Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

• Where Do You Turn?

  READ: LEVITICUS 19:4; JOHN 4:1-26; 1 CORINTHIANS 10:14 When things get tough, my instinct is to run—run to everything else and away from what is causing me pain and stress. I run to overworking. I run to comfort. I run away from staying connected with others. We all have vices we turn to when things get tough. It’s easy to go to things like overwork, exercise, screen time, food, shopping, or busyness because we like to think they fill something in us that we’re seeking. It’s easy to run to something else because it takes our minds off of what is truly going on in our lives. But that’s not where we want to go. Even good things—like exercise and work—can turn into something sinful when we begin to idolize them. Sometimes we don’t recognize it at first because we convince ourselves we’re doing a good thing. We justify our actions because we say what we’re doing is for the benefit of ourselves or others. The problem is, there can quickly come a point where we turn to those things instead of to God. That’s when we know we have crossed a line. That’s when we know we need to turn back to the only one who can fill us. Only Jesus can satisfy our deepest needs. Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus— believing He died and rose again to save us—we don’t have to chase after idols anymore. As we rest in His love, we often find that idols begin to lose their appeal. And even when we are facing tough times, Jesus gives us strength to persevere. • Tynea Lewis • What do you tend to turn to when you get stressed? How have these things let you down? • We’re all guilty of turning good gifts from God into idols, especially when life is hard. But God has so much compassion on us, and He invites us to come to Him and be refreshed in His presence. Consider taking a moment to pray, confessing any idolatry that comes to mind, resting in Jesus’s sure forgiveness, and being honest with Him about all the needs and longings you have today. “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you…I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’” Jonah 2:8-9 (NIV) 

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• Refiner's Fire

  READ: ZECHARIAH 13:7-9; 1 PETER 1:3-25 The image of fire appears many times in the Bible. For example, in Exodus 13, God comes as a guiding pillar of fire to the Israelites. And in 1 Kings 18, He uses fire to show His power and legitimacy against the false god Baal. But another type of fire mentioned in the Bible is a refining fire. When metals are heated in a refining fire, this process removes impurities. The metal has to go through this fire in order to become strong. Otherwise, a sword that contains impurities may crack in the heat of battle. The judgement of God is compared to a refiner’s fire. Although these are intense images, it’s good to remember that God is not only almighty and powerful, He is also loving and faithful. He knows that sin twists and breaks everything it touches, and He does not leave sin undealt with. The good news is we have a Savior who already took on the wrath of the Father and His judgment for our sins. Because of God’s great love for us, Jesus suffered the punishment necessary for sin by enduring the cross. He gave up His life for us so we could be spared from that punishment. And in His resurrection, Jesus gave us new life in Himself so we can begin to be refined. Once we put our trust in Jesus, we are conformed to His image (Romans 8:29). There’s a good reason the picture of a refiner’s fire is used in the Bible. This work of refinement isn’t always fun or easy. It can be embarrassing and painful for us to look inward and come face-to-face with our own shortcomings. But this is all part of the process of becoming more like Christ. Thankfully, God has given His people the Holy Spirit, who guides us in the process of refinement. He helps us examine ourselves, notice actions and thoughts that aren’t Christlike, and bring these to God. Take heart, His love and forgiveness never fail, and He is always at work in us, transforming us to become more and more like Jesus. • Naomi Zylstra • How does it feel when you see something in yourself that’s not Christlike? As we examine ourselves, we can thank God for helping us notice sin, and we can confess our sin to Him. We can also thank Him for Jesus’s death and resurrection, through which He has provided our forgiveness and is already working to renew us. Consider spending some time in prayer, asking God to reveal impurities in you that He wants to refine today, and thanking Him for His mercy. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold. 1 Peter 1:7 (NLT) 

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• Broken Eggs and God's Love

  READ: PSALM 103; ISAIAH 1:18 Egg-eaters are one of a chicken keeper’s worst nightmares. Nothing can ruin your day faster than when you head out to the henhouse, only to discover your hens have smashed their freshly laid eggs, leaving you with nothing but a sticky, eggy mess to clean up. I found myself in that situation several years ago. My flock had started eating eggs, and while I was able to break most of my hens from this bad habit, my little rescue hen, Ivy, continued to smash her eggs daily. Cleaning up Ivy’s broken eggs was frustrating, but every time I finished cleaning up her mess, I looked down at Ivy, and she looked up at me with her adorable face that always seemed to say, “You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.” Sometimes, Ivy’s egg messes reminded me how much God loves us. He cleans up our sinful messes and wipes away any trace of our wrongdoings. In Psalm 103, David reminds us how far God’s forgiveness reaches. “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” (verse 12). Isn’t it amazing that God’s love is so perfect that He can remove all traces of our sin? Isaiah 1:18 says: “‘Come now, let’s settle this,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.’” Just as I cleaned up Ivy’s eggy mess, God wiped away our sinful messes the moment we put our trust in Jesus, believing in His death and resurrection. Let’s thank our heavenly Father, who removes our sins and remembers them no more. • Erin Snyder • Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, those who have put their trust in Jesus are clothed in His righteousness—in God’s eyes, it’s as if we never sinned. No longer do we sit in our eggy, sinful mess. How does it make you feel knowing God has removed your sin “as far…as the east is from the west”? • When we confess our sin, God always forgives us, but He doesn’t always remove the natural consequences of our sin. While those consequences can be painful, Jesus walks through them with us, offering His strength and comfort. And when He returns, all will be made well. Consider taking a moment to confess any sins that come to mind, and rest in Jesus’s sure forgiveness. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. Psalm 103:12 (NLT) 

