The Possibilities Are Endless!!!!!

The Possibilities are Endless!

Scripture for today is from the 43rd book of the Bible; it has 21 chapters; 879 verses, 19,099 words; 15 OT prophecies fulfilled; 44 new prophecies; 85 verses of fulfilled and 7 verses of unfulfilled prophecy.

John 6:53  Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.

“Man can not live by bread alone; with a bottle of wine the possibilities are endless.”  Anonymous

I look at this plaque every morning when I am eating breakfast, and the more I have looked at it, the more I have been intrigued by its meanings in the natural and the spiritual.  I’m referring to the bread and the wine, which are the elements used in Communion.  

Communion is a celebration and a time of remembrance for Christians.  We celebrate and remember what Christ did on the cross for us when he conquered sin and death and then got up! When we celebrate the selfless act, we “come into union” with God by consuming the bread (or the “bread of life”, which is Jesus’s body or the Word), and the wine or grape juice as symbols of Jesus’s blood.

John 6:53  Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.

The word “life” here is that zoe life.  It means to live, to have vitality.  Andrew Wommack said it is “life in the absolute sense, life as God intended it to be”.  With this zoe life in us, I would say that the possibilities are endless for what God can do in and through us!  Thus the title of this message is The Possibilities are Endless!

As I have read this first phrase (Man can not live by bread alone), I have thought about the scripture in Matthew 4:4 where Jesus is being challenged by Satan who has told Jesus to turn the stones into bread.  Jesus tells Satan It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

In focusing on phrase, we see that there is a difference between the words on the plaque and the words in that scripture.  One says that “Man cannot live by bread alone”.  If you look up the word “cannot” in Webster’s Dictionary, it means “unable to do”.  This statement suggests that physically, man is unable to live by eating only bread.  He needs more than that.  In the natural, we know that this is true.  Man will perish sooner without water than without bread.  

In Matthew 4:4, it states that man shall not live by bread alone.  Webster’s Dictionary defines “shall” as “ought to, must”.  Since this statement is in the negative, it means that man ought not to or must not live by bread alone.  Jesus is really expressing an order, a command.  When he stated this, he was emphatic about it.  He knew the truth about the Word and wanted everyone to know and understand it.

Regardless of whether we are talking about the natural or spiritual bread, we need both.  Let’s explore these natural and spiritual breads.

What is bread in the natural?

Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water and yeast and then baked. It is actually one of the oldest processed foods, having been of importance since the dawn of agriculture.  Bread comes in all shapes, flavors and forms, and is typically made from accessible and affordable ingredients.

So we’ve learned that bread has always been a food staple; it fills us up; it gives us energy; and it has great nutritional value. This shows that bread is important to us physically but what about spiritually?

As I began thinking about the bread, its ingredients, and the making process, God directed me to think about the comparison between making natural bread and the Bread of Life, who is Jesus, the Word!  

 

John 6:33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. This “life” is that zoe life mentioned earlier.

John 6:47-51  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.  I am that bread of life.  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.  Again that “zoe” life which was mentioned earlier.

Jesus is the bread of life, and yes, he did give of his flesh for the life of the world.  But not all have been consuming this bread.  Maybe it’s because they don’t understand what it really is.  Let’s take a look at this.

Natural Bread

• Ingredients- flour, yeast, and warm water as needed
• Mix together so the ingredients become a ball of dough
• Knead (to form or shape) the dough involves pressing, folding, and stretching the dough repeatedly. This activates the yeast.
• Yeast forms a carbon dioxide gas that begins to inflate the dough.  If the yeast is not activated, the gas will not be produced, and the dough will not rise.  That bread will be as dense as a hockey puck.  Trust me - I know!  
• Dough is set aside to rest or to rise and then it is baked.
• 
  
• Now let’s look at this process in the spiritual.  Remember we are talking about the Bread of Life.

Spiritual Bread

Ingredients in the natural are flour, yeast, and warm water form the dough

- In the spirit, there are also 3 ingredients here who work together.  God,

the Father; Jesus, His Son; and the Holy Spirit have always been the

main ingredients.  The word “ingredient” means to go into; something

that is a component part of any combination or mixture.  

Some people say that these 3 are 3 separate persons who make

up the Godhead, but that is not correct.  They each have their “role” in

the kingdom:  

• God, Elohim, is the Creator;
• Jesus, His Son, was God in flesh and He came to earth to do

God’s will and to conquer death and sin;

• and the Holy Spirit is God and Jesus the Christ in spirit who live in each of us.  
• But they are all one.  As the definition of “ingredient” said, they are each a component of this 
• Godhead.  They work together.  

• Just as the natural ingredients for the bread are mixed together to form 1 unit as the dough, God, 
• Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit function together as 1 unit.  
• 1 John 5:7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy 
• Ghost: and these three are one

Kneading the dough in the natural involves pressing, folding and

stretching the dough repeatedly in order to form or shape it.

