Gloria Gaither (b. March 4, 1942) is a songwriter for gospel music, along with her husband, Bill Gaither. She also sang in the Bill Gaither Trio, one of the most influential groups in recent Christian music.
I Have Returned
Bill & Gloria Gaither Lyrics
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I'd rather, rather have Him than riches untold
I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands
I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hands
Than to be a king of the vast domains
Than be held in sins dread sway
I'd rather have Jesus than anything
I'd rather have Jesus than man's applause
See, I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause
Oh, I'd rather have my Jesus than all the worldwide fame
Yes, I'd rather be true to His holy, to His holy name
Than to be the king of a vast domain
Than be held in sins dread sway
Oh, I'd rather have You, Jesus, than anything
This world can afford today, oh, yes
I'd rather have Jesus than anything
This world can afford, can afford today
I just love Him
I love You Lord more than anything, anything
I'd rather have Jesus than man's applause
I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause
I'd rather have my Jesus than all the worldwide fame
You see, I'd rather be true to my Saviour's holy name
Than to be a king of a vast domain
Than be held in sins dread sway
Oh, I'd rather have Jesus than anything
This world can afford to be
You see, I'd rather have my Jesus
He's been good to me
I'd rather have my Jesus than any, than anything
This world can afford, can afford today
I love You
The lyrics of "I'd Rather Have Jesus" by Bill and Gloria Gaither are about the choice of placing value on spiritual things versus material possessions. The songwriter is expressing the belief that having Jesus in their life is more valuable than any form of material wealth, including silver, gold, houses, lands or worldwide fame. The song is written as a personal testimony, where the writer declares their devotion and love for Jesus, stating that they would rather have Him than anything else this world can offer.
The lyrics portray the image of Jesus as one that has gone through suffering and sacrifice, as the words reference "nail-pierced hands". The image of Jesus as a man who willingly sacrificed his life for humanity is central to the Christian faith, and the songwriter's declaration that they would rather follow Jesus exemplifies the faith of many believers. The repeated phrases in the song highlight the writer's conviction in choosing Jesus over worldly possessions and desires.
Line by Line Meaning
I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold
I would prefer to have Jesus rather than wealth in silver and gold.
I'd rather, rather have Him than riches untold
I would rather have Jesus than any immeasurable fortune.
I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands
I would rather have Jesus rather than owning any property or real estate.
I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hands
I would rather be guided by Jesus who endured pain with love and sacrifice.
Than to be a king of the vast domains
I would prefer not to be a ruler over vast domains.
Than be held in sins dread sway
I would not like to be controlled by dreadful sins.
I'd rather have Jesus than anything
I value having Jesus more than any materialistic desire.
This world can afford today
No earthly possession of this world can surpass the worth of having Jesus.
I'd rather have Jesus than man's applause
I would rather seek Jesus' approval than the admiration of other people.
See, I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause
In fact, I would prefer to remain loyal to Jesus' mission and purpose.
Oh, I'd rather have my Jesus than all the worldwide fame
I value having Jesus more than achieving global popularity.
Yes, I'd rather be true to His holy, to His holy name
Truly, my top priority is to be authentic in following Jesus' holy name.
I just love Him
I have deep affection and devotion towards Jesus.
I love You Lord more than anything, anything
I express my love to Jesus, asserting that He means more to me than anything else.
You see, I'd rather have my Jesus
It is crystal clear that my preference is to have Jesus.
He's been good to me
I acknowledge that Jesus has been merciful and kind to me.
I'd rather have my Jesus than any, than anything
Undoubtedly, I would rather have Jesus than any other thing.
This world can afford, can afford today
I affirm that no worldly possession is more valuable than having Jesus in my life.
I love You
I declare my love to Jesus.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: George Beverly Shea, Rhea Miller
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@johannagloryglorialeluyasu5672
I have returned to the Lord of my childhood
To the same simple faith
As a child I once knew
Like the prodigal son
I longed for my loved ones
For the comforts of home
And the God I outgrew
Chorus
I have returned to the God of my childhood
Bethlehem’s Babe, the prophet’s Messiah
He’s Jesus to me, Eternal Deity
Praise His name
I have returned
Verse 2
I have returned to the God of my father
With unfailing faith
For the child of his heart
I just heard a shout
From the angels in glory
Praising the Lord
A child has come home
Chorus
I have returned to the God of my mother
I learned at her knee
He’s the Lily of the Valley
He’s Jesus to me, Eternal Deity
Praise His name
I have returned
Verse 3
I have returned to the God of my Father
Creator of heaven and earth
God of the universe
He’s Jesus to me, Eternal Deity
Praise His name
I have returned
Chorus
I have returned to the Father of Abraham
The Shepherd of Moses
Who called Him the great I Am
He’s Jesus to me, Eternal Deity
Praise His name
I have returned
Hallelujah
I have returned
I have returned
@MD-hg9dq
A PRAYER FOR VISITORS TO THIS FORUM.
