Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: PSALM 66:19-20; MARK 5:21-43; JAMES 1:19

You know the feeling when you’re having a conversation with someone, and then you notice them looking at their phone while you’re talking? When this happens to me, I’m tempted to stop and ask, “Are you listening to me?” Because I wonder if my words actually matter to them.

Listening is an important part of communicating, but we often take it for granted in our busy lives. Demands like homework, jobs, and extracurriculars fill our schedules. To stay caught up, we may try juggling several things at once. The problem is, all this multitasking can affect our ability to really listen and love others well.

Jesus was a good listener. In Mark 5, Jesus was on His way to save a twelve year-old girl who was close to death. You can imagine the girl’s father and Jesus’s disciples urging Him to hurry. But along the way, Jesus felt the pain of someone else near Him, and He stopped to help. The person in pain was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve long years. Jesus listened to her story and then said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over” (verse 34).

In this moment, and throughout His ministry, Jesus demonstrated how listening involves more than just hearing words. He paid attention. He let people know their value and responded in love. He even took time to listen as He suffered on the cross (Luke 23:39-43).

James 1:19 says we should be “quick to listen.” We can learn to listen and love others well as we remember that Jesus is always listening to us, always loving us. • Kristine Brown

• Can you think of a time someone truly listened to you? What was that like?

• How can listening to others well show the love of Jesus?

• James 1:19 tells us to be “quick to listen” and “slow to speak.” What could it look like for you to practice this in your own relationships?

But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Psalm 66:19 (NLT)

READ: JEREMIAH 1:1-9; 11:1-5; 1 TIMOTHY 4:12; 2 TIMOTHY 2:23-26

Jeremiah was a young man when God called him to be a prophet—a messenger to speak to the people on God’s behalf. At that time in Judah, the religious leaders had abandoned God’s Word. As a result, widows, orphans, and immigrants were being taken advantage of—in clear violation of God’s Word—and the leaders weren’t doing anything about it. Although people were worshipping God in the temple, many were also going out and worshipping false Gods, and some were even engaging in the horrible pagan practice of child sacrifice. Jeremiah was to tell the people of Judah to repent of their evil and follow God instead.

Even though Jeremiah felt too young and unqualified for this task, God still worked through him to warn the people that judgment was coming, to call them to repentance, and even to point forward to the hope of God’s promised Messiah (Jeremiah 30-33).

Sadly, nobody listened.

People don’t always want to hear what a younger person is telling them. Older people sometimes believe they are wiser than young people. And sometimes younger people don’t want to hear what an older person is telling them either. At times, we all resist being told the truth.

Yet, Jesus tells us, “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32). God doesn’t want us to be held captive to sin; He wants to free us! That’s why God asks each and every Christian, no matter their age, to tell His wondrous story—which centers around Jesus the Messiah dying and rising again to save us from sin. God calls us to teach others to follow Jesus. Yet it is truly difficult to tell others about Jesus when they willingly turn away and reject the good news.

Though people didn’t listen to Jeremiah and even threatened his life, he persevered and spoke the truth boldly and in love—just as all believers are called to do (Ephesians 4:15; 6:19-20). He listened for God’s voice and spoke when God commanded.

In the same way, even when no one listens, God asks us to speak and tell about Him, and He promises that He will be with us as we do (Matthew 28:20). Like He did for Jeremiah, God will guide and empower us to tell the true story of the gospel, and He will work through our words. • Anna Gregory

• What is the hardest thing for you about telling others about Jesus? What can 2 Timothy 2:23-26 show us about what it means to witness well—even when no one listens? (For more about the gospel, and how to share it with others, see our "Know Jesus" page.)

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Ephesians 4:15 (NLT)

READ: MATTHEW 6:19-21; JOHN 3:16-17; 14:1-4; REVELATION 19:6-9; 21:1-5

Do you like to host parties? Back when I worked in youth ministry, I used to host gatherings at my house frequently. I would spend a day or more preparing—picking my menu, cleaning the house, and writing a lesson with my co-leader. I would set out blankets and pillows. I would get the space heater going and light a candle. All of this to ensure that when my guests came over, they would feel welcome, loved, at home.

Did you know that Jesus is doing the same thing for you? Scripture tells us that Jesus is preparing a place for us right now!

However, while my guests would come and go, Jesus is inviting you to stay forever. And though all I did was prepare for a day or so, Jesus literally came to earth as a human baby, lived thirty-three years, and then died on the cross for your sins and rose from the grave to defeat death—all to make the way for you to be with Him forever.

