The scene was three crosses on a hillside, obviously representing Calvary, where our Savior was crucified between two thieves. About 40 yards away was a van type vehicle that was painted up with various Halloween depictions of ghosts, ghouls, goblins and other meant to be scary scenes, advertising a popular haunted woods establishment in the area, called The Hill of Terror.

As I shook my head, in contemplation of the obvious goof, that someone would put such an advertisement close enough to the previous scene, that you would see them both in the same view, I began to chuckle. But it didn’t end there…

The further down the road I drove, the more I was impressed with another variation of the same scene. My focus had been on why someone had put something so inappropriate next to a representation that was meant to be a reminder of an act of love by Jesus Christ. The more I rolled this variation around in my head, asking pertinent questions to myself, suddenly it was as if a fog lifted from my mind. And like a thunderbolt through my inner being, the message came loud and clear!! For the Devil and his horde, it WAS The Hill of Terror.

On that glorious day when they lifted up our Lord on the cross, and as he hung in the balance between Heaven and earth and cried out, “It Is Finished!!!!”, the Devil’s grip on mankind would slip away as Jesus gave His life for you and me.

May we remind the enemy of that Hill of Terror everyday as we greet the morning with a renewed sense of God’s love in our heart and carry the message of Hope, the message of Grace. We do not have to be afraid because the enemy has already been defeated and it’s our job to keep reminding him of that with every breath. May God’s praises be continually on our lips.