The Inspiration Story Behind the hymn "I'd Rather Have Jesus

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Join us on Faithfullyliven as we journey through the stirring narrative of Martin James Ross, whose powerful transformation from a life gripped by alcoholism to faith that inspired the creation of the beloved hymn "I'd Rather Have Jesus" by Rhea F. Miller in 1922. Whether you're intimately familiar with this cherished hymn or discovering its inspiration for the first time, this episode serves as a stirring reminder of the transformative power of faith and the enduring impact of a life devoted to living faithfully.

References for the show
Hymnary.org Rhea F. Miller https://hymnary.org/person/Miller_Rhea
101 More Hymn Stories by Kenneth W. Osbeck (1985)

Do you want to learn how to study the Bible? Check out the YouTube channel Faithfullyliven youtube.com/@faithfullyliven

Do you want to read about how to live faithfully? Check out the blog http://lyfe102.org

Get a free Road Map to get started learning how to study the Bible https://mailchi.mp/88f9c9405da0/bible-study-road-map

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to Faithfully Living, the podcast where we
learn how to live for Christ inour daily lives.
I'm Dwan, your host, and Iwould like to invite you on a
journey with me to explore andlearn how to be a faithful
follower of Christ, of Christ.

(00:27):
Hey everyone, welcome toFaithfully Living Podcast, where
we strive to encourage you tolive for Christ faithfully by
offering guidance on how tostudy the Bible, how to
understand the Bible better andhow to remain faithful to
historic Christianity in acontemporary society.
You know, before hymns werewritten, believers used to sing
psalms.
You know the Bible provided thewords of worship to.

(00:50):
You know many believers alongthe way and, if you've been
listening to the last coupleepisodes of the podcast, we have
been exploring the stories ofsome of the hymns that we know
and love, and maybe some hymnsthat you've never heard of
before.
Now I am in awe of how God hasgifted people with words to tell

(01:13):
a story of his faithfulness intheir lives, and you know these
hymns and many others haveinspired and encouraged us as
believers for many generationsand, prayerfully, they will
continue to inspire.
In today's episode, we're goingto internal the eternal choice

(01:45):
to prioritize our relationshipwith God over the temporal
pleasures of this world.
All right, let's travel back to1922.

(02:08):
It's when this hymn was written, and it was written by Rhea F
Miller.
You know the words wereinspired by a personal story of
her father's journey to faithand the lasting impact it had on
her.
Here are the lyrics that shepenned.
This is the first verse.
I'd rather have Jesus thansilver or gold.

(02:31):
I'd rather be his than haveriches untold.
I'd rather have Jesus thanhouses or land.
I'd rather be led by hisnail-pierced hands and here's
the chorus.
Rather be led by hisnail-pierced hands and here's
the course Than to be the kingof a vast domain or to be held
in sin's death's way.

(02:51):
I'd rather have Jesus thananything this world awards today
.
You know this hymn'sinspiration came from her own
father's life, a man who lived alife very different from the
one that he found through faith.
I'm sorry, thank you.

(04:07):
Rhea F Ross lived in a smalltown with her family.
Her father, martin James Ross,was no stranger to the world's
temptation, and particularly histemptation was alcohol, and he
struggled with it for most ofhis early life.
You know his story is afamiliar one.
At the time, in the 1920s,alcoholism was common, and for

(04:35):
Ray's father.
It had a strong grip on him andit pulled him away from God and
his family.
He had been raised in theChristian family but as a young
man he drifted from his faithand the temptation of alcoholism
in the world got the best ofhim.
You know, he would steal moneyfrom his wife purse, you know,

(04:56):
just enough to get a drink.
But Mrs Ross, she was.
She was faithful.
She was good, a good, solidChristian.
Faithful she, she lived herlife for Christ and she
displayed that to her family andto her husband.
She would show her devotion,she would walk to church, you
know, no matter what kind ofweather.

(05:18):
She was there to serve God'speople.
And eventually hersteadfastness broke through the
walls of her husband'sstubbornness and resistance to
the faith, and stubbornness andresistance to the faith.
So one day Rhea's father had apowerful moment of clarity and

(05:38):
spiritual convictions and fromwhat I read it says, like in the
quietness of his home, in histhoughts, he felt the prompting
of the Holy Spirit.
And it was at that moment.
He was, he looked at thedirection of his life and
realized that he needed to dosomething more, um, something
greater than the empty promisesof the world and at that point

(06:00):
he decided that he would livefor christ, he would turn away
from alcoholism and all thethings that came along with it,
and he made a choice to tofollow the lord.
So one night at church, in achurch service, he began his
testimony on how much jesusmeant to him and he said that

