesus had died on a cross. …

I’m a people watcher who loves hanging out at restaurants, observing the crowd around me. As people pass by, I wonder who they are and sometimes try to guess their story. I do the same with Bible cha…

Traditionally, purple means “royalty.” For example, Roman magistrates wore white togas with a wide purple border, and Roman emperors and victorious generals wore purple togas with gold trim. Purple …

You’ve probably seen costume crowns made of plastic or cheap metal. But a true king’s crown is usually made of the finest metal and jewels. When it’s not on the king’s head, it is locked up under the…

A rooster crowed at the moment of the apostle Peter’s biggest failure. Let’s back up to a few hours before that awful choice. On the night of His betrayal, Jesus warned His disciples that they would…

My skin is cold. Though I can’t know for sure how cold—since corpses can’t feel anything. They can’t do anything at all, really. If I had the ability to touch, I’d feel the icy, rough dirt that hold…

The Bible can be hard to read—seemingly old-fashioned religious practices, strange cultural rituals, and impossible-to-pronounce names! So how are Bible scholars, let alone teenagers, supposed to mak…

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!” This saying couldn’t be further from the tRuth The Word of God says our words do matter. They have the power to build up or te…

The mall food courts in Guatemala City are very different from those I visited in the US. When I came back from four years away from my country, one of the first outings we had was to the mall. Mall …