You Can’t Have Me

My grandpa, my mom’s dad, underwent five-bypass heart surgery in the ’90s. As he was going into surgery, he quoted part of Psalm 23. But when he was waiting, unconscious, in recovery, the devil paid him a visit in a vision. The devil wanted Grandpa to go with him. But Grandpa knew better. “You can’t have me,” he said. “I know Jesus Christ, and I’m going with Him.” I’m happy to report that Grandpa recovered from the surgery and lived into his nineties!

My grandpa set an excellent example for all of us. He knew Who he belonged to and wasn’t afraid to say so. We should be so sure to Whom we belong that even the devil’s appearance in a vision doesn’t move us. How can we be sure of this? We know it through God’s Word.

We Belong to God

At one time, the devil had a legal right to our lives. We belonged to him. But the Bible teaches that when we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we became His. He purchased us with His life. We are now a part of His family (Romans 8:16-17).

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14, NIV).

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s (Ephesians 6:19-20).

We Have Authority

Even though we belong to Jesus, the devil will try to enter our lives in many ways, convincing us that we’re someone or something else. That’s when we need to open our mouths and tell him the truth. If we don’t, he will continue to lie to us until we believe those lies. As a result, we will accept death in whatever form he may try to bring it (John 10:10). He may try to bring death to our bodies through disease. He may try to steal our mental peace through depression. He may try to rob us financially through catastrophes. Even our relationships may come under his attack. But if we understand that we belong to Jesus, we can resist those attacks, knowing he has no right to have them and us.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7, NIV).

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you (Luke 10:19, NIV).

When God created the world, He gave Adam and Eve responsibility for the Garden of Eden. But when they disobeyed God by obeying the devil, they gave him the lordship of the earth (2 Corinthians 4:4). Instead of resisting him, Adam and Eve allowed him to have their garden and their future (Genesis 3). Jesus, on the other hand, set a better example. When the devil came to tempt Him to sin in the wilderness, Jesus didn’t consider the temptation as Eve longed for the fruit. Jesus knew obeying the devil meant giving up His power while losing His ability to save the world. He would belong to the kingdom of darkness, what He had been called to deliver us from. Rather than giving in, Jesus immediately responded with God’s Word. That Word forced the devil to leave because Jesus’ confidence in it was too strong for the devil’s lies (Luke 4:1-13). He knew Who He was and to Whom He belonged.

Jesus, not Adam and Eve, should be our example. Just because the devil shows up doesn’t mean he has to stay. We should boldly kick the devil out of our lives by confidently saying, “You can’t have me. I belong to Jesus Christ!”