Jesus sees past your surroundings to your heart this morning. Whether you won or lost your last game, you can count on his compassion and grace.

Historians don't like to trust reports of past events which are apparently not repeated today. If people don't walk on water this week, many don't believe Jesus did. If people don't feed a crowd with a tiny lunch, or raise the dead, skeptics doubt that Jesus did.

The truth is that you and I will be tempted all day long to "be like God" (Genesis 3:5). The world will offer us excitement and information, progress and power if we will only bend a rule or two.

Tough times may come your way today, but don't think that your Father doesn't know or care. Temptations may find your mind or heart this morning, but don't think that your Father isn't watching and waiting to help.

The Lord of the universe is not as troubled as we are. He sees Friday better than we can see Thursday. His holiness requires him to redeem all that he permits or causes. So pick your most perplexing problem this morning. Put it in words, then put it in your Father's hands.

When we consider all that humans can do today, we're amazed with ourselves. For instance, yesterday's news reported a breakthrough which will enable silicon-based chips to produce laser beams, enabling higher speed in data communications than has ever been possible before. I'm impressed. But then I look outside my window at a tree no human can make from scratch, and up at a universe we cannot begin to measure, and I'm less impressed with us.

Why does God allow bad things in our past? Most of them are the result of our misused free will, but all of them can be transformed by his providence and grace into future good. What would you change about your past? Give that regret to God right now. Ask him to redeem it, to use it to grow you and make you more effective in his Kingdom.

The universe you can see is a million million miles across (that's 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles). All the physical matter you can see takes up about a trillionth of the available space. Now understand that God measures all of that with the palm of his hand (Isaiah 40:12).

For all our scientific advances, we're still subject to the laws of thermodynamics and photosynthesis; two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen still make water; we can do nothing to prevent the rain and little to predict it. God's creative wisdom dwarfs ours. If you need help and guidance today, go first to your Father.

This week we've learned to find the power of God's Spirit for our problems and days. Five steps are mandated by Ephesians 5: know Christ personally; ask him to forgive whatever is wrong in our lives; seek his will; submit completely to his Spirit's control; and trust that the Spirit has "filled" or taken control of our lives. How does it feel to have made such a decision? The Bible doesn't say, because feelings are not the basis for faith.