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• Left-Handed Hero

  READ: JUDGES 3:12-30; 1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-31; 2 CORINTHIANS 12:6-10 In a world that prized normal, I was abnormal. A left-hander in a world of righties. For me, being left-handed meant not learning archery because there were no left-handed bows. Not being able to use most scissors. Being left-handed made me feel like the villain rather than the hero. Then I read Ehud’s story. Ehud lived in a nation filled with fear. An oppressive Moabite government had ruled Israel for the past eighteen years. Judges 3:15 says, “the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite.” Ehud traveled to the foreign court to pay tribute to Eglon, king of Moab. When he entered, Ehud told the king, “I have a secret” (verse 19). So the king sent everyone away. He didn’t envision Ehud as a threat. The guards would have searched him. But they wouldn’t have checked the right side—where a left-handed man would hide his weapon. Once Ehud had the king alone, he revealed his secret. With his left hand, Ehud plunged his hidden knife into King Eglon’s stomach. After killing the king, Ehud snuck out of the palace and led a rebellion against their oppressors. Because of Ehud’s left-handedness, and the Lord’s favor, Israel defeated the Moabites and enjoyed peace for eighty years. God used Ehud’s abnormality to defeat his enemy. God turns our weaknesses into strengths. He can work through anyone if only we will give Him our abnormal lives. • Sarah Schwerin • Have you ever felt abnormal or like God could never work through you? Remember that we are each made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), we’re all unique (aka “abnormal”), and He wants to work through all of us. How might God be inviting you to be part of the good work of His kingdom? (Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 6:12) • God gives us all natural abilities, and He gives Christians spiritual gifts. What gifts and abilities has God given you that you could use to serve others? Who is a trusted Christian in your life who could help you spot gifts in yourself that you may not see? Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV) 

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• Finding Home

  READ: EXODUS 13:21-22; 40:34-38; DEUTERONOMY 1:33; PSALM 73:25-27 Have you ever been between houses or apartments? When you had to leave one home, but you didn’t have another home to go to? That’s happened to our family. It’s not pleasant. Those times can be very stressful, and there are so many unknowns. You don’t know how long you will have to stay with friends, or live in a hotel, or camp in a tent. You don’t know when you will find a new place, or where your new home will be. The Israelites were in a similar predicament. God delivered them from slavery in Egypt, but then they had to constantly move around. They would camp for a time, then move on when God told them. The Bible describes the scene in beautiful detail. God’s presence could be visibly seen as a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. These would actually come down into the camp and rest in a special room, called the Holy of Holies, within a series of tents, called the tabernacle, which the Israelites had made specifically for God by His direction. The people would know that God was there with them because of the cloud and the fire. Then, when God wanted them to move on, the cloud would lift from above the tent. The people would see God’s presence move, and they’d know it was time to pack up and head out…where, exactly? Nobody knew, not even Moses, the one God had appointed to lead His people. That would be hard! Can you imagine the uncertainty of never knowing if tonight is the last night at this camping spot, or if we’ll hang out here for months, or even years? And yet, the Israelites had something pretty wonderful. They had the very presence of God, right there in front of them, in a pillar of cloud during the day, or in a pillar of fire at night. The visible presence of God. Perhaps they learned to look toward that cloud often. Perhaps they learned that any peace about next steps would only arise when gazing upon His cloud. Today, we don’t have a cloud or a fire showing us the presence of God that we can look at when we face uncertainties. But we have something better! Jesus is Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave, the curtain that sectioned off the Holy of Holies was torn in two (27:51). Now everyone who puts their trust in Jesus has the Holy Spirit of God living in them. We don’t need a tabernacle anymore—we can march right into God’s presence anytime (Hebrews 4:14-16). • Kristen Merrill • In what ways do you need guidance today? Consider taking a moment to talk to God about this. Your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you… 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV) 

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