{"id":121,"date":"2012-02-06T18:35:10","date_gmt":"2012-02-06T18:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=121"},"modified":"2012-02-06T18:35:10","modified_gmt":"2012-02-06T18:35:10","slug":"what-good-can-come-from-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=121","title":{"rendered":"What good can come from there?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I distinctly remember in the spring of 2004 having a conversation with my son, Reed.\u00a0 We were listening to all the hype surrounding the NFL draft.\u00a0 Most of the \u201ctalk\u201d revolved around one young man, Eli Manning.\u00a0 Reed was dismayed to hear all the analysts talk so poorly of a guy who was predicted to be (and later was) the #1 draft pick.\u00a0 Most of the talk went something like this, \u201cWell, he\u2019s good, but he\u2019s no Peyton.\u00a0 He will be an NFL player, but he will never, mark my words, never win a Super Bowl.\u00a0 He just doesn\u2019t have that kind of talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

I remember how perplexed Reed was by all these not-so-nice comments.\u00a0 Reed and I had a long talk about how controversy creates buzz, and buzz sometimes creates dollars in this world of instantaneous entertainment.\u00a0 I also told him that I believed that the Manning family members are Christians that as Christians we don\u2019t have to believe what our world is telling us.\u00a0 We also said that we shouldn’t define greatness by the world’s standard. \u00a0Reed\u2019s heart was cheering for one whom many perceived as the understudy, and he didn\u2019t like that he was being beaten down when he hadn\u2019t even started his NFL career.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unfortunately the talk surfaced again, when older brother Peyton and his team (Indianapolis Colts) won the Super Bowl in 2006.\u00a0 \u201cBlah, blah, blah, it\u2019s too bad that little brother Eli (of the New York Giants) will never have a Super Bowl ring like his big brother.\u201d\u00a0 And on and on, it went.\u00a0 That is until two years later, when the little brother and his team won the 2008 Super Bowl.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was so glad that Reed was still alive (as it was his last Super Bowl to watch on earth) to see that win. Despite all the dire glass-ceiling predictions about Eli, he had the kind of fortitude to just keep showing up and using the talents that God has given him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last night\u2019s victory led by the \u201clesser talented\u201d Manning must have made one little red-head in Heaven laugh out loud.\u00a0 Not only did Eli win a Super Bowl in 2008, but he and his teammates went for an encore performance four years later, winning in 2012.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recently, as I have been reading through the Bible, I came across a verse that made me sit up straighter and do a double take.\u00a0<\/p>\n

John 1:43 \u2013 46 (NCV)<\/p>\n

43<\/em> The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” <\/em>44<\/em> Philip was from the town of Bethsaida, where Andrew and Peter lived. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the man that Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about him. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46 But Nathanael said to Philip, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh no – he didn\u2019t! But, yes, he did!\u00a0 Can anything good come from Nazareth?\u00a0 You have to be kidding . . . but he wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 This Jesus couldn\u2019t be as good as Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, and all the other prophets. Nathanael then finds out that Jesus is the real deal, but his initial thoughts were simply on this rival town and nothing good comes out of that.\u00a0 After learning the truth by meeting Jesus, Nathanael becomes one of the disciples and follows him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are other countless examples throughout the New Testament of Jesus standing living and breathing right in front of people, yet they would not believe that he is the Messiah.\u00a0 At times even his own family doubted him.\u00a0 The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the high priests, the government officials, and just average people \u2013 all doubted him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He continued to walk humbly and serving God his father, and people doubted and diminished his works.\u00a0 People denied his abilities, and denied the prophetic claims that he was the one true Son of Man.<\/p>\n

I, in no way, wish to imply that Eli Manning be equated with godliness, but I do want to parallel how we all have the tendency to miss the boat. This Jesus cannot be who he claims to be because it just doesn\u2019t fit our (historically and now) idea of greatness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Savior of the World, this Messiah, should be powerful, debonair, suave, magnanimous, and larger-than-life goes our thinking. He would deserve a 60 second Super Bowl ad.\u00a0 A loving, caring, and humble servant does not seem to fit the picture of the \u201cidols\u201d we have today.\u00a0 But oh, we would be so wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The hands that cradle us in our weakness were strong enough to take the nails for the sins of the world.\u00a0 The heart that loves us despite our flaws (and right we are in life) was large enough to take on a burden that no other ever<\/strong> would be willing to take.\u00a0 No, nothing good ever came out of Nazareth, but something absolutely, positively SUPER did!\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I distinctly remember in the spring of 2004 having a conversation with my son, Reed.\u00a0 We were listening to all the hype surrounding the NFL draft.\u00a0 Most of the \u201ctalk\u201d revolved around one young man, Eli Manning.\u00a0 Reed was dismayed to hear all the analysts talk so poorly of a guy who was predicted to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[227,321,438,598],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}