God or Gold?

Still looking at Genesis chapter 24, we are told that Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac. The servant met Rebekah at a well, when she gave him water to drink, and also watered his camels, that was a sure sign that she was the one.

When she had finished, the man took an expensive gold ring and put it in her nose and put two large gold bracelets on her arms. He said, “Please tell me who your father is. Is there room in his house for my men and me to spend the night? – Genesis 24:22-23 (GNT)

Rebekah could hardly wait to relate to her mother and family, all that had happened at the well. She was highly motivated.

The young woman ran to her mother's house and told the whole story. Now Rebecca had a brother named Laban, and he ran outside to go to the well where Abraham's servant was. Laban had seen the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms and had heard her say what the man had told her. He went to Abraham's servant, who was standing by his camels at the well, and said, “Come home with me. You are a man whom the Lord has blessed. Why are you standing out here? I have a room ready for you in my house, and there is a place for your camels.”  – Genesis 24:28-31 (GNT)

Laban, Rebekah’s brother, could hardly wait to entertain the man who was bearing gifts of gold. He was highly motivated.

Both were highly motivated but for vastly different reasons.

We have already established that Abraham typifies the Father, Isaac the Son, typifies Jesus, the servant, the Spirit and Rebekah, the bride. But who does Laban represent?

Laban, Rebekah’s brother, is symbolic of the world and its way of thinking, with its lust for riches and endless grasping for the material. 

Laban was focused on the gifts of gold and ran to the servant, while Rebekah was focused on the father and the son and ran to give her testimony.

They both had room for the servant but for vastly different reasons.

Too many sitting in congregations today are like Laban, inviting the Servant in only for the gold with no genuine commitment to the Father and the Son.

Rebekah’s heart was turned to the Son; the moment she agreed to a commitment, the Servant showered her with precious gifts of gold.

Laban’s heart was turned to himself; he acknowledged God but never made a genuine commitment yet sought the gold.

Same gift, two vastly different responses.

Beloved, you can be drawn to the Spirit without saying yes to God. How many are sitting in congregations seeking the gold but not saying “yes” to God? Examine your heart. Have you made a genuine commitment? Have you chosen God or gold?

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “God or Gold?” © 2026 August 27, 2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy looking at pictures. There was a time when people displayed their pictures around their homes – on coffee tables or hung on walls. I loved to pore through photo albums, but these days pictures are stored digitally and even though I still enjoy watching pictures, it does not quite give me that same feeling of nostalgia.

Moving right along…the bible causes us to form pictures in our minds. The Word is written in such a way that when we read these fascinating stories, we experience a picture forming process which allows us to see the characters and the places.

Reading Genesis chapter 24, you would notice that the entire chapter is completely devoted to Abraham’s servant who was sent to find a bride for Isaac, Abraham’s son of promise.

This chapter speaks of four main characters, Abraham, Isaac, the servant and Rebekah. Has a picture formed in your mind?

Abraham is a picture of the Father;

Isaac is a picture of the Son;

The servant is a picture of the Spirit;

And Rebekah is a picture of the Church.

In Genesis 22, we read where God tested Abraham – picture the scene.

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” (v 1-2 NIV)

After this incredible event, nothing more is said about Isaac, it’s as if he disappeared from the picture but then he reappears in chapter 24, when Abraham sends his servant to find him a bride.

What is this a picture of?

It’s a picture of the ascension of Jesus which occurred forty days after Jesus, the Son, was resurrected (see Acts 1:6-11).

In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven (Acts 1:1-2 NLT)

Though we are left to picture, we aren’t often left to wonder, however, we are definitely left to dig deeper.

You see, after Isaac, the son, is seemingly left out of the picture, he is brought back into the narrative when Abraham, his father, sends his servant, Eliezer to go to my country and to my kindred and get a wife for my son Isaac (Genesis 24:4 NRSVUE).

Similarly, after the Son disappears from view, His Spirit is sent to go and get a bride, the Church, for the Son, Jesus.

Beloved, it is no coincidence that the name of the servant, Eliezer, means “my God is my help”; for who is our Helper?

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name (John 14:26 ESV)

Picture this, when Eliezer encountered Rebekah, her response was “yes” – “yes” to giving him water at the well and “yes” to going with him to Abraham and to Isaac.

They called her and asked her, “Do you want to go with this man now?” Rebekah said, “Yes, I will go.” (Genesis 24:58 ERV)

This is a picture of the bride, that is you, individually and you, collectively as the Church, saying yes to the Spirit to go to the Father and to the Son.