On a balcony of space STEPPED A PURE AND HOLY GOD. IN AWESOME SOLITUDE YOU STOOD ALONE. Not one faint star to give YOU light; just endless darkness, it was blackest night. But somehow in the darkness YOU COULD SEE.
YOU SAW mountains high and lofty, YOU SAW valleys lush and green. YOU SAW babbling brooks, and wildflowers grow, YOU EVEN HEARD a robin sing. Then through YOUR COMPASSION STANDING OUT THERE IN YOUR TOMORROW, YOU SAW forum's visitors. 🥰
YOU SAW them as sinners because there is no intrinsic righteousness in any of us due to Adam’s sin. YOU SAW them as they grew from a baby into adulthood due to YOUR HANDS OF MERCY. 🥰 YOU SAW them pursuing a career path for the purpose of obtaining the gains of the world not realizing that it is a loss compared to what YOU DID on the cross. YOU SAW them working long and laboring hard to receive the grace by justification even though YOU stated, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."(John 6:29 KJV) YOU SAW the unwillingness to accept YOUR PLAN OF SALVATION THROUGH YOUR SON JESUS CHRIST. YOU SAW them living with the guilt of committing crimes to the heart. YOU SAW them enduring personal crisis. YOU SAW the weight of the burden on their hearts with each tribulation. YOU SAW them seeking comfort from the above mentioned topography, ONE OF THE MANY MARVELS YOUR PERFECT HANDS HAVE MADE. 👏👏👏 YOU SAW their worries about tomorrow.
If their hearts were a window that they could look through, oh the pains and scars they would see. What a cruel fate the skin gives as a mask to the inward pain. But the skin couldn’t cover THE SUFFERING YOUR ONE AND ONLY SON BORED on the cross as PAYMENT for all our sins because HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ALONE HAD THE MERIT TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF YOUR HOLINESS. Indeed, ONLY HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS SUFFICIENT TO SAVE us from this present evil world as evidenced by Mary's song of praise. "And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." (Luke 1:46-47 KJV) Awesome thanks to YOUR GREAT PARDON for being easy on the heart. 🥰
They have seen a lot of crazy things done in YOUR NAME. For example, the father of lies futile attempts to make crooked the right ways of the LORD to turn people away from faith in the WORKS OF JESUS CHRIST ALONE. How can anyone bear the thought of his or her life story detracting from the GLORY AND HONOR KNOWN TO BELONG TO CHRIST ALONE? As a consequence, YOU ARE A MYSTERY OF GREAT MYSTERY to them. Despite this conviction, YOU ARE MINDFUL of them as evidenced by the fact that YOUR JUDGEMENT is not speedy, allowing them to pursue the desires of the flesh.
They are aware of hypocrisy in religious assemblies that like to be seen and heard. In addition, secular education teaches that there is no right and wrong, if GOD exists there is no way of relating to HIM, and moral standards shift according to the whims of fashion. Therefore, their minds are conditioned to question everything this world has to offer including “THY POWER THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE DISPLAYED.” They have accepted the heavy burden of dealing with the troubles of this life and seeks to know another way, YOU THE GREAT COMFORTER TO ALL who did receive YOU as their personal SAVIOR. Still, YOU have shown them NEW MERCY every day with each thought they make and each breath they take.
Unfortunately, like the prodigal son, we are all guilty of wandering far from YOU LORD because the negative experiences of our lives tend to build roadblocks to the TRUTH. As time marches on, JESUS CHRIST HELP them to identify the way, truth, and eternal life (that is YOU). Since to know and follow your SPIRIT is more exciting than any 007 movie, and YOU DELIGHT MAKING the ordinary into extraordinary. As time marches on, JESUS CHRIST MAKE them understand that there is no way around YOUR TRUTH, and that there is something about YOUR NAME. As time marches on, JESUS CHRIST HELP them defeat in their minds what is false in YOUR EYES.
LORD GUIDE their thoughts to know that the path of sin is hard on their hearts for the purpose of crying out to YOU to know the joy, peace of having the heavy burden LIFTED by THE GOD OF PEACE I AM, and ANCHOR their souls in THE HAVEN OF REST. In other words, LORD use the storms in their lives to get a hold of them to trust YOU and believe. In truth, YOU ARE THE JOY that seekest them through pain.
