Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

City on a Hill

READ: MATTHEW 5:14-16; JOHN 13:12-17, 34-35; 1 JOHN 4:19 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=MATTHEW%205%3A14-16%3B%20JOHN%2013%3A12-17%2C%2034-35%3B%201%20JOHN%204%3A19&version=CSB] Recently, some friends and I gathered to pray in someone’s living room for a specific need. It was evening, and the room was lit with warm lamplight. As we were finishing praying for the night, it occurred to me that, from outside, people passing by would see a glowing yellow light coming from the windows. And it reminded me of something Jesus said, about a city on a hill. “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). Since I was a kid, I’ve always pictured this city on a hill aglow with yellow light. But for some reason, this passage never really resonated with me before that night I prayed in the living room with friends. I had this sense of the hope and power we have access to as people of God. We know Jesus, and nothing is impossible for Him (Matthew 19:26). In fact, He loves working on behalf of His people. And even if He doesn’t answer our prayers in the specific ways or timing that we hope He will, we don’t need to be afraid of any darkness, because His love surrounds us. And the peace and confidence we have in Jesus is something that will, hopefully, be noticed by people who don’t know Jesus yet. Maybe they’ll want to lean in, to see where the light comes from. A couple weeks after that prayer night, I noticed a connection between what Jesus said in Matthew 5, and something else He said in John 13: “Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (verse 34-35). Do you know that I always took Matthew 5:14 to mean that I, as an individual, was supposed to be like a city? But it makes so much more sense that we, together as the family of believers, are like a city. As we love each other out of the overflow of Jesus’s love for us, we shine His light for all to see. And we invite those who don’t know Jesus yet to draw near, and experience His love too. • Hannah Howe • Have you ever been in a gathering of Christians that felt warn and inviting? What was going on? [Jesus said,] “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14 (CSB)

Peace Beyond Understanding

READ: MATTHEW 11:28-30; JOHN 14:26-27; PHILIPPIANS 4:4-13 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=MATTHEW%2011%3A28-30%3B%20JOHN%2014%3A26-27%3B%20PHILIPPIANS%204%3A4-13&version=CSB] Relax your shoulders. Take a deep breath, and let out the tension you’ve been holding. Feel any better? God calls Himself our Comforter. In John 14:26, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit Paraklētos, which can be translated helper, advocate, counselor—or comforter. Similarly, in 2 Corinthians 1:3, Paul praises God the Father as “the God of all comfort.” One way God acts as our Comforter is by giving us His peace. This is a peace for the soul that goes beyond our understanding—showing up even when we face situations that are anything but peaceful. Have you ever encountered someone who has lost a loved one, yet they speak about feeling God’s peace? This doesn’t mean they aren’t grieving, or that they feel no emotion. Rather, God’s peace is a way He meets His children in the midst of their grief. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus calls all people to come to Him for rest. This is a rest that goes beyond a simple power nap. God’s rest is a deep rest for your soul. It’s a rest rooted in the fact that we are saved through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and because He died and rose again, everyone who puts their trust in Him has peace with God (Isaiah 9:6; Romans 5:1). We can rest in Jesus’s promises to be with us no matter what—and to one day make all things new, free from sin and death and all the suffering sin causes (Matthew 28:20; Revelation 21:1-5). So today, consider taking a moment to just rest in God’s peace. Whatever you go through—times of stress, grief, or discontentment; times of rejoicing, celebration, or worship; and everything in between—you can know that Jesus loves and comforts you, always. • Naomi Zylstra • Have you ever experienced peace beyond understanding in your own life, or seen it in someone else’s life? What was that like? • What kinds of things have been causing you stress or worry lately? Consider taking a moment to talk to God about whatever is on your mind. (Philippians 4:6-7) And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 (CSB)

He Can Relate

READ: JOHN 1:1-4, 9-14; 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-5; HEBREWS 4:14-16 Have you been rejected by your family? Jesus can relate. His own brothers didn’t believe in Him (John 7:5). Have you been rejected by your friends? One of Jesus’s best friends denied that he even knew Him three times (John 18:13-27). Do you feel alone in your hometown? Jesus was driven out of His (Luke 4:14-30). Have you been kind to someone who showed no gratitude in return? Jesus healed ten men with leprosy, and only one came back to thank Him (Luke 17:11-19). Have you been criticized for doing the right thing? Jesus was constantly chastised by the Pharisees for healing on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:9-14) and for hanging out with people they considered to be the worst of sinners (Luke 5:27-31). Have you been bullied? Jesus was mocked by His own people (Matthew 27:41-42), brutally tortured by the Romans (John 19:1-6), and taunted and tempted by the devil himself (Matthew 4:1-11). Have you lost someone close to you? Jesus wept when His friend Lazarus died (John 11:1-44). Just because Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world doesn’t mean He can’t relate to us. He is fully human. He faced the full range of human experiences and emotions, which gave Him a profound understanding of human rejection, sadness, suffering, and pain—He even endured the deepest of suffering by dying on the cross for our sins. That means He can fully empathize with us in whatever we’re facing right now. He did all of this for us. He is with us. He will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5). What’s more, Jesus is also fully God. That means He can comfort us in a way no one else can. He offers us the peace that comes from resting in His love— and looking forward to the day He will return and make all things new. Let’s turn to Him for comfort today. • Sarah Elizabeth Child • What kinds of hurts have you experienced lately—whether physical, emotional, mental, relational, or spiritual? Can you think of any times Jesus experienced something similar? If nothing comes to mind, who is a trusted Christian in your life who could help you find Bible passages that reveal just how much Jesus gets what you’re going through? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3 (WEB)