Eliezer asked Rebekah, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father's house for us…” (Genesis 24:23 ESV) and the Spirit asks each one of us the same question.

To whom do you belong; is there room in your house for them, the Father, the Son and the Spirit?

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Pictures” © 2026 August 27, 2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bride is at the Well

Have you noticed that three of the most prominent men in the Old Testament found their brides at a well? The brides of Isaac, Abraham’s son, Jacob, Isaac’s son and Abraham’s grandson and Moses, were all at a well when they were found or met directly.

Let’s take a look.

Abraham’s servant found Isaac a bride, Rebekah, at a well (read Genesis 24).

“Today I came to this well and said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, please make my trip successful. I will stand by this well and wait for a young woman to come to get water. Then I will say, “Please give me water from your jar to drink.” The right woman will answer in a special way. She will say, “Drink this water, and I will also get water for your camels.” That way I will know that she is the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’ (Genesis 24:42-44 ERV)

Then Genesis chapter 29 records Jacob meeting his bride Rachel at a well.

Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. As he looked, he saw a well in the field…Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. (Genesis 29:1 & 10 ESV)

And Moses, after he’d fled from Egypt to Midian, met his bride Zipporah, at a well.

Moses fled from Pharaoh’s presence and took refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water [from the well where Moses was resting] and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock…Moses was willing to remain with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah [to be his wife]. (Exodus 2:15, 16 & 21 AMP)

These three Old Testament accounts are deliberate in letting us know that the bride is at the well. This is no coincidence, clearly there’s a reason this detail is recorded and so, it must not be overlooked. Three brides for three prominent bridegrooms all encountered at a well.

In the New Testament we find an account of another bridegroom who meets a woman at a well but she is not a bride, for that matter we’re told that she’s had five husbands and the man she’s living with isn’t her husband (see John 4:18), and he is no ordinary groom, for He is the Bridegroom, Jesus.

Is there a connection between those bride encounters of the Old Testament and this of the New? Remember, the Bible accounts are not a haphazard, mishmash of random tales; the Old Testament always correlates with the New Testament.

Jesus doesn’t meet this unnamed woman at any well, He meets her at Jacob’s well. Also, this woman is a Samaritan, she’s not a Jew but of mixed heritage. You see, the Samaritans were a mixture of races between Jews and Gentiles and although they worshiped God, they also served idols.  So, they were not only of mixed ancestry but of mixed religion and even their politics was affected by this mixture as well (read 2 Kings 17).

Because of this, the Jews deemed everything about Samaritans as impure and were prejudiced against them; they were shunned and despised by the Jews – their customs, their religious practices and their food were considered unclean.

This is why the encounter between the Bridegroom and this Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well was remarkable.

Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water (John 4:6-7 NIV)

Jews passing through Samaria – So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar (John 4:5 NIV) – was simply not done.

Jews buying food in Sychar – His disciples had gone into the town to buy food (John 4:8 NIV) – was simply not done.

Jews conversing with Samaritans – Jews do not associate with Samaritans (John 4:9 NIV) – was simply not done.

Jews evangelizing in Samaria was simply not done – Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers (John 4:39-41 NIV).

John’s Bridegroom, unlike the other three bridegrooms, did not meet a pure Jewish bride, instead, the bride who is at the well was a mix of Jew and Gentile. Chapter seventeen of second Kings tells us that there were five peoples with whom the Israelites intermarried,

the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim (2 Kings 17:24 ESV)

This is an illustration of what the Christian church, the bride of Christ, was to become. It began as a congregation of Jewish believers but became a bringing together of a mixture of peoples as the bride.

 In Old Testament times, God’s people were solely the Jews but under the new covenant, Gentiles were grafted in (see Romans 11:11-31).

Notice that the five groups of people brought into Samaria by the king of Assyria, correlates to the Samaritan woman’s five husbands.

Jesus tells the woman to call her husband, she replies that she has no husband, then Jesus says to the woman,

“You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” (John 4:17-18 NIV)

He was in fact asking her to show Him who has her heart, but she was unable to since her heart was torn, as a Samaritan, her worship was divided (see v 20).

This entire story is focused on the issue of the heart in worship and spiritual confusion.

Jesus assures her that a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24 NIV)

Beloved, Jesus is the Bridegroom,  the bride (you) is at the well and Jesus wants to know who has your heart; He is, even now, proposing to you by saying the same thing Abraham’s servant said to Rebekah, “Please give me water from your jar to drink.” 

