losing it. There your will shall be ever one with Me; it will not covet any outward or private thing. There none will withstand you, no man will complain of you, no man hinder you, nothing come in your way. But all things you desire will be there, and refresh your affections, and fill it up to the brim. There I will give you glory for the reproach which you suffered here,  “a garment of praise,  instead  of a spirit of despair”,† for the lowest place a kingly throne forever. There the fruit of obedience will appear, the labor of repentance will rejoice, and humble subjection will be gloriously crowned.
At present then, bend yourself humbly under the hands of all, and care not who said this or commanded it. But take special care, that whether your superior, inferior, or equal, requires anything of you, or hints at anything, take it all in good part, and with a sincere will endeavor to fulfill it. Let one seek this, another that; let this man glory in this, the other in that, and be praised a thousand times.  But rejoice neither in this, nor in that, but in your own contempt of self, and in the good pleasure and honor of Me alone. This is what you are to wish, that “whether by life, or by death”,† God may always be glorified in you. •
