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Psalm 35:5-10

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 14, 2019
Psalm 35:5,6 “May [those who seek my life] be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them away; may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.”
 
[May you, Lord, deal with those who oppose us because we are yours. May you powerfully work to make them unsuccessful and fruitless in their pursuit of your children’s death and destruction (as seen in the picture below). Send your angels to frustrate them and bring them to a realization of their error and to a vision of your righteousness, Lord Jesus, and come to know you.]
 
Psalm 35:7,8 “Since they hid their net for me without cause and without cause dug a pit for me, may ruin overtake them by surprise—may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.”
 
[Yes, may they be caught in their own traps, and see the error of their ways. I praise you for how you did this years ago to the Al Quaida cell in the Middle Eastern city where we lived. They had planned to kill pastors and bomb churches in the city, and had their lists and addresses ready, their weapons prepared—but were caught just before they could carry out their plans. Thank you for your protection, Lord.]
 
Psalm 35:9,10 “Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation. My whole being will exclaim, ‘Who is like you, O LORD?’”
 
[Yes, Lord, we praise and exalt you with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, for you have given help and protection—and will continue to do so. There is no one like you, Lord God, who knows all, sees all and is able to protect from all true harm.
 
Sometimes you do allow hurt—believers are persecuted, beaten, driven from their homes and killed–but even in that you have a greater purpose for their lives, and deaths, in the over-arching and magnificent scheme of your plans.
 
You are our Salvation, our Rock, our Fortress and our high Tower in whatever may come. You are the One we can trust.]
 
“You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.”
 
[And this you have done for us, the poor and needy, in rescuing us from the kingdom of darkness, bringing us out into the Kingdom of Light. And you rescue us every day from the schemes of sin, self and Satan, you protect us from those who oppose you.
 
You have also equipped us to join you in this rescue plan: “This is the victory that HAS OVERCOME the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:4b,5).
 
“Put on the whole armor of God that you MAY BE ABLE to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, SO THAT CHRIST’S POWER MAY REST ON ME” 2 Cor. 12:9).
 
Help us Lord, to join you daily in the great battle against self, sin and Satan, to cooperate with you in your plans to rescue us from evil and harm, to take up your provision of faith and armor, to obey you in what we know to be right.]
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What is Humility?

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 13, 2019
Humility is a word we mention a lot, but it seldom gets defined. One viable definition is this: “Agreeing with God.” In fact, this is what the Greek word translated “confess” means. And the word translated “virtue” in 2 Peter 1:5.
Pride is the opposite–thinking that we know what is right, defining good and evil ourselves. This is what Adam did in eating the forbidden fruit. In contrast, humility is abandoning that self-centered thinking to embrace God’s opinion about everything.
 
In fact, that is also what it means to fear God: caring very deeply what He thinks, standing in awe of His wisdom, knowledge and power so much that we obey Him whether we feel like it or not.
The single time Moses failed in his humility was when he reacted as he wanted: instead of speaking to the rock to get water, in anger he struck it, thereby stealing honor from God.
Most of us would like to be humble, but If we are honest, we only selectively agree with what God has to say. The rest of the time we elevate our intellect and emotions above His Word. For instance, how often have I gone ahead and said something negative even after the Spirit has warned me not to! I decide that giving a zinger to someone is more important than obeying God—and thereby steal honor from God.
I want to touch on a point of humility where every one of us misses the mark: what we think of ourselves. A finer focus of the definition of humility is this: “seeing ourselves as God sees us, both in our holiness and in our depravity.”
Those of us who are proud or self-sufficient or self-absorbed, tend to focus on what a good person we are, missing the truth that we have an old nature where we are worthy only of condemnation, rejection, punishment and death.
On the other hand, most of us are dissatisfied with ourselves: our abilities, performance, looks and position. We focus on our lacks, our failures and negatives. We are down on ourselves, disappointed in ourselves and talk frequently about what we “should do;” because, in our opinion we never do enough. We don’t pray enough, read the Word enough, witness enough.
But how does God look at us? He acknowledges the fact that by nature we are depraved, evil and worthy only of condemnation. But He then focuses fully on the fact that we are created in His image, chosen, forgiven, cleansed, adopted into His family, into His Kingdom, and into His plan.
He loves us richly, deeply, unconditionally and eternally. He delights in us, rejoices in us, sings over us and cherishes us.
 