What is your response? Will you water the flocks? Will you give Him a drink?

Amen †

 

Shelley Johnson “The Bride is at the Well” © 2026 August 25, 2026

 

 

Sound Advice

 

photo courtesy Danae

The older generation of Israelites, after their exodus from Egypt, wandered through the wilderness without entering the Promised Land. Forty years, the lifetime of a generation, had passed so it was the new generation that lived to enter the land of promise. However, before they were allowed to enter, God presented them with laws to live by.

Don’t use weights that are too heavy or too light. Don’t keep measures in your house that are too large or too small. You must use weights and measures that are correct and accurate. Then you will live a long time in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord your God hates people who cheat with false weights and measures. Yes, he hates all people who do wrong. – Deuteronomy 25:13-16 (ERV)

From this passage of Scripture, it’s clear that human nature hasn’t changed much in all these years.

You’ve been buying the same carton of milk for years at a certain price, then suddenly, you go to the supermarket, pick up the same milk but something seems off, the carton carries the same price, but the box is just a little bit smaller.

The manufacturer has adjusted the size of the carton, but the supermarket hasn’t adjusted the price, so you end up paying more for less.

Store owners are in the habit of having a sale when in fact, they’ve raised the prices of the items before the price “reduction”.

Sadly, changing the size, price, weight, and measurements of items, even food stuff, is a common practice that may be deemed immoral but it’s not illegal.

Humans are prone to being dishonest in financial and business dealings.

Years ago, I worked in real estate and one of my clients said to me. “You’ll never make it in this business, you’re too honest.”

I was not about to become dishonest in order to “make it” in real estate or any other business. I had no intention of benefitting from cheating, lying or short-changing anyone to earn a dollar. I was not going to treat others unfairly just to make a sale.

I have experienced firsthand the dishonesty by buyers, sellers and agents alike and I absolutely refused to follow suit. I refused to carry two kinds of weights or varying measures in my house.

As one translation says, “all who act dishonestly, are abhorrent to the Lord”; I don’t want to be in that category.

Beloved, even we, as Christians, can fall prey to our human instinct to gain an unfair advantage in financial dealings and other business transactions.

Don’t for a moment feel that what God told the younger generation of Israelites in Deuteronomy does not still apply to us today. We should take heed and allow this sound advice to govern our behaviour.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Sound Advice” © 2026 August 24, 2026

 

Five Final Songs of Ascent

The hillside must have echoed as the ancient Israelites, together in unity and in perfect harmony, sang fifteen songs of praise and thanksgiving to God, during their ascent to the holy city of Jerusalem.

And with one goal in mind, they sang; despite the weary of every strenuous stride, they sang with one goal in mind; despite the discomfort of every laboured breath, they sang with one goal in mind; despite the pain of every aching muscle, they sang with one goal in mind – to be in the presence of God in His Temple.

We too are ascending toward the eternal Temple to be in the presence of God!

Let’s briefly look at the five final Songs of Ascent…

Psalm 130, is a gut-wrenching cry of repentance: Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord (v 1). Be confident in the redemptive power of God. Be confident that God listens. Be confident that God forgives and wipes the slate of your sin clean forever. Be confident that the pain of the past will not dominate your future. Be confident that no matter how great your sin, God’s grace is greater still!

 Psalm 131, is a deeply meditative reflection on humility: My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; (v 1). It demonstrates the trust, contentment, dependence and hope that you should have in God to provide, free from a position of prideful arrogance.

Psalm 132, is a song that recalls God’s promises, David’s dedication and the faithfulness of both: he swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob; The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back (v 2, 11). Cling to God’s promises, knowing that He is faithful, and trusting that He will fulfil His word in your life.

Psalm 133, celebrates genuine unity between God’s people: Oh, how wonderful, how pleasing it is when God’s people all come together as one (v 1). True unity, camaraderie and harmony among God’s people results in the flow of great blessings, as a whole and as individuals. Genuine togetherness fuelled by love for God and each other, in the community of faith, is vital.

Psalm 134, the final song of the Songs of Ascent, is a song of praise to God: Lift your hands toward the Temple, and praise the Lord. (v 2). Having finally arrived at the Temple after a long and arduous uphill journey, the pilgrims, elated to be in His presence, worship God: Praise the Lord, all his servants who serve in the Temple at night. (v 1). As your journey continues, through the highs and the lows, remember to praise the Lord no matter what happens (ref. Psalm 34:1).

