Brian Simmons: "Wisdom Has a Cross!"

From the Desks of Steve Shultz and Julie A. Smith:

Brian and Candice Simmons are full of the wisdom of the Lord. We sure appreciate their ministry and all they pour out to the Body of Christ...and they exude the love of Jesus so well!

In this recent message by Brian, you're going to receive an understanding of the importance of carrying a cross, as Brian shares:

In the coming days, the wisest among us will be those who carry a cross. The foolish will be those who try another way. The path of wisdom always leads to a cross. The path of the fool always leads to self-promotion and self-protection.

That is a "straight to the point" word, and there is so much more below.

As you read the rest of this word, remember this Scripture that our Lord and Savior gave to us:

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If you truly want to follow Me, you should at once completely reject and disown your own life. And you must be willing to share My Cross and experience it as your own, as you continually surrender to My ways.'" (Matthew 16:24-25 TPT) (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)

In Christ, 

Steve Shultz and Julie A. Smith, Co-Editors
Elijah List Publications

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I know, I know—you've got problems you're facing...problems that seem impossible and horrible. Please hear my heart today. God has only one answer to every problem you are facing right now...only one. Here's the greatest answer God can give you for your greatest gripe: "Pick up your cross and follow Me!"

I'm convinced Jesus knew how hard that would be for us when He told us to carry the Cross. For He was marked by that Cross before the world was formed. He was the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. That means He was born in the wounding of God, for He had already taken the Cross and carried it, even before He took up creation's tasks.

Everything finds its focus in the Cross, where the Lamb's Blood was given for you and for me. In the wisdom of God, there is a Cross. Wisdom has a Cross!

Losing Our Life in His

"We continually share in the death of Jesus in our own bodies so that the resurrection life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity. We consider living to mean that we are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus' sake so that the life of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity. So, then, death is at work in us but it releases life in you." (2 Corinthians 4:10-12 TPT) (Photo via Rawpixel)

In a world that incessantly lures us to pamper our flesh, the Lord calls us to take up our cross. To 'take up our cross' means to lose our life in His. God has designed a Cross in the wisdom of God, which will crucify something inside of you that is selfish, proud, wanting to be first, and not willing to yield. This defiant self must die so that the glorious Christ may take our place... Daily we remember the Cross of Good Friday, where all self-will was set aside, and all selfish sin was placed on Him, our Passover Lamb.

The fugitive inside of you will continue to run and hide, like Cain who killed his brother. We are wanderers until we come home... Cain's wandering can be healed by Calvary, for the prodigal son left the wandering way and came home! That home is not only a warm bosom of love, it is a place of gaining more of Christ. To live is Christ and to die is gain. Dying is gaining! Wisdom has a Cross!

I hear my Lord saying: "If you want the life I lived, you have to die the death I died!" We all want the faith of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus, the glory of Jesus and the love of Jesus—yet we run from the Cross of Jesus, where it all pours into us. Drops of Blood release depths of beauty! To take up your cross is to take up HIS Cross. Let's follow Him and change the world! We go across on a cross! We move into our destiny as we move into His death and resurrection! Wisdom has a Cross!

Listen to the Wisdom of the Cross

In the coming days, the wisest among us will be those who carry a cross. The foolish will be those who try another way. The path of wisdom always leads to a cross. The path of the fool always leads to self-promotion and self-protection.

Listen to the wisdom of the Cross:

"To preach the message of the Cross seems like sheer nonsense to those who are on their way to destruction, but to us who are being saved, it is the mighty power of God released within us. For it is written:

"I will dismantle the wisdom of the wise and I will invalidate the intelligence of the scholars.

"So where is the wise philosopher who understands? Where is the expert scholar who comprehends? And where is the skilled debater of our time who could win a debate with God? Hasn't God demonstrated that the wisdom of this world system is utter foolishness? For in His wisdom, God designed that all the world's wisdom would be insufficient to lead people to the discovery of Himself. He took great delight in baffling the wisdom of the world by using the simplicity of preaching the story of the Cross in order to save those who believe it. For the Jews constantly demand to see miraculous signs, while the Gentiles constantly cling to the world's wisdom, but we preach the crucified Messiah. The Jews stumble over Him and the rest of the world sees Him as foolishness. But for those who have been chosen to follow Him, both Jews and Gentiles, He is God's mighty power, God's true wisdom, and our Messiah. For the 'foolish' things of God have proven to be wiser than human wisdom. And the 'feeble' things of God have proven to be far more powerful than any human ability. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25 TPT) (Photo via Wallpaper Flare)

The 'Foolishness of God' vs the Wisdom of the World

The Cross is the 'foolishness of God.' Even to this day, it is ridiculed and mocked by many as foolishness to think God was crucified for man's sins.

Yet this Cross is more powerful than all the programs, institutions, and religious systems invented by men. This 'foolish' Cross is wiser than men!

The Cross is the 'weakness of God.' How weak Jesus became as others took His hands and His feet and riveted them to a tree! How weak He appeared in the eyes of those who mocked Him and taunted Him to come down and save Himself if He truly was God's Son! Yet in that weakness, God's power is now released to believing ones. The weakness of God is stronger than men. No one can save themselves, but we all come in weakness to the mighty Man of Calvary to be made alive again!

Wisdom has a Cross. Will you walk the way of wisdom in these days of awakening and glory? Or will you only take the token of the Cross without its power?

The Cross is waiting on Calvary's hill for you to come and worship...to come and lay it down...to come in weakness to be made strong. Let's walk in the wisdom of the Cross and reject the foolishness of men!

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(Used by Permission via The Passion Translation)

Brian Simmons
Stairway Ministries
The Passion Translation
Email: brian@passiontranslation.com
Website: www.thepassiontranslation.com

Brian Simmons is known as a passionate lover of God. With his wife Candice and their three children, he spent nearly eight years in the tropical rain forest of the Darien Province of Panama as a church planter, translator, and consultant. After their ministry in the jungle, Brian was instrumental in planting a thriving church in New England (U.S.), and now travels full-time as a speaker and Bible teacher. He is also the lead translator for The Passion Translation Project which will result in a new, dynamic version of the Bible for this generation. He has been happily married to Candice for over forty-three years and is known to boast regularly of his children and grandchildren.

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