While we don’t know a whole lot about what the new heavens and the new earth will be like, we do know some things. We know there will be no more crying, and nothing will fade there. We know there will be a great feast. One of the best things about parties and gatherings is the people who are there. It’s not like we enter eternity by ourselves—we’ll be together with Jesus and with all our fellow believers! Sounds pretty great, right? But I think the biggest thing is that we know we are wanted there. This is one place you’ll never have to question if you’re invited or if you’ll feel comfortable. Jesus is preparing a place for me and for you. Want to go with me? • Natty Maelle

• Have you ever been somewhere you didn’t feel welcome, wanted, or maybe even safe? How does it make you feel knowing that Jesus is inviting you somewhere you will feel all of those things and more?

[Jesus said,] “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 139:1-4; ROMANS 5:6-8; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

We curate the caption and crop the distraction,
Chasing the applause of a virtual reaction.
We polish the exterior to hide the interior,
Afraid that our true selves are somehow inferior.
But in the quiet, when the screen goes black,
We feel the heavy weight of the perfection we lack.
See, Jesus didn’t come for your highlight reel,
He came for the brokenness you try to conceal.
No filter could cover the crimson cost of sin,
So He opened His arms to let the rebels in.
On the cross, He was exposed, stripped, and bruised,
So the real you would never have to be refused.
He was buried in the dark so you could walk in the light,
Tearing the veil to make your future bright.
The grave couldn’t hold Him, the stone rolled away,
Giving you mercy that is new every day.
You are not a brand, a post, or a trend,
You are chosen, beloved, and called His friend.
So drop the performance, let the pretense cease,
And rest in the rhythm of His perfect peace. • Ty Scott King

• Why do you think it’s sometimes easier to show people a curated version of ourselves rather than who we really are? What parts of yourself do you try to curate, edit, and hide away?

• Jesus sees the unedited version of you, and He loves you so much that He died and rose again for you. How could this truth affect the way yo view your mistakes, flaws, or things you just don’t like about yourself?

• Are there any areas of your life where you feel like you’re putting on a performance instead of trusting God’s grace? Consider spending some time in prayer, laying these things down at Jesus’s feet and asking Him to help you see yourself the way He sees you.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

READ: PSALM 77; ROMANS 8:35-39

Have you ever felt abandoned by God?

Psalm 77 records a fervent prayer of Asaph. At the beginning, Asaph searches for and calls out to God, so we’d think everything would turn out okay, right? But then Asaph groans! He remembers the ways God helped him in the past, but he feels agony that he is no longer in that place. He starts to wonder if God still cares about him. He goes so far as to question God’s character, wondering if He is even compassionate and merciful anymore.

In the same way, we may have moments when we cry out to God, remembering that He is with us, and we still feel no comfort. That’s because our circumstances bring us real pain, and we know that God can do something about it. But He doesn’t. And we can’t understand why He doesn’t.

But just when Asaph is going down that path, everything shifts. This is when he intentionally directs his thoughts to God’s faithfulness. Asaph is essentially saying, I’m going to choose to remember what God has done for me in the past. Even though my circumstances have changed since then, God has not changed. My situation is different, but God is still the same.

By the end of the psalm, in one sense, nothing has changed for Asaph. His situation is unmoved. But in another sense, pondering what’s true about God changed everything for Asaph, as his mind shifted from the pain of his circumstances to the awesomeness of His God. It’s like he was saying, You have done great things. Nothing stood in your way when you led your people out of the most difficult, hopeless situation. No one and nothing has ever stood in your way.

Think about what Jesus has done for you and for me—what His life, death, and resurrection have saved us from, and what He continues to rescue us out of. God has not changed, even if our circumstances have. No matter what’s going on in our lives, God has not given up on us. He never has, and He never will. • Andrew Jacob Mead

• Can you think of any examples of good things God has done for you in the past—ways He has rescued, provided for, sustained, or delighted you? Consider taking a moment to thank Him for this! (James 1:17)

• Can you think of a time you felt abandoned by God? Jesus felt abandoned by the Father when He was on the cross, so He knows how we feel (Matthew 27:45-46). And because Jesus died and rose again for us, nothing can ever separate us from Him. (Find out more on our "Know Jesus" page.)

But then I recall all you have done, O LORD; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. Psalm 77:11 (NLT)