If we are humble, we will agree with God about both of these, and will focus primarily on how He forgives us, accepts us and loves us—and do the same to ourselves! We can admit we are like the tree in this picture: like us, it started out crooked, but then turned about and grew upright into a fine tree, just as Jesus has brought us to repentance and made us into His fine children.
When we begin to understand how much we are loved, there will be an ongoing transformation in us. As we “know this love that surpasses knowledge—[we] may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19). And part of this fullness is viewing ourselves as He does. That is being humble!
So let us repent of our dissatisfaction with ourselves, repent of our focus on performance, possessions and looks, others’ opinions of us and instead, as a result of Christ’s sacrifice, forgive, accept and love ourselves as God loves us—and the resulting fullness will lead to a life of greater obedience (loving our neighbor as we love ourselves), as well as holiness, humility and honor for God.
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Psalm 35:1-4

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 13, 2019
 
As we face problems in life, attacks by Satan through people and circumstances, failures and disappointments, we can come to you, Lord Jesus, and ask for your help, knowing that you will assist and protect us from what is too much. As David said:
 
Psalm 35:1 “Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.”
 
[Whether those attacking us be ISIS, the neighbor next door, the IRS or the devil himself, they are all too strong for us to personally defeat; we desperately need your help, Lord.]
 
Psalm 35:2,3 “Take up shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid. Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me.”
 
[When David wrote this, he stood in physical danger; we more often are in spiritual danger, being attacked with temptations, problems and difficulties, which push us to act without faith. But more and more there will be actual attacks on those who follow you, Lord, as laws, government agencies and groups seek to still our voices and try to force us to conform to their worldview.]
 
Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’”
 
[I need this reminder daily, for it is easy to forget, in the jumble of events, that you only are my salvation, Lord Jesus. You are the mighty One, who delivered me from the kingdom of darkness, from the oppression of the devil, from the deceit and destruction of this world. And you fight for us now, for we are your beloved children: you protect us from true harm, you stand with us in our troubles, you carry us through our difficulties. Praise be to you.]
 
Psalm 35:4 “May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay.”
 
[On a human level there are those who seek the lives of Christians–Jihadists for sure, and others. In the picture below is a page from the Bible, stained with the blood of martyrs killed in a bombing of a church by Jihadist Muslims in the Middle East. May they be disgraced in their wrong thinking and evil intent. May they fail, be exposed, and be chastened that they may see the error of their ways and come to surrender to the Lord Jesus.]
 
Praise be to you, the God of Power, the Lord of glory, the King of victory for keeping us safe, for preventing in the long run Satan’s triumph and evil people’s victories. Instead, in the midst of suffering and difficulty, we are safe in you, Lord: empowered, protected, helped through and sheltered from too much. We praise you for your love demonstrated, your power displayed and your goodness proven. To you be glory and honor today. Amen.
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The Wonder of Being His Child

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 11, 2019
 
Praise be to you, Lord, O Wise and Wonderful God, my heavenly Father, my resurrected Brother, my indwelling Spirit. You have given me a new day, fresh from your hand, ready to be used for good. I praise you for the wonderful privilege of waking up to find you there, waiting for me, ready to carry me through all that you have planned.
 
I praise you, Lord, for your love, your wisdom, your power and your goodness, for including me in your plans, for giving each of your children an important part in all you are doing.
It is you who have made me yours–against all logic, all reason, all expectation, you called me out to be your son, you desired to have me in your family and you have reserved for me a place of honor and responsibility in your Kingdom. Why? Not for any reason found in me, but because you are the Lord of love, the God of grace, the Father of forgiveness.
 
