Lytt til Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: MATTHEW 26:14-56; 1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-25; HEBREWS 4:14-16 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=MATTHEW%2026%3A14-56%3B%201%20CORINTHIANS%2011%3A23-25%3B%20HEBREWS%204%3A14-16&version=NIV] Have you ever been betrayed? From large betrayals to small disappointments, betrayal is a hard thing to bear. And yet, it is so common. There probably is not a person in the world who hasn’t felt that sense of astonishment when a trusted person lets them down. As the hurt settles into our hearts, we learn to guard ourselves against further treachery. And, we also learn to betray others. If you go to church and take Communion (also called the Last Supper, The Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist) you might hear the leader read from 1 Corinthians 11, describing what Christ told His disciples when He shared the wine and bread. Jesus explained, “This [bread] is my body, which is for you…This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (verse 24-25). Jesus knew that His blood was about to be shed for the world, and His body would soon hang on a cross. There’s an interesting thing about the way Paul introduces this passage. Paul writes, “The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed…” (verse 23, emphasis added). I wonder why God led Paul to include this part. Maybe because it’s important. Maybe because betrayal is something we all face—and something we all do. It’s important for us to understand that Jesus, too, felt the pain of betrayal. We have all betrayed Him, and yet He still loves and forgives us. And with His help, we can bear up under the pain of our betrayals, knowing that Jesus feels our hurts with us. Jesus knew what it felt like to have a beloved, trusted friend deliver you over to the enemy. He has felt this extreme human emotion. He understands. Of all the people in the world, Jesus is the only one who never deserved betrayal. He was so good, so loving, and He was perfect. He not only lived perfectly, but He died perfectly too. He died in perfect humility, forgiveness, and compassion. And then He rose from the grave, defeating sin and death. So now, when we are betrayed, we can look to Jesus and find healing and comfort. And when we give in to temptation and betray others, we can turn back to Jesus and find forgiveness and restoration. What a wonderful Savior! • Kristen Merrill • When we are betrayed, it helps to remember that Christ has suffered betrayal. He offers the best listening ear there is. We can entrust our pain to His loving arms. If you’ve been betrayed, consider spending some time with Jesus in prayer, pouring out your heart to Him. Don’t hold back; He already knows everything, yet He wants to hear from you because He loves you. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 (NIV)

READ: 1 PETER 2:22-25 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20PETER%202%3A22-25%20&version=NLT] It seems so unfair, how Jesus was taken to the cross. He is perfect. He never did anything wrong, much less anything deserving of death. It seems so confusing that He would allow it to happen. Jesus had all the power. He is God the Son—He could have gotten away at any point. But He didn’t. Instead, Jesus fulfilled God the Father’s plan for Him. He was to be the Savior of the world, and that is what happened on the cross. Jesus died, and by doing so, He took our sins upon Himself. The Bible says that Jesus is the way, and the only way, for us to know God and have eternal life. Without His sacrifice on the cross, we would not have the hope of heaven. But because Jesus was willing to take the unfair treatment and punishment of the cross, we are made alive and free. When we put our trust in Jesus, we receive forgiveness, and we can know that we are fully forgiven because Jesus took our sins to the cross with Him. He was placed in a tomb after His death, and just three days later, He rose to life again. His death on the cross was not the end. Jesus was not controlled or defeated by those who put Him to death, but He knew just what was going to happen, and He did it to give us life. • Bethany Acker • When we consider Jesus’s death on the cross, sometimes it’s easy to forget how amazing it is that God-in-flesh allowed people to put Him to death, but also that He had a plan to rise again. When you picture Jesus’s crucifixion, do you see His love? Consider taking a moment to thank Him for taking your sins. • If you want to know more about what Jesus accomplished for us through His death and resurrection, and what it means to put your trust in Him, check out our "Know Jesus [https://unlocked.org/knowjesus/]" page. And if you want to dig deeper, read Isaiah 53:4-6; Matthew 26:49-56; Luke 22:41-44; Colossians 2:14. Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (NLT)

