The scripture for today, January 4, is Philippians 1:4 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:          “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.”

Lord God in whom I live, I move, and I have my being. I touch you with my spirit, feel your presence with my heart, and hear you in the wind. Oh, to be able to be with you. How I long for that day of days. I care not how I leave this world and enter yours. I care not if it be by disease or injury, whether in peace time or war, whether while at my ease or by torture. Your world is as far beyond my imagination as living in the dark and one day seeing everything through rays of sun.

Forgive me those fleeting moments when I fear death. Help me see that all I do is close my eyes in this world and open them in yours. Everyone fears the unknown. But with you beside me, there is no unknown.

Thank you for friends. No matter how difficult the world gets, you give me friends. A friend is like honey when I am hungry, a stream of living water when I am thirsty, a barrier between me and my disappointments. We mirror each other, we encourage each other, we lift each other up, and in the doing give each other a little bit of heaven on earth. Most of all, you are my Friend and walk with me through life as friends do, hand in hand. Ah, the very thought of walking and talking with my God lifts me to the pinnacle of imagination.