LORD HELP their fainting hearts to believe that YOU, who was slain on the cross over 2000 years ago has the POWER TO CHANGE lives today through the INSTANTANEOUS GREAT FAVOR from GOD to the house of Israel made known in believers by YOU to make YOUR NAME EVERLASTING. 🥰 For as the statue liberates the citizens so the cross liberates the soul. ONLY YOU can calm the trouble waters of the mind when one admits to wanting salvation from one’s sinful nature, JESUS IS LORD, and believes in the heart that GOD RAISED HIM from the dead TO LIFT the heavy burden of sin's guilt away from the heart in accordance to YOUR WORD found in Psalm 51:1-10 KJV. 👏👏👏👏👏👏 O, the wonder of it all to experience within the flesh the feeling of a tree being cut back/pruned inorder for it to grow stronger and more beautiful after meditating on the words of said Psalm. 🥰🙌
LORD MAKE them know that ONLY YOUR HOLY SPIRIT, through the experience of a new birth within believers, can prevent the family circle from being broken because THE HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE YOU HAVE GRANTED means a chapter of their lives is decided. Creation sings the rebirth song for them yearly, through YOUR PROMISE of springtime, giving rise to the idea that by the mention of YOUR NAME flowers grow, and the desert blooms again. 🥰
LORD GUIDE their understanding of words to use to come into YOUR PRESENCE with an honest reverence of WHO YOU ARE to experience the beauty that time can't erase YOUR WISDOM resting on their faces. LORD STRENGTHEN their determination to never waiver in efforts to search for YOU because the wages of sin is too high for anyone to pay. Additionally, THE KING OF KINGS is needed in their hearts to learn how to expand their capacity to love for YOU are LOVE in any language. 🥰 Once they learn to speak it with boldness through YOUR WONDERFUL COUNSELING all the world will hear, and know that LOVE is the language of their hearts. So LORD, KEEP KNOCKING on their doors until they let YOU in to know hardships and struggles will end with a GREAT CELEBRATION WITH YOU. 🥰🙌
If one believes faith cannot be forced, YOU WILL GIVE that individual over to the stubborn heart to follow own counsel which will surely fail him or her to the extent that the punishment will last forever found in Psalms 81 NIV. Given this, I pray that YOU WILL MAKE that person see that this feeling is wasted for a world in which we become strangers as we age, gives us thrills instead of peace, aims to solve a problem but creates another, and unrest surges with each passing generation. Shed some light into their broken hearts for YOU ARE THE GREAT JEHOVAH, THE GOD THAT HEALETH thee.
Lastly, LORD when they call on YOU in earnest prayer to come into their hearts to be born again, I pray that YOU WILL GIVE them the blessed assurance of their salvation because nothing breaks YOUR HEART, or tears YOU apart like when they cry from the trials of the devil who comes to slander, falsely accuse, steal, kill & destroy. Only by drawing nearer to YOU LORD will put them on a path to a glorious one way trip winding upward to YOU where pain is not welcome because the heart will never break anymore. For ONLY YOU UNDERSTANDS our tears since YOU LOOK at the heart, while humans look at the flesh.
O LOVE that will not let them go. When they don't have the strength to try, and have cried all they can cry hear their hearts that need YOU more today than yesterday. Many thanks LORD for speaking TRUTH in our lives TO BLESS those who are not offended by THEE. LET YOUR WILL BE DONE because YOUR LOVE ALONE CONQUERS everything by WAITING for them to cease struggling, and finally surrender to YOUR EMBRACE to learn about YOUR LOVE AND PROMISE TO TAKE CARE of your children exquisitely. 🥰 Since... "at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore"... (Psalms 16:11 KJV), and the nail print for them to know YOU by answering the following question. How did CHRIST LOVE people into a relationship with HIM? 🥰
@geoffkalsrap5951
This is one of my Mom's favorite songs, even when she's on her sick bed she'll lift up her hands and sing along with the song.
It is a great song that encourages us Christians on our faith and reminds us that we're so privileged to serve a true living Almighty God, and always take care of us.😇😇❤️✝️
@ChristinaMarieAngelicque-vc3nx
I SAW THIS GROUP FROM 1999-2001, AND, TRUST ME WHEN I SAY SUE DODGE DOES NOT NEED A MICROPHONE!
@KA-yw7lu
Return, America! Father is still waiting and watching, hoping to see His covenant nation, His Christian people, His beloved church, humble themselves, seek His face, turn from all our wicked ways. We are as Laodicea. We are the poor, blind, and naked. Return America before it is too late.
@StillGods
Amen
@loiswright4430
Can you imagine standing on the Holy Mount singing praises to the Most High Yahweh? What a blessing and honor.
@irisfields1659
That would be the highlight I of them tobsing about our God in Israel Praise the Lord😇😇😇💟🙏🙏🏻🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
@josephineajemuta2742
I have returned to the God of my fathers and never to stray by his special grace unto his coming ,in Jesus name 🙏
@KA-yw7lu
Come home! As the prodigal left the pigpen where he filled his belly with the husks of corn, let us turn from our wicked ways, humble ourselves and seek His face once again. Father saw that prodigal yet far off and ran to meet him! With open arms and an embrace Father comforted his son, restored the signet ring and clothed him with a robe. Father loves you so. Come home before it is too late.
@adesolaayo-aderele9439
Amen for the wandering soul!
@JagTX2010
I woke this morning hearing this song singing in my soul. Praise the Lord!