READ: ROMANS 8:1; GALATIANS 6:14; HEBREWS 12:1-3; 1 PETER 2:23-25 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ROMANS%208%3A1%3B%20GALATIANS%206%3A14%3B%20HEBREWS%2012%3A1-3%3B%201%20PETER%202%3A23-25&version=NIV] When I see a cross, I don’t think much of it. People use the shape of a cross on jewelry, t-shirts, tattoos, logos, books, and church buildings. But back in the New Testament times, crosses were a symbol of condemnation and shame. Crucifixion was the most brutal, humiliating death the Roman Empire could come up with, and it was shameful even to mention the word cross. However, after Jesus died on a cross—and rose again three days later—the cross gradually became a sign of Christianity and salvation. Today, whenever I see a cross, I connect it with church, Christians, and Jesus. For those who’ve put their trust in Jesus, the cross can be a reminder of His sacrifice on our behalf, of His victory over sin, and of our forgiveness and redemption through Him. Our own lives are similar. Before Jesus came into our lives, we were covered in sin and shame. We were condemned to be eternally separated from God. But, when we put our trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our lives were redeemed. Where there was once condemnation and sin, there is now Jesus’s love and forgiveness. Our lives now tell a story of His victory over sin. That’s the whole reason Jesus came. He is the Son of God, and He became human and lived among us, fully God and fully human, for thirty-three years. Ultimately, He faced an unspeakably horrifying death on a cross. He died for our sins and rose from the dead on the third day because He loves us, and He wants to redeem and transform us. So now, if we know Jesus, our lives are a testimony of His work on the cross. We were not meant to live in shame, but in our forgiven identity in Christ. And even though we will continue to mess up and sin until Jesus returns, God is with us in the messes, and He even uses them as opportunities for His glory. • Morgan A. Mitchell • What do you think of when you see a cross? • How have you experienced Jesus’s work of redemption in your life? Consider taking a moment to thank Him for this. • If you want to dig deeper, you can read about Jesus’s crucifixion in Matthew 27:11–28:10; Mark 15:1–16:8; Luke 22:63–24:12; John 19:1–20:18. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:15 (NIV)

READ: ISAIAH 53:3-5; 1 PETER 2:24; REVELATION 21:4 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ISAIAH%2053%3A3-5%3B%201%20PETER%202%3A24%3B%20REVELATION%2021%3A4&version=CSB] Throughout human history, a wide variety of cultures have had rites of passage where individuals had to endure something painful to be seen as an adult. Having a high pain tolerance has often brought respect. For instance, a while ago someone close to me had surgery to remove her wisdom teeth. After that type of procedure, the doctor generally prescribes high-strength painkillers. However, she chose not to take any of those. Instead she chose to manage her pain using only over-the-counter medication. This type of thing usually garners admiration from some people—or bewilderment from others. Even though many people see a high pain tolerance as desirable, everyone has their breaking point. This world is full of pain, enough to break anyone. It’s been that way ever since humanity sinned and corrupted the perfect world that God made. All throughout the Bible we see many people in all sorts of pain. But the greatest pain that we see anyone endure in the entire Bible is the pain of Jesus Himself. There were many people besides Jesus who were flogged and crucified in a similar manner, but no one else has ever borne the weight of the entire world’s sin. We can’t even begin to imagine the infinite pain He must have felt while carrying all our sins, and the infinite love that made Him do it. Because of Jesus’s sacrifice and the ultimate pain He was willing to endure, we have hope that all the pain we feel is temporary. All the sorrows of this life will one day pass away, every tear will be dried, every wound will be healed, and everything will be made whole again. • Josiah Eising • Because our world has been broken by sin, we experience pain in so many ways—not just physical, but also spiritual, mental, emotional, and relational pain. But we can take comfort knowing that Jesus can truly empathize with us because He experienced pain firsthand. What kinds of pain have you been experiencing lately? Consider taking some time to tell Jesus about this, pouring out your heart and receiving His compassionate love. • How can looking forward to Jesus’s return give us comfort and help us persevere when we are hurting? (Romans 8:18-39) He carried our pains…and we are healed by his wounds. Isaiah 53:4-5 (CSB)