• On the spiritual side, the devil attempted to “knead” Jesus when tempting him in the desert.  The 
• word “tempt” means to entice to do wrong by promise of pleasure and gain.  That’s exactly what 
• Satan did.  Satan pressed at Jesus and prodded him by trying to allure him with pleasurable things 
• and gain.  Satan tried to “fold him or flip him over” in order to give allegiance to him (Satan) and not to 
• God.  Satan tried to stretch Jesus into a different shape, into a different “god”.  But Jesus withstood 
• these tests.
• Didn’t Jesus try to “knead” others through his ministry by teaching them and forming them into a 
• different shape?  He had so many encounters with the Pharisees and Sadducees and was trying to 
• stretch their minds so that they would be open to hearing the truth.  They didn’t even recognize him 
• as the “bread from heaven” or the “kingdom of God come down from heaven”.  He tried to tell them in 
• John 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall 
• live for ever.
• Just as bread in the natural is kneaded (pressed, folded over, stretched, re-shaped), Jesus was 
• repeatedly “kneading” those who did not understand him and was attempting to stretch them and 
• mold them into the shape of truth.

Yeast was activated - Throughout this kneading process in the natural,

the yeast becomes activated. The yeast causes an action to take place which creates the carbon dioxide gas that forms bubbles in the dough.  The dough reacts to this by inflating, expanding, and growing.

• Spiritually the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the “yeast” within us.  When the Creator spoke us into 
• existence in the beginning, an action took place.  Did they not create us and form us?  When these 3 
• “worked together” (to engage in an activity in order to achieve a purpose or result), they created us, 
• spoke us into existence, formed us, and inflated our minds to be open to the truth of the Word and to 
• God’s will for the body of Christ.  Romans 12:2  Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that 
• ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God
•        Think about this:  Why do I say that they are the “yeast”???  Because when you remove the “Y” from 
• the word “yeast”, it becomes “east”.  They are the east within us.  They dwell in the east.  We know 
• the s-u-n rises in the east.  Well so also does the S-O-N rise in the east bringing the dawning of a 
• new day; bringing joy in the morning; bringing a freshness to the situation; bringing those in the 
• system into the truth.  A positive action takes place when it comes from the east so they are our 
• yeast!
•        Another example that God gave me was this:  

Just as the yeast is activated in bread and causes an action to take place, God (who is the yeast in 

us) caused an action to take place years ago when He inspired or inflated the minds of many men 

and women, Sons of God, to record His Word on paper.  They could not have written this Word the 

way God wanted it written if they had not been inspired by God.  They would have included their

own thoughts; their own judgments; their own interpretations.

2 Peter 1:21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

1 Timothy 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Many people don’t believe that all of the Bible’s events or stories really happened.  They don’t believe that these men and women could have been inspired by God to write these words.  Even Thomas Jefferson created his own “Bible” by cutting and pasting scriptures of the Bible into a book that he created and bound together.  He used the scriptures that matched with his own beliefs.

Rest and Rise - In the natural, the dough is set aside to rest and to rise.  The yeast has already begun its work by supplying carbon dioxide

gas to inflate the dough during this rising.

Spiritual - In the same sense, God has been working to activate himself in us and inflate our minds to be open to the truth about him.  He has kneaded us and shaped us into the Sons of God that we are.  He has pressed us and prodded us but has protected us by the anointing of the oil.  Now he sets us aside - not in the sense of leaving us - but to rest in him with mental, spiritual, and emotional calmness; with tranquility.  While we rest in him, we are also being set in motion and energized by him to rise, which means to return from death; ascend; to come into being; originate.  God is strengthening us for all that we have to face as Sons of God and is causing us to rise into the heavenlies.  

John 6:48  I am that bread of life.  The word “bread” in the Greek is artso which means bread that is raised or a loaf; this leads you to the Greek word airo (ah’-ee-ro) which means to lift up, to take up or away, to raise, to expiate sin, or remove.  Isn’t this exactly what Jesus, the bread of life, did for all of the world?  He has taken away the sin of the world and has raised us up into the heavenlies.  Again we see the similarity of the bread in the natural and its ability to rise because of the yeast in comparison with the bread of life in the spiritual with its characteristics to rise and “lift up” to the heavenlies.

John 6:50-51  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Jesus was the Walking Word, the bread of life.  He was God in flesh so to know Him, we must “eat, consume, devour, ingest” every Word of the Living God.  As I have said before, the bread/the Word must “B - Read”.  

The Wine

Let’s look at the 2nd part of the saying on this plaque:  “with a bottle of wine the possibilities are endless”.

So according to this plaque, man needs to eat bread, but he could do a whole lot more with a bottle of wine!  I think I’ll leave that for you to consider.   