You are also the God of Justice and Righteousness, meaning you must judge and punish sin—which is wonderful because if you weren’t and didn’t, there would be no hope for a solution to evil. Along with being the just Judge, in your mercy you have provided the way for all human beings to avoid judgment by taking that punishment on yourself.
 
Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, for your willingness to enter the land of darkness and death, to shine your light of love on those who hate you. Thank you that you were willing to be abused, beaten, crucified and defeated in the eyes of men. You did this so that every person may have the possibility of being forgiven, of being snatched from the jaws of eternal death and translated into a child of light and love and laughter.
 
The wonder of it grows as you give me a greater grasp of where I was: under your wrath, in the kingdom of darkness, on the path to destruction, with the host of the condemned, filled with evil and controlled by rebellion. There was no reason for you to choose me, save me, adopt me, love me.
 
But you yourself are the reason you have done the marvelous, brought about the magnificent conclusion and provided a majestic salvation for all your human enemies. You are more than amazing; we must stand in awe of your strong love, your infinite grace, your deep patience, your rich goodness.
 
You are the One who should fill our vision, absorb our attention and attract our thoughts. Forgive us for being distracted by the tinsel of this world, the worthless fascinations of our hearts and the destructive temptations of our environment.
 
These all fade into the background when we turn our attention to your beautiful character, your infinite power, your unending love, your eternal goodness, your limitless grace. As we see these more and more, to you we bow, to you we give homage, honor and praise. Then before you we can rise up to live in the light of your presence, looking only to you, Lord Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
 
Fill us so full of your Spirit that He overflows into the lives of all we meet today. Help us to daily run the race you have set before us with the endurance and patience you offer, that we may each be a light bearer to all around us, opening the way for them to believe, to follow, to trust you, to know you in all your beauty and goodness, that there may be more worshipers in eternity.
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The Blessing of being Disconnected

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 9, 2019
While living in Germany in 2011, most of my ministry was done over the internet. At one point we lost our subscription and had to wait weeks to be reconnected. So I tried another route, using an “internet stick” that connected through cell phone signals, and with great expectation went through the process of buying and setting it up, only to have it be so slow as to be useless. The following is what I wrote as I processed this disappointment by lifting my soul to God–letting go, holding on and rising above.
Thank you, Lord, for the disappointment with the internet stick yesterday–after spending 1.5 hours in the Vodafone shop, to come home and have it be so slow was a shock. Thank you for this new adventure you have laid before me.
 
Here is a case of setting my heart on something, on a solution, and then having it fail. Thank you for this, Lord, another chance to praise you by faith, to look away from my solutions to yours, to rest in you in the midst of difficulties–actually just a minor, simple inconveniences, really.
One factor is that I fear missing out on something like an important, time-sensitive email because of having no regular connection to the internet, having to go to a friend’s house to connect. But that is fear, not faith. I can trust you to get me on when it is needed, Lord, to give me wisdom and direction, protection and help.
Thank you for another chance to give you glory and honor through trust rather than lapse into complaining and self-pity. And I do choose to praise, to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving for what I don’t like, so that you may have more glory and honor, Lord.
Thank you again, Lord, for the opportunity to deny self, to reject the input of my feelings, to get up the shield of faith and quench those fiery darts of self-pity, discouragement, negative thinking and complaining.
You, Lord God, are the King of glory whom we can trust to bring about what is good and best and wise. So, I praise you for your gracious kindness which you have stored up for us. As it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
I praise you, Lord Jesus, my Great Shepherd, that you have purposes for this disappointment. At the very least it is taking my eyes off of the small, temporary and unimportant aspects of life and shifting them to the eternal and powerful truths you want me to live in.
I thank you that you are directing me away from continually looking at things on line rather than spending my time on better things. Thank you for this discipline which will lead to greater freedom. To know you is all I need; forgive me for trying to draw my happiness, my security, my sense of control from such temporary, unimportant things in life.
 
