What’s in your mug?

I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the Lord. Psalm 116:13 (NKJV)

What are you sipping in your morning mug? Tea, coffee, espresso, orange juice, water, Gatorade?  We all have a favorite beverage.  I have a teacher friend who used to walk around school with a coffee mug filled with Mountain Dew because it was okay for teachers to drink coffee, but not soda pop, and she was the PE teacher! I love her sense of humor! Now she is a principal; that Mountain Dew must have worked!

My favorite morning beverage has changed over the years as my health has changed.  I used to just hold a mug of hot water in the mornings until I found out the benefits of various teas.  I also enjoyed a hot cocoa every day, but that doesn’t agree with my tummy anymore.  This summer green tea and Hammer sports drinks are my favorites as I train for a marathon, but that could all change by winter!

The important point today is not what’s in your morning mug…coffee, tea, etc…but what you are doing with your first hour of the day.  Fill up your cup and sit down with your Bible and Jesus.  You can have coffee time with Jesus while saying your TEA CUPP Prayers, it’s okay! The TEA CUPP is just an acronym for things you can talk about while you are together.  Using God’s Word we can pray: Thanking, Exalting, Admitting, Calling, Understanding, claiming God’s Promises, and Petitioning.

My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up. Psalm 5:3 (NKJV)

As you sip your favorite drink, emptying your mug, let Jesus refill your cup with His Word, joy, peace, and love.  Jesus is all we ever need.  He is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father but through Him.  Let Jesus fill your heart and life and cup today and every day!!!

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 (NKJV)

Today’s TEA CUPP: Fill your cup with Jesus!  Plan to start every day in His Word. Set your alarm early, pour your favorite beverage, and sit down with your Bible (before even checking your phone for messages).  Let Jesus speak to you and fill you with His Word.  The chorus of a hymn by Richard Blanchard says:

Fill my cup, Lord;
I lift it up, Lord;
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole. 

Let this be our prayer today. Enjoy this precious version by Hope Montana. 

Scripture from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.

Holding His Feet

…cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your daysDeuteronomy 30:20


Does it seem like you are always going through something?  Whether it is an illness, cancer diagnosis, death of loved one, family troubles, money problems, car repairs…there is always a trial that makes us worried, anxious, sad, struggling, depressed…Who can help us?  Who is always there for us?  Who can we hold onto in the storm? 

Jesus!  Yes, Jesus is always the answer!  And today I have two Bible stories for you where women really did hold onto Jesus, they held onto His feet!  Just as a toddler will wrap his arms around Mommy’s legs, these women gripped Jesus’s feet with all their strength and did not let go.

The first example was before Jesus died on the cross for our sins.  Jesus was dining at the home of a Pharisee when a woman entered with an alabaster flask filled with fragrant oil.  This woman was certainly struggling for the Bible calls her a sinner, and she was weeping as she stood behind Jesus. Then she did the boldest thing, she washed Jesus’s feet with her tears and dried them with her hair, and finally anointed His feet with the fragrant oil.  After the Pharisee complained, Jesus told the dear woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 7:48) and “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” (Luke 7:50)

… (She) stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Luke 7:38 (NKJV)

The second story comes after Jesus died on the cross, after He was buried, and after He rose from the grave.  It was that very Sunday when Jesus rose that these two Marys went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’s body. But when they arrived, there was a great earthquake. An angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled the stone away from the tomb entrance, sitting on the stone.  The guards were so scared they fainted, but the women watched amazed as the angel said, “Do not be afraid.” ( Matthew 28:5).  The angel invited them to see where Jesus had lain. As the two Marys were leaving to tell the disciples, Who did they meet? Jesus!  “So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.” (Matthew 28:9)

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Matthew 28:9 (NKJV)

We also can hold Jesus’s feet!  Whether we’ve made some terrible mistakes and come to Him as sinners, like the first woman, or we are lost in grief like the two Marys, we can come to Jesus and cling to His feet.  And He will comfort us with His Word, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Today’s TEA CUPP: Hold fast (1 Corinthians 15:2), my friend. Read these Bible stories today in Luke 7:36-50 and Matthew 28:1-10.  Then cling to Jesus’s feet, telling Him everything that is on your heart.  Perhaps you’ll also enjoy this song entitled, “The Alabaster Flask.”

…“I will not let You go unless You bless me!” Genesis 32:26 (NKJV)