Let’s consider how wine is made.  As we know, wine is made from grapes, but the process varies depending on the type of grape.  Basically after the grapes are pulled from the vines, they are destemmed and crushed for their juice.  Then it’s time for the fermentation process to start.  Guess what is used for this process?  Yeast is added to the wine vats so that the fermentation can take place.  The yeast will turn the sugar in the juice into alcohol and carbon dioxide.  The carbon dioxide is released which causes the grape skins to rise to the surface, and the process continues.

So once again we see that the yeast is causing an action to take place, and the carbon dioxide that is created is causing something to rise.

Do you see the similarities between the bread and the wine in the natural?  The one ingredient that is consistent is the YEAST!

Of course as we think about the elements of communion, we know that the wine symbolizes the blood which Jesus shed for the world.  As Jesus often did, he used symbolism to communicate his ideas to others.

John 6:53  Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  You have to have both in you!  Let’s look at the blood in the natural.

Leviticus 17:11:  For the life of the flesh is in the blood:  

Webster's Dictionary defines blood as the red fluid that circulates in the heart, arteries, capillaries, and veins carrying nourishment and oxygen to all parts of the body.  But have you ever thought about how your blood is made?

To make blood, your body needs to mix:

• red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body
• white blood cells, which fight infections
• platelets, which are cells that help you stop bleeding if you get a cut
• plasma, a yellowish liquid that carries nutrients, hormones, and proteins throughout the body

Bone marrow makes the red blood cells, the white blood cells, and the platelets.  Plasma is mostly water, which is absorbed from the intestines from what you drink and eat, with the liver supplying important proteins.

God created this awesome, self-sustaining human body which not only fights diseases and infections, but it makes its own blood.  It is constantly replenishing its own blood supply.  And in the blood are the elements that nourish us and keep us alive!  So God created us to live!

Our blood is essential for life, so then what about the “blood of Jesus”?  

When we receive His Spirit, we receive His blood.  Jesus said we are to drink His blood.  “Drink”, or pi’no, (pee’-no) means to imbibe or to drink; to absorb; to receive into one’s consciousness.  That’s what we’ve got to do with the Word of God.  To absorb means we must take it in and make it part of an existent whole.  We must grasp it and apply it to every area of our life.

What are the possibilities with Jesus’s blood covering us and in us?  I will name a few:

Power:

Leviticus 17:11, 14  For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Vs 14  For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof:  for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof.  

Cleansing or Sanctifying:

1 John 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Remission of sins:  

Hebrews 9:22  Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.

Protection

Exodus 12:13  And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.        

Boldness

Hebrews 10:19  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus

Eternal Life

John 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life

Jesus’s blood is more powerful than even we can imagine.  

In the Revealing Word, Charles Fillmore defines blood in this way:

It expresses a spiritual principle that has been introduced into the race mind through the purified Jesus.  Through his experience on the Cross, where His precious blood was spilled, through His suffering there, Jesus lowered His consciousness to the consciousness of the race, thereby administering to the whole race a blood transfusion, imparting to man the properties of Being that will restore him to his divine estate.  Such a transfusion not only revives (restore to life or consciousness) us in temporal (or earthly, secular) ills, but begins in the body a purifying and energizing process that will finally save us from death.

FIllmore referred to Properties of Being - “properties” means something at the disposal of someone; an essential or distinctive attribute or quality; something owned or possessed.  Jesus possessed these “properties of Being”, or divine properties, and they were at his disposal.  He made the sacrifice to share them with us because he knew what they would do - restore us to our divine estate.

Then Mr. Fillmore defines the blood of Jesus as that which represents the principle of eternal life.  Jesus raised the life activity of His blood and revealed its spiritual potency.  In this respect it became part of the spiritual life of the race and is thus accessible to all persons.  

In the sentence, Jesus raised the life activity of His blood and revealed its spiritual potency, the word “activity” means the condition in which things are happening or being done.  This sounds to me like the yeast in us has been activated, and an action has taken place.  

Jesus’s body and blood have restorative properties and a purifying and energizing process, which is the yeast dwelling inside of us, and it is accessible to all persons!  Jesus has provided this for us!

So each and every time that we consume these elements of communion, let us remember what Jesus did to give us that zoe life; that life as God intended it to be; that life that we can attain.  We have the power, people of God, to do anything and everything He wants us to do.  We have the dreams of things to accomplish, but we so often put them aside because of what we can see - visually and in our minds - and not because of what we’ve asked God for.  The possibilities are indeed endless of the things we can do with the God Almighty inside of us.  He has given us the ingredients we need - the Word and his Spirit!

John 6:53  Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.

So as I look at this plaque again, I would make a change in this entire statement.  I would say “With the Bread of Life and Jesus’s blood, the possibilities for the body of Christ are endless!”

B = Blood

L =  Lifts us

O = Over the

O = Obstacles of the

D = Devil

The Word must:
B = Be
R = Read to
E = Entrap the
A = Acts of the
D = Devil

~ Deaconness Rachel West