(06:20):
I'd rather have jesus than allthe gold and silver in the whole
world, I'd rather have him thananything this world has to
offer.
And Rhea heard these words andshe said there and heard the
words from her father, and itgave her words to this poem that

(06:42):
she wrote I'd rather have Jesus.
She witnessed a transformationin her father firsthand, because
she knew what she grew up withand she saw his former life of
being an alcoholic, and now shealso is seeing, or saw, the new

(07:03):
life that he embraced with Jesusas a sinner for his life.
And this made a deep impact onher and, like I said, it
inspired her to write the wordsof the song I'd Rather have
Jesus.
And it goes to show you howChrist can change people's lives
, even from the darkest momentsin which they struggle with and

(07:29):
the darkest sins that they haveto overcome, because they know
through Christ, if theysurrender to him, he is more
than able and willing to helpthem if they ask for his help.
Here are the second and thirdverses of the hymn.

(07:53):
It goes I'd rather have Jesusthan man's applause.
I'd rather be faithful to hisdear cause.
I'd rather have Jesus thanworldwide fame.
I'd rather be true to his holyname.
And then you have the chorus,and then the last, the third and
final verse he's fairer thanlilies or rarest bloom.

(08:15):
He's sweeter than honey fromout the comb.
He's all that my hungeringspirit needs.
I'd rather have Jesus and lethim lead All right.
So we're going to fast forward acouple of years where we meet

(08:36):
another key figure in the storyof this hymn, george Beverly
Shea.
You might know him as one ofthe voices behind the most
beloved hymns, alongside BillyGraham and Billy Graham in his
crusade and Billy Graham in hiscrusade.
So when George Beverly Shea wasyoung, he too was at a

(09:05):
crossroads, but similarcrossroads.
He had a talent for singing andhe had many opportunities to
sing for the secular world, withthe promise of fame and
financial security.
But he wasn't sure if he shouldtake that path.
And one day, as George waswrestling with this decision, he

(09:26):
came down to his family pianoat his parents' home and found
Rhea Miller's words lying there,propped up by his mother, and
she had placed a sheet of lyricsI'd rather have jesus on the
piano and hope that it wouldinspire george.
And he sat down.
He read through the lyrics andfound himself deeply moved by by

(09:50):
his message, and it spokedirectly to his heart, and he
wasn't expecting it.
When I was reading about hisstory, and the hymn about
choosing Jesus over everythingthe world could offer mirrored
the decision he was strugglingand wrestling with Should he

(10:10):
follow the secular path orshould he follow and sing for
the Lord?
And feeling inspired, georgebegan to play a melody on the
piano and he crafted a tune forthe words of I'd rather have
Jesus.
And that's how the tune for thehymn was born.

(10:34):
The hymn was born um in the end, um, george beverly shea.
He chose to use his talents forgod's glory and he's he sung
I'd rather have jesus in manychurches on the radio and then,
like I said, he used to travelwith billy graham crusade all
over the world.
Wow, wasn't that two incrediblestories of God's goodness faith

(11:15):
and the life of Rea Miller'sfather and George Beverly Shea.
Now, god used one man'stestimony of faith to inspire
his daughter to write a poemwhose words would later
influence and impact a youngman's life.

(11:36):
Years later, george BeverlyShea's decision to serve the
Lord led him to minister tomillions of people, and each
time he sang, I'd rather haveJesus.
It was as if he was renewinghis commitment and reminding
himself and others of the of thepowerful choice to follow jesus

(11:59):
above everything else.
You know, as believers, whatgod, what christ, calls us is to
a life of surrender, one thatis surrendered totally to him.
Now jesus tells us to pick upour cross and follow him, and in
that surrender we learn andtrust in God that we, you know,

(12:26):
rather have him than all thetemporal things around us.
Now, I think that's why thishymn has stood the test of time,
because it speaks to a decisionthat every believer, you know,
is going to face at some pointin life.
I'm pretty sure we're going toface that multiple times in our
life, if not at least once.

(12:47):
It's not just a song, it's aninvitation to ask ourselves what
we truly value.
And for those who, like RayMiller's father or George
Beverly Shea, to decide tochoose Jesus.
This hymn becomes more thanjust word.

(13:08):
It becomes a prayer, adeclaration and a reminder of
what really matters.
Alright, so I hope this episodewas inspiring for you.
Thanks for listening and don'tforget to subscribe and share
this with somebody who needs toremember what really matters.

(13:31):
And until next time, remembergod is always good and is always
faithful.
Thank you for listening to thepodcast.
Do me a favor by following thepodcast and leaving a review to

(13:53):
help spread the word.
I look forward to hearing fromyou.
You.