Beloved, your spiritual journey is a reflection of the walk of a pilgrim in the days of old. Every one of the songs in the Songs of Ascent collection, recounts what each pilgrim would have experienced along the way to the holy city high in the hills of Judea.

The journey was filled with challenges, trials, fears, triumphs, hopes and joys as they drew closer to God but no matter what, they persevered. So, let these same songs encourage and inspire you on your journey, just as they were.

Use these cherished Songs of Ascent as your prayers and your songs as you travel this spiritual road of faith, trusting God as the ancient Israelites did, to guide you and sustain you.

And, never forget that God is for you and with you always! He is not distant even when it feels that way, for He promises that He will never fail you, nor will He ever abandon you (ref. Hebrews 13:5).

Rest assured that God’s presence makes every step of your spiritual journey worthwhile.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Five Final Songs of Ascent” © 2026 August 21, 2026

 

 

 

Five More Songs of Ascent

 

As the people of God made the arduous climb to Jerusalem for worship, the songs they would sing in praise and thanksgiving to God, were a source of comfort and encouragement.  

These ancient songs spoke directly to the hearts of the people then, and still speak to our hearts today. With every step along this spiritual journey, these beautifully written psalms, through all the changing scenes of life, in trouble and in joy, the praises of my God shall still my heart and tongue employ (hymn lyrics by Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady).

Let’s briefly look at five more Songs of Ascent…

Psalm 125, assures that those who trust in God remain firmly secure in Him: Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever. (v 2). Stability, security, and victory are promised to those whose trust and faith are rooted in God.

 Psalm 126, celebrates God’s restoration: Restore our fortunes, Lord (v 4). God promises that as you walk in faith, He will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.

Psalm 127, lets us know that all our efforts are pointless without God: If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless; (v 1). Depend on God’s provision and guidance in every area of your life, no matter what you’re building. God is the true Builder!

Psalm 128, highlights the benefits of living life in reverence to God: Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! (v 1). Living in reverential fear of God and obedience to Him, greatly impacts your life in unexpected and positive ways.

Psalm 129, assures that even in seasons of trial, God is with you: the Lord does what is right; he cut the ropes and set me free from those wicked people. (v 4) God empowers you to endure every challenge and promises that you will not be defeated.

Beloved, remember that God is for you and with you always! He is not distant even when it feels that way, for He promises that He will never fail you, nor will He ever abandon you (ref. Hebrews 13:5).

Know that God’s presence makes every step of your spiritual journey worthwhile.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Five More Songs of Ascent” © 2026 August 20, 2026

 

 

 

Five Songs of Ascent

 

Perched on a hilltop, Jerusalem was the centre of worship for those on pilgrimage. God’s people would travel from every part of the country to make the trek to the holy city, singing songs in praise and thanksgiving to God.

Amid painful trials and challenges, these songs encouraged the pilgrims of old to persevere and gave them renewed hope as they endured hardship.

These ancient songs that they sang through their struggles and wearisome uphill journey are called Songs of Ascent and fortunately for us, we have access to those same songs, a collection of fifteen Psalms, from 120 to 134, to encourage us, comfort us, renew our hope and fill us with joy.

Providing spiritual refreshing, these timeless songs still minister to God’s people as we cry out to Him.

Let’s briefly look at the first five Songs of Ascent…

Psalm 120, the first of this special group, is a cry for deliverance: Rescue me, O Lord (v 2). This is the song that begins and sets the tone for the journey.

 Psalm 121, familiar to most, focuses on God’s preservation: The Lord himself watches over you! (v 5). As you face what seems insurmountable, be assured that God is not only with you on your journey but is actively involved in it; His preservation, protection and care do not waver.

Psalm 122, is a heartfelt prayer for peace: Pray for peace (v 6). God’s presence brings peace in the midst of chaos.

Psalm 123, encourages us to keep our eyes fixed on God: keep looking to the Lord our God (v 2). Be patient and trust God’s timing; wait, He is never late.

Psalm 124, celebrates our partnership with God: What if the Lord had not been on our side? (v 1) Remember, God is for you and with you always!

Beloved, God is not distant even when it feels that way, for He promises that He will never fail you, nor will He ever abandon you (ref. Hebrews 13:5). Know that His presence makes every step of your spiritual journey worthwhile.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Five Songs of Ascent” © 2026 August 19, 2026