So Everyone Can Understand (Part 2)

READ: ACTS 8:26-35 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ACTS%208%3A26-35&version=NLT] William Tyndale was publicly executed in 1536 in Belgium for translating the Bible from its original languages into English. When the King James Version was published in 1611, it was made up mostly of Tyndale’s translation—the translation he was executed for writing. For over 300 years, the King James Version served English speakers well. Many people still love its beautiful poetic language. In the 1950s, a seminary graduate named Ken Taylor and his wife Margaret were raising their ten children in suburban Chicago. As they read to them from the King James Bible (KJV) each evening, the children had difficulty understanding the old English. Ken remembered his own struggles with understanding the KJV in his youth and wanted to make the Bible understandable to his children—and to everyone. So, he began writing a modern English paraphrase of the Scriptures, first completing the New Testament epistles. He formed them into a book called Living Letters. Unable to find a publisher, Ken and Margaret formed Tyndale House Publishers, named for William Tyndale. Living Letters caught on when world famous evangelist Billy Graham began offering it on his telecasts. The Living New Testament was published next, followed by The Living Bible in 1971. By the end of the twentieth century, 40 million Living Bibles had been sold. Tyndale House later asked 90 Greek and Hebrew scholars to revise The Living Bible. The result was the 1996 publication of The New Living Translation. From the beginning, Ken and Margaret Taylor used all the royalties from The Living Bible to support missions, making the Bible available around the world. The Taylors knew the love Jesus had for them, and they wanted everyone to understand the gospel—the good news of how Jesus died and rose again to save us. That is always news worth sharing! • Kathy Irey • Can you think of a time someone explained a Bible passage in a way that made sense to you? What do you remember about that experience? • Paraphrases like The Living Bible are very easy to understand, but they do have some limitations. While translations (like The New Living Translation) seek to translate the original text word-for-word, a paraphrase focuses more on relating the thoughts and ideas behind the original text. How can translations and paraphrases be useful in different ways? Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions. Psalm 119:18 (NLT)

The Bible Is for Everyone (Part 1)

READ: DEUTERONOMY 6:1-9; ROMANS 12:1-2; 2 TIMOTHY 2:1-13, 19; 3:16 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=DEUTERONOMY%206%3A1-9%3B%20ROMANS%2012%3A1-2%3B%202%20TIMOTHY%202%3A1-13%2C%2019%3B%203%3A16&version=NLT] Originally, the Bible was written in three languages: most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, parts of Daniel and Ezra were written in Aramaic, and the New Testament was written in Greek. While Jesus was on earth, He most likely spoke Aramaic. The English language only began to form around 450 years after Christ’s ascension. And by the 1400-1500s, it was against the laws of England and the Catholic Church to translate the Bible into English. Most church services, and most Bibles, were in Latin—an old language that only clergy and religious leaders had access to. As bizarre as it seems, people were killed for translating the Bible into English. Along came William Tyndale, born in the 1490s, who believed God wanted everyone in England to have access to the Bible in their language. And while John Wycliffe had translated the Latin Bible into English a few decades earlier (and was executed for it), nobody had translated the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Scriptures into English. Tyndale—an ardent scholar of biblical languages—went into hiding for twelve years, translating the New Testament and part of the Old Testament into English from their original languages. But his work was cut short when he was betrayed by a trusted friend and arrested. Tyndale was eventually taken to a public courtyard and tied to a stake. Before he was strangled and set on fire, he called out, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.” The year was 1536. Tyndale’s dying prayer was answered 68 years later when James became king after Henry VIII. Some religious leaders asked King James to have the Bible translated into English. He agreed and appointed 54 scholars to do the work. This was a remarkable answer to prayer! The scholars worked for seven years using Tyndale’s translation. In fact, 84% of the King James New Testament is actually Tyndale’s work, and most of Tyndale’s completed parts of the Old Testament were used word-for-word in the King James Old Testament. So, 75 years after Tyndale’s execution, his translation was combined with the work of other Bible scholars, and the King James Version of the Bible was published. • Kathy Irey • The Lord loves us so much that He has worked through countless people to bring the truth of the gospel—the good news of Jesus’s death and resurrection—to us. What questions do you have about how the Bible was translated? Who could you talk to about this? Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105 (NLT)