Glazed With Truth

How sweet your word is to my taste —sweeter than honey in my mouth.

Psalm 119:103

In 2004 if you were a plumber, I was looking for you. Hold on, let me rephrase that.

I was looking to sell you ‘a full-page ad with full color’ in the yellow pages. The

phone book, for anyone too young to remember. Plumbers wanted the top stop,

along with attorneys and electricians.

Based out of Lexington, KY, my job was advertising sales for Verizon directories. I

had been there for a couple of years when asked about an out-of-town, four-week

assignment. So, with our freshly detailed company cars and a vacation mindset, two

coworkers and I embarked on a mission — selling yellow pages in the territory of

Dothan, Alabama. I don’t know if you’ve been to Dothan, the peanut capital of the

world, but there’s not a lot going on there. However, I did discover a monkey farm

on the outskirts of town, along with boiled peanuts on every corner. Both random

new worlds to me.

Perhaps our favorite finding was the local Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. My

coworkers, the girls I was traveling with, had also become to be two of my best

friends, adding even more sugary goodness to our doughnut and coffee meetups. The

truth is we didn’t sell a lot of advertising in Dothan. But we did eat quite a few

doughnuts.

So before leaving the “Heart of Dixie” I needed a true keepsake. My new t-shirt

proudly displayed the red and green Krispy Kreme doughnut logo, with Dothan,

Alabama underneath. Sweet with a little southern charm.

During that time, I was also a faithful member of Gold’s gym. So, I decided to

slightly crop my shirt, widen the neck, and rock it to the gym. Just a friendly note to

self: Eat donuts. Work out. Yep. That was the mindset. Eat donuts and work out.

Fuel for motivation? Or counterproductive? The truth is both. Externally, I wanted

to be really fit. Internally, I wanted a doughnut.

And so it is the Christian life. The stark contrast of what began in the garden of

Eden— what God said to do (avoid sin, obey His commands, and live in the Spirit),

and what we sometimes want to do (eat a doughnut, metaphorically speaking). But I

think we all know how we feel if we eat too many doughnuts. And while completely

denying the flesh seems impossible in a fallen world, feeding the spirit is always a

healthy and wise decision. A decision that will always circle back to the sweet truth.

The Center

Do you know how many donut holes get thrown out at bakeries around the world

daily? I’ll answer for you, no you don’t... It’s ok. Neither do I. But uploaded on

January 24, 2021, employee Kathleen Dias took a video of her end-shift routine at a

well-known bakery. The video showed Dias throwing away 30 trays of doughnuts and

donut holes into a bin.

So, then to answer my question of ‘how many donut holes (or ‘donut dots’ as Krispy

Kreme calls them) get thrown out every day’? I’ll give you answer like my 7-year-old

son sometimes gives me, “like a thousand, hundred, million.” Despite the number,

the truth remains. You can’t have a ‘traditional doughnut’ without acknowledging the

center.

And you and I both know that we cannot have healthy and thriving Christian lives

without first acknowledging our center. Created by God with a God-shaped hole in

our hearts, we long for His love and truth (and ultimately heaven). But our outer

world is still a reflection of our core. So, devoted and deliberate, we must discern

what’s treating us well, and serving us well (and keep that), and then we serve the

Lord well.

In a tainted world, the truth gets lost. With a lost truth, we misplace our identity, and

then we misplace our purpose. Doubt, discouragement, and discontentment are

readily handed out by the ‘Father of Lies’. Lies looking to fluff our egos, appease our

arrogance, center in on control, or our fears. I recently heard someone say, “if the

spotlight on you is brighter than the light with you, it will destroy you.”

But there is a reality that’s not just ‘glazed with truth’. It is the truth. And it is good.

When we become centered in Christ, identifying with Him first, we can lay down our

selfishness, control, frustration, and fears. When we leave it all at the foot of the

cross, we put to rest the lies of Satan, and that inner critic that likes to babble. Then

we can pick up the endless loveliness of Christ, which in turn picks us up. Jesus

moves us into humble emotions, allowing us to become disciplined enough to see

everything more clearly, leading us to a richly abundant life. Lives that speak truth.

Lives filled with deep and genuine gratitude, overflowing with praise, enthusiasm,

love and awe. Lives in which we worry less and trust more. Grateful for what we

have and what we get to share. And humbled that we are chosen. For eternity. What

could be sweeter.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy natation, God’s special

possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of the

darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

Old News That Always Offers a New Lesson

Back to the garden of Eden. Isn’t that what Eve did? She traded her ‘God-center’ for

‘self-center’ as turned her back on God—looking her own curiosities, desires, or lack.

Her misplaced selfish identity led to her misplaced purpose and then a downfall. Her

identity first should have been her relationship with God and her sincere purpose to

please him. Too much self-focus will easily cloud our vision. Discontentment, desire

and pride will inevitably and eventually result in a downfall. That’s old news, yet news

worth remembering.

Eve learned the hard way, and so we all suffer. But it’s all part of God’s plan,

including suffering. So may we learn to suffer well. One way is by simply throwing

out the donut holes, worlds only glazed with truth. Somedays we might toss out ten

donut holes, other days we might have to throw away thirty trays of donut holes. But

then we are free. Freed up to receive more of God’s love, His penetrating truth,

coming from a love that knows what’s best. A love that never wavers.

Daily let us look to see ourselves as God sees us, loved deeply and unconditionally.

Realizing the deep truth that we are beautiful, chosen, and whole. And as we

surrender the broken parts, He will always fill in what’s missing, as His truth becomes

our truth. And that sweet truth will never need to be sugar-coated.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any

excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Philippians 4:8:

Choosing to live good and godly lives will always circle back to, ‘just keep God in the

center’. Because it’s as the following quote reveals, “Without God, life is like a

doughnut and may be good for a time, but the center will be empty and without

substance!” – Anonymous

We all have special people in our lives that seemingly just belong there. You know

the ones...they listen with care, and respond thoughtfully with wisdom, and just make

life sweeter. So, let’s relax a little, enjoy the good life that God has given us, eat a

doughnut or two, maybe even three. Let’s just hold tight to God’s truth, as we

continue to taste and see that the Lord is good.

3-2-1

3 Scripture Verses,

2 Quotes, and 1 Question

3 Scripture Verses:

But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to

be accomplished by God.” John 3:21 (CSB)

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth.

John 4:24

And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love,

and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 1 John 4:16

(CSB)

2 Quotes:

The more I focus on You, the more fully You live in me and work through me. – Sarah

Young, Jesus Listens Devotional

“All those who seek truth, seek God, whether this is clear to them or not.” - Edith Stein

1 Question to Consider:

Is a battle to keep ‘what God thinks about you’ in the center?