Abba,

Desire.

Longing.

Passion.

Want.

This fleshly body of ours, a body you created, was built for desire.  It was created to want.  It was designed for passion.  It was invited for longing.

When you placed man in that garden so long ago, you designed man in such a way that he would long for, desire, want, and have a passion for his Creator; You!

YOU were to be the object of his passion and delight. 

YOU were to be the object of his greatest desire.

YOU were to be the object of his most fervent want and longing.

Even the way you provided woman reveals this. You waited until AFTER Adam named all the created things, until he noticed there was not a second like himself, before you created woman. As if to say, I made you with an incompleteness…I made you lacking….AND NOW I will supply for that lacking….but NOTE THIS MY CREATION…ME, not this woman I am making for you, I am the source of all true delight, fulfillment, desire, passion, and longing. I will give you a companion like you, but notice well, she comes from me.

You never intended woman to BE you.  She was merely a gift FROM You that we would delight in and be satisfied IN You all the more WHEN we delighted in and were satisfied in the companion You made for us.

YOU were ALWAYS to be the greatest passion and desire of our hearts.

YOU were ALWAYS to be the greatest longing and want of our souls.

AND YOU ALWAYS PROMISED to be the fulfillment of that.

AND

When we are satisfied in you….

When are hearts are delighting supremely in you….

When our souls are feasting on the glories of your person…

We are protected from the dangerous passions that have entered the world as a result of sin.

All my life, I have delighted in and took comfort in the truth that you are a fortress for us. 

Yet, I also wondered what that meant practically and daily.

Until I understood this truth.

Delighting IN YOU is a fortress of protection FROM the passions of the flesh.

A greater desire FOR you will ward off the enticements of the flesh.

Why would one want a McDouble Cheeseburger when we have free and open access to the Filet Migon of heaven?

You ARE a fortress for us WHEN we fight for and maintain ultimate delight in, desire for, and passion FOR YOU.

You ARE a fortress for us WHEN our greatest longings, wants, and desires are BEING satisfied, moment by moment, IN YOU.

THEN, when the flesh, the world, the Adversary comes knocking, the measly parcels he offers are seen for what they are…pathetic, insufficient, paltry when laid next the feast of delight YOU ARE for us.

Abba, show me, show us the fullness of riches in You.

DELIGHT our hearts in you so that the allure of the flesh, the world, and the adversary are weak, anemic, and laughable in their attempts to draw us away from the One who always promised to be the fulfillment and satisfaction of all the longings we were created with and for.

Let us see and know and enjoy the fullness of what you have always offered and wanted us to take pleasure in!

Let us see the fullness of YOU

And

Let us take refuge in you, our fortress of delight!