My purpose is to live for you, to be obedient to your Word and Spirit, to dwell in your Word rather than in my feelings and to praise you for your grace and goodness, Lord.
Today may I live for you with all my heart, being filled with your Spirit and doing what is right and honoring to you. Help me to praise you in all things, to look away from the darkness to the light, to reject complaining and negativeness and instead to rejoice in the great privilege of knowing you, Lord. Amen.
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Proverbs 16:9

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 9, 2019
 
 
When we wake up in the morning and find ourselves with God, we are not only in His hand, we are also in the stream of events that He is orchestrating around us and in us. Each happening is designed to carry us forward in the tasks and purpose He has for us. We are moved on whether we know it or not: “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps” (Pro. 16:9).
 
Every day we are given opportunities to replay the Garden of Eden story: choosing to do our own selfish thing or joining God in His great plan. For instance, we can complain and gripe, or cooperate through praise and thanksgiving; we can do our own petty things, indulging ourselves or, standing in awe of Him, surrender to His higher and greater purposes in obedience and self-denial.
 
To live in these truths allows us to see more and more of the wonders God has poured into our lives: meaning, purpose, protection, challenge, adventure, security, significance, honor, goodness and guidance, to name a few.
 
Each day is a new opportunity to join our Heavenly Shepherd as He leads us forth into the pasture of the day, to know that we are moving forward and upward in the perfect plan that He has prepared, filled with purpose and potential for providing Him glory, for defeating the enemy with praise, for seeing others swept into the Kingdom.
 
The negative feelings which will arise from our flesh–feelings of uselessness and purposelessness, of alienation and fear, of self-condemnation and shame–are an affront to this reality. In Him, in the proven Truth of His Word, we can turn from and reject these feelings and instead live in the light of His acceptance and presence, His purpose, His plan that is for our good and His glory.
 
Praise be to you, Lord God, for your mighty, unswerving, unstoppable, wise and good plans, into which you have brought us. Praise you that we are in the great stream of your history, where you are moving things to a conclusion and carrying us with you.
 
Praise you that our trust can be in you, rather than our own feeble wisdom and inadequate strength, or in the government or the weather or money or power. In faith we praise you now for what you are going to do in your wisdom and love today, this week, and in the rest of our lives.
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1993

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 7, 2019
Jul, Woohan and I had begun bringing our three house groups together for worship once a quarter. The locals liked this so much that they suggested doing it each month. And then it became an every week event, melding the three groups into a single congregation.
 
Following this development, God spoke separately to the three of us leaders about using small groups to further develop the church. So, uniting our efforts, we did some reading together, and then began to talk about small groups with those who were potential leaders.
 
We divided the fellowship up into geographical groups; each one had young and old, newer and older believers, so each so was a cross section of life.
 
For each group we selected a “shepherd” and an “assistant” from among the potential local leaders. We also assigned two workers to each group. When we explained all this to the prospective local leaders, they objected that they were not ready for such responsibility. So, we held a sample small group meeting with just them.
There was an icebreaker–not a game like in our western society, but some kind of sharing–then a singing/worship time, followed by an inductive Bible study, and last, a prayer time. Then we had tea together.
 
When we were done, several said, “Oh, we can do this! But we want to have a foreigner with us, too.” We assured them that this would be so, and that we would prepare the inductive study for them. They just had to lead it.
 
After nine months of these small group meetings, I went with a number of them to a one-week family camp for believers. Each night a different city’s fellowship was responsible for the evening service. In every one, the foreigner preached the sermon.
 
