It Is Well With My Soul

Most know the story behind It Is Well With My Soul.  You can find it here.  The hymn is powerful because Horatio G. Spafford's words echoed God's Word.

It Is Well With My Soul

by Horatio G. Spafford in 1873

Verse 1:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

Isaiah 66:12 For thus says the LORD, "Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees.

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Psalm 42:7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 2:
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

1 Peter 1:18-19  knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

Verse 3:
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

1 Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Colossians 2:13-14 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Hebrew 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

Verse 4:
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face ; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

Mark 14:62 And Jesus said, "I am ; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Even so, it is well with my soul.

1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Here are some arrangements of It is Well that I love:

**  Scripture And... is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Bible Verse Candle Holders

Last year, I made some luminaries as a gift by decoupaging snowflake tissue paper to a glass candle holder. So when we had a Ladies Retreat this fall, this was the first craft that I thought of doing.  However, in the meantime, I started using Pinterest.  So, I kept coming across tons of ideas that made this idea evolve into something a little different: Bible Verse Candle Holders.

I found out how to print on tissue paper.  Basically, you cut the tissue paper a little longer, but no wider than a piece of 8.5 x 11 piece of card stock.  Then you tape both ends of the tissue paper around the top and bottom edge of the card stock to the back of the card stock.  Then print on it just like regular paper.  Be sure you know which direction to insert it so you don't end up printing on the wrong side.

Then, I found some neat Bible verse printables from these websites:
Angel Navy Wife
Papercraft Memories

I also used PicMonkey to make my own Bible verse printable.

Supplies for printing:
tissue paper (plain or patterned)
card stock
scotch tape
scissors

Supplies for the candle holder:
cylindrical candle holder (you can find them at dollar stores or craft stores)
printed tissue paper
decoupage glue (like mod podge)
foam brush
embellishments (ribbon, diamond dust, buttons...)



1. After you print the Bible verse onto the tissue paper, cut the paper off the card stock and then cut it to fit around the candle holder (leave a little space at the top and bottom).  




2. Set the tissue paper upside down on the table, then line the candle holder on top of it so that it will wrap around correctly.  Then, use a foam brush to lightly paint some decoupage glue to one vertical strip (about an inch wide) of the candle holder.  Then, carefully press the end of the tissue paper onto the glue.  




 *BE VERY CAREFUL: The tissue paper will tear if you use too much glue or if you press too hard.  If it tears, take it off (wash it with water) and start again with a new piece of tissue paper.






3. When the end is secure, lift the loose end of the tissue paper and lightly apply another strip of decoupage glue (next to where it is already secure).  












4. Hold the glass sideways so that the tissue paper hangs down without touching the glue.












5.  Carefully press the tissue paper to the glue with your finger.  Slowly turn the glass as you secure the tissue paper to it. 







6. Continue around the candle holder until all of the tissue paper is glued down.  To hold the candle holder, just put your hand inside.  I usually overlap it at the end.  

7. Once the tissue paper is fully attached, allow it to dry for at least 30 minutes.  Then, apply another layer of glue over the tissue paper.  You can put the decoupage glue on a little thicker this time.  Allow it to dry for 30 minutes again.  

8. Repeat until you have at least 3 layers of decoupage glue on top of the tissue paper.  

9. You can add embellishments using glue (I just stuck the ribbon onto the top layer of decoupage glue, but you may want to use tacky glue if you add anything heavier).    

If you add diamond dust to cover the whole candle holder, paint a full layer of decoupage glue and then sprinkle the diamond dust over it and then shake off the excess (do this over newspaper so that you can pour the extra back into the container).  

If you add diamond dust to just certain spots (like the one on the right), allow the previous layers to dry very well (so they are not tacky to the touch).  Then, paint glue just on the place you want to have the diamond dust.  Sprinkle the diamond dust over it and shake off the excess.







This craft worked great for our Ladies Retreat because we could add another layer between our Bible studies and other activities.  They also make great gifts.  I hope you enjoy it as well.  

If you try this, let us know what you learned. Also, if you added anything to this craft or altered, what you did differently and how it turned out.

UPDATE: 

After a comment about using vellum instead of tissue, I tried it with some vellum that I had on hand (it wasn't printable vellum so I couldn't print a picture or a Bible verse on it).  It worked, but it was more difficult to avoid bubbles.  The paper didn't tear as easily as tissue paper.  Here is a picture to show you how it turned out.  I imagine that with a little practice it could decoupage the vellum as well as I can decoupage the tissue paper.

Judges, Kings, and Prophets Game

I've noticed that when studying the Bible people tend to get the periods of the Judges and Kings mixed up.   The main people from the period of Israel's history can be divided into:

• Judges - leaders over Israel before they had any Kings (all in the book of Judges, except Samuel)
• Kings - those who ruled as kings over Israel or Judah (because they split not long after Solomon died)
• Prophets - though some of the judges prophesied (like Deborah and Samuel), these were mostly those who prophesied during the period of the kings

When I was thinking "Judges, Kings, and Prophets" in my head, it reminded me of the game I played in junior church as a child called "Manna, Water, and Quail."  In that game, everyone was put into one of the three groups (manna, water or quail).  Then, we sat in chairs around a circle except one person was without a chair and standing in the middle of the circle.  When that person said "manna", all of the students in the group would switch seats and the person in the middle would try to seat down.  You weren't allowed to return to your own seat.  One student would be left standing.  They would call another group or sometimes they would say "God Provides" and everyone had to change seats.  Obviously, things got pretty wild, but we loved it!

So what does that have to do with "Judges, Kings, and Prophets"?  Well, I was thinking that you could give all the kids name tags with names of different people (listed below) on them.  Then, when the person in the center calls out "Judges," all of the judges would switch seats.

Here is a list of names you could use:

Judges

• Samson
• Gideon
• Deborah
• Samuel
• Ehud

Kings

• David
• Solomon
• Rehoboam
• Hezekiah
• Ahab

Prophets

• Jonah
• Micah
• Elijah
• Elisha
• Hosea

This would be a great way of reviewing a unit on the Old Testament.  I'm definitely a big picture type of person and I believe it helps the kids understand the story better if they know where in the whole timeline of events it happens (or at least in which time period).  As a teacher, we were always taught that it is important to teach the kids the larger framework on which they can "hang" the rest of the information. I also love the free downloadable Bible Timeline Game that was created by Living Water Bible Games for this purpose.

The Love of God

This is one of my favorite hymns (Well, maybe I say that for everyone I post)!  It reminds me of how great God's love is and how it can overcome so much!  I especially love the version by Mercy Me.  They only added a fourth beat to each measure, but it really changed the feeling of the music.  The change made the music feel more pensive and prayerful which really fits the words of the song.