READ: JOB 40:15-24; PSALMS 57; 142 [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=JOB%2040%3A15-24%3B%20PSALMS%2057%3B%20142&version=WEB] The young man leaned heavily against the cave’s wall. He gasped for breath, clutching a wound at his side where blood seeped through his shirt and stained his fingers red. “You promised,” he spat into the empty cave to the God he once trusted. “You told me it was mine, but then you let them take it from me. Now I have nothing.” He slid down the side of the cave, slumping against the cold stone. His God had promised him he would be king, that he would rule over his war-torn country and bring peace. But the night of his coronation, his cousin overthrew the government, taking the throne and crown for himself. So the young man had fled into the night with only the clothes on his back and the wound in his side. Now he wanted to scream. He was supposed to be king, but here he was, no better than a mouse hiding from a viper. With the last of his strength, he bound up his wound. Then he let the pain and blood-loss pull him into blackness. He dreamed the North River was flooding its banks, sweeping away homes and fields and livestock. But in the center of the raging water, the great Behemoth stood, unmoving as a mountain. A voice cracked through the vision, “See the beast, standing tall within the rushing water?” The young man opened his mouth but couldn’t speak. “Tell me,” the voice continued, “how much more steadfast is the one who created him? My son, do not look at the rushing water. Look instead to the one who is steady within the flood. You may not understand my ways, but know this: What I have promised, I will do.” The young man woke, gasping. The sun had set. He shivered, and pain lanced through his side. He clenched his fists. When he closed his eyes, he again saw the beast standing still and steady within the raging water. His breathing calmed. Finally, into the cold, dark cave he said, “I do not understand. But you are God, and what you promise, you will do. Even now, even here, I will trust you.” • Margaret Bellers • Today’s allegorical story is inspired by the life of David. In 1 Samuel 16, God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint David to be king when he was likely a teenager. However, David did not actually become king for over a decade, during which he faced beasts, giants, bloody battles, and assassination attempts. Even though it didn’t seem like He would, God remained faithful to David, crowning him as king in His perfect timing. • Can you think of a time in your life when you felt like God wasn’t present or didn’t care about you? Throughout David’s life, he cried out to God, being totally honest about his pain, his sorrow, his anger, and his fears. Consider taking some time to tell God about the hard things you’ve experienced lately. Don’t hold anything back. He can take it. • Even when David’s life was falling apart, he had hope in God’s promise of a coming Redeemer, an eternal King who would save His people. We now know that this Redeemer is Jesus. It’s easy to feel like God is unfaithful to what He’s promised. We often wonder, Does He really love us like He said? Will He truly never leave or forsake us? Does He actually listen and care for us like a good father? When we look at our circumstances, our answers to these questions will change based on how we feel or what’s happening around us. But when we look at who God is—someone who loved us so much that He died for us (John 3:16), someone who knows and listens to every one of our thoughts (Psalm 139:1-4), someone who keeps track of every single tear that we cry (Psalm 56:8)—we can learn to look beyond our circumstances to the one who stands steady within the flood. In moments when it feels like God has abandoned you, what are some promises in His Word that can remind you of His faithful love? • If you want to dig deeper, read Psalm 119:90; Matthew 7:9-11; 14:22-33; 28:20; Romans 5:8; 8:35-39; Hebrews 13:5; 1 Peter 5:7; 1 John 3:1; Revelation 21:1-5. “Behold, if a river overflows, he [behemoth] doesn’t tremble. He is confident, though the Jordan swells even to his mouth.” Job 40:23 (WEB)