We were scheduled for Thursday night. The local brothers came to me and asked, “What are you going to speak on?”
“I’m not going to speak,” I replied, “You are!”
“On, we can’t do that! We’re not ready for such leadership!”
“Of course you are,” I countered. “You can each give a short testimony. Or some of you can do a little summary of one of the inductive Bible studies we’ve done. With the Lord’s help you are well capable of doing the whole service!”
 
They reluctantly agreed to try it–and did a great job. It was a real confidence builder that took them to the next level of leadership.
 
To train and then empower people moves them along in maturity—but we have to be willing to step back and let go, to give up the fulfilling roles that we have enjoyed so they have room to grow.
One final aspect of finishing the church planting process and “letting it go,” was having some kind of a constitution. We got a rather extensive one to use as an example and went through it step by step with the leaders. We pointed out different difficulties that can arise and how to anticipate them by inserting provisions in the constitution.
 
In the end they voted to accept just one small section, consisting of the most basic aspects, and it served them well for the next couple of years.
 
There was one last important element essential for full local leadership: at least one stronger, visionary leader. Those we had in leadership positions were good men, but none were strong leaders. They were all on equal footing; no one stood out as having the necessary qualities.
 
The Lord knew this and He brought along the exact person we needed. One Sunday Ivan showed up with a new fellow in tow. This newcomer, Alex, hung in the background, but my wife struck up a conversation with him.
 
It turned out that he had been a lone believer for several years in anotheer city, coming out of a Communist background. After moving to the capital, he had met Ivan and was glad to find a fellowship to attend.
 
Alex was an educated fellow from a higher-class family and was supporting himself by translating films from English into the local language. He was not one of those who came to Christ at minus twenty-two, but had come at about zero level, and was now at a plus ten.
 
He was an eager learner and became a regular attender, soon joining in with the leadership group. He led his fiancé to the Lord, and I performed the marriage ceremony for their church wedding. When we left that church plant in 1993, Alex was among the six shepherds appointed to the leadership core.
 
Picture: the fellowship in 1993 with some of the local leaders. Abraham is on the far left, Alex in the middle back
 
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Surety

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 7, 2019
 
One of the wonderful aspects of the truth we looked at yesterday–that God has a plan for good which he laid out for history and for us–is that God is absolutely faithful: He plans, and then unwaveringly, inexorably and powerfully keeps all on course.
This is obvious in the dozens of prophecies given in the Old Testament which are exactly fulfilled in the New Testament, many of them thousands of years after being given. God promises and He brings it to pass, period.
The rebellion and evil of Satan, of men, or of me cannot derail His purposes, His over-arching plan. He has the infinite ability to weave our evil actions into the overall outcome of the good that He desires. As Joseph said to his brothers near the end of his life: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Gen 50:20)
This is also seen in Daniel’s life, where every attack on him resulted in more glory for God and more influence for Daniel. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand” (Pro. 19:21).
This was especially encouraging to me as, over the several years, I helplessly watched Barbara spiral down into depression and weakness. God has a plan here and I can trust Him in it, join Him in it, knowing that in the larger picture, He will use it for our good.
God’s faithfulness assures us that He will bring the right outcomes at the right time. His plans are so certain that they can be expressed as finished before they come to pass, calling Jesus, “…the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” Rev 13:8b. The certainty that Jesus would die for us was so solid, so set in stone that God was able to express it as being done before history even began.
You, the living God, the Triune Lord, are all we need, for you are the faithful Creator and the trustable Ruler of all. To you be glory today as I join you in your plans, listening to your Spirit, living in your power according to your Word, being a person of praise. May you be exalted in my life today. Amen.
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Future?

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 6, 2019
 
Lord, I praise you that I did not wake up alone this morning, for you were there, waiting for me, ready with the elements of this day, all carefully arranged, wisely laid out, lovingly prepared. Truly, “My times are in your hands…” (Ps. 31:15).
As human beings, we live in the river of history where events propel us through the day, the week, the year and beyond. The vast majority of these events are outside of our control, swirling in and out of our lives without our desire