My favorite Cup

THIS is my favorite cup. On occasion, I am forced to drink out of a different cup. I survive each of these traumatic events, but it seems my life is a little crazy if I don't use MY cup. Also, I have a strange quirk about my cup. I RARELY WASH IT and I am not happy when it gets washed with soap. It takes me at least a week to get the "soap taste" out of the cup. 

In reality, the cup is not nearly as important as what goes inside. I love my morning coffee in my favorite cup. The combination of MY CUP and MY COFFEE helps me ease into the day. It is relaxing and comforting. When I meet someone who doesn't drink coffee, all I can do is scratch my head. I just don't get it! LOL! Here are a few interesting facts from Good Housekeeping magazine about your morning CUP(s) of coffee:

The drink dates back to 800 A.D.

Legend has it that 9th-century goat herders noticed the effect caffeine had on their goats, who appeared to "dance" after eating the fruit of the Coffea plant. A local monk then made a drink with the produce and found that it kept him awake at night, thus the original cup of coffee was born.

Multiple people have tried to ban coffee.

Back in 1511, leaders in Mecca believed it stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. Some 16th-century Italian clergymen also tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be "satanic." However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

Finland is home to the biggest coffee lovers.

The average adult Finn goes through 27.5 pounds of coffee each year, according to the International Coffee Organization. Compare that to a measly 11 pounds per American.

Coffee drinkers tend to live longer.

Research has linkd moderate consumption (about three to four cups per day) with a longer life span, plus a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson's, according to Harvard Health Publishing.

Teddy Roosevelt reportedly coined Maxwell House's slogan.

Our nation's 26th president loved coffee so much that one of his son's described his custom cup as "more in the nature of a bathtub," according to Smithsonian.com. On a 1907 visit to Andrew Jackson's former estate, the commander-in-chief supposedly dubbed a cup of Maxwell House joe "good to the last drop," a catchphrase still used today.

Good Housekeeping Surprising Facts about Coffee

As I was sipping coffee this morning from my favorite cup, I was reading about GOD's CUP OF ANGER he was forcing Judah and surrounding nations to drink. 

"This is what the Lord. the God of Israel said to me: 'Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them.'

It started me thinking about the CUP metaphor used throughout the Bible.  

The Bible talks about a:

cup of blessing, (Ez 23:31,32), 

cup of fury (Isa 51:22)

cup of poison (Jer. 8:14)

cup of anger (Jer. 25, Lam 4:21)

cup of sorrow (Lam 3:15)

cup of distress and desolation (Ez. 23:33)

cup of judgment (Hab. 2:16)

cup of suffering (Matt. 20:22,23;26:39; Mk. 10:38;14:36;Lk 22:42;John 18:11)

cup of the Lord (1 Cor. 10:21,11:27)

cup of the new covenant (1 Cor. 11:25)

cup of wrath (Rev. 14:10), and 

cup of terror (Rev 18:60)

So many of these cups are filled with drink that is not good for us. Yet, if you look at each one of them, they are all filled by our own choices in life. Even though I have a favorite cup, the most important thing is what I fill my cup with. God wants us to be filled with Cups of Blessing, or Cups of the Lord, or Cups of the covenant. 

In Judah, during the time of Jeremiah, the people chose to worship other Gods and to completely ignore God. They were warned over and over again by Jeremiah, but they would not listen. As a result, the anger of the Lord was poured out on each of them. The drink inside this cup made them stagger and made them crazy. That would be like me drinking water out of my coffee cup. I would miss out on the comfort, the warmth, and the relaxation. When Judah ignored Jeremiah, they missed out on the blessings and the comfort that comes from a life of obedience. 

This week fill your life with God, his word, and time sipping your coffee out of your favorite cup, just seeking HIM. The coffee will taste great and the blessings will be even better!