Jesus, the Spanish Substitute in the World Cup Finals...

-Duke Jeyaraj traces Spain's win in the 2010 World Cup using poetry, with a message at the end.....

They began their World Cup Campaign by losing to Switzerland their very first game,

Rip-roaring back to claim the title, how handsomely, strongly and sensationally they came!

Messi, Kaka, Ronaldo, Rooney, Drogba - in their ranks was no such starry name!

But as a team they gracefully gelled and upped their game to a never-seen-before high plane!

Thanks to David Villa's precise finishing, Portugal and Paraguay they did doggedly tame,

Their blistering semifinal pace made even the lightning quick Germans, seem a touch lame!

"Tarzan" Puyol's header ensured that Octopus Paul did not have to hang his head in shame!

Into their first ever World Cup Final stormed the Spaniards - to win the title was their sole aim!

In the Final, there was a flurry of yellow cards flashed, as Spain and Holland played with no 'prem'!

If Robben did not rob the World Cup for Dutch from Spain, he had only himself to blame!

With four minutes to go for the penalty shootout Iniesta, drove the ball past Stekelenburg diving frame,

"One of the most deserving winners of the World Cup ever" - this title was Spain's acclaim!

In the 60th minute, the Spanish coach, sent in Jesus Navas - here was a substitute with a famous first name!

Within ten minutes, he almost combined with Villa to score and catapult Spain to World Cup winning fame!

Did you know that the Original Jesus was also a substitute who died on the Cross, to take your sin and shame?

When you give your life to Him, you will discover true joy which cannot be given by any diamond or dame!

WHY A MODEL WHO MAKES MILLIONS IS MISERABLE

-Duke Jeyaraj

Ex-Chelsea star Claude Makelele has said he was absolutely astonished by his cute, curly-haired girl friend/model Noemie Lenoir’s suicide attempt. The former Marks and Spencer model had been found lying unconscious in the woods outside the soccer star’s Paris home, following a cocktail of drugs and alcohol. The 37-year old footballer said he was “spending as much time as possible with Noemie as she recovers from her terrible ordeal.” Makelele has a five-year old son with Noemie. Miss Lenoir also fronts campaigns for l'Oréal, Gap, Next and Victoria's Secret. (Deccan Chronicle, 20 May 2010).

We often go, “If only…” “If only, I had a well-known lover, I would be very happy!” “If only, I look so beautiful that top corporate companies would hire me as a model for their products by paying me millions of dollars, then, I would have made my life!” But how wrong we are! Ask Noemie Lenoir and she would tell you the same, if she opened her soul and talked with you, frankly. Despite having a well-known lover for a mate and pocketing millions of dollars through Mark and Specers advertisement deals, she felt so empty, that she attempted suicide. Why?

Will tell you why. I will tell you why from the Bible – God’s Word in human words. It is because she had no relationship with the true God in her life. When we see the face of the true God, we would be satisfied, so writes a writer in the Bible (Psa 17:15). Yes, only God, the one who made us, can truly and ultimately satisfy us – that is the message here. And God came near us in the person of Jesus. Jesus was God in flesh and bone. He preached that he came to give us “life to the full” – a fully satisfying life (John 10:10). He is the only drink that would fully satisfy your soul’s thirst, he claimed (You see this truth in John 4 in the Bible where Jesus encountered a sexually immoral Samaritan Woman who was living in with her boyfriend like Noemie and told her this very thing). Jesus died on the Cross to take on himself the punishment that brings peace to our dissatisfied, sin-filled lives (Isa 53:5). He rose again so that he could become the ‘friend who would stick closer a brother’ who would plug out all the vacuum in your heart with his warmth and affection (Prov 18:24). He will come again as the Judge of all the earth, one day, the Bible records. Those who reject him, stubbornly and finally, would have to go to eternal hell and be tormented there forever, on that terrible day. Those who believe on him and live for him would go to live with him, forever! This is the message of the Bible, in a nutshell. You may be sailing in the same boat as Noemie. You may have everything – a loving boyfriend, loving kids, a large house, a lovely car and lots of bank balance. Yet, you may feel so miserable and awful that you are thinking about ending it all, like Noemie. Please don’t. Come away and taste Jesus’ love – a love shown supremely for you on the Cross. And you would be truly satisfied, inside out! And life would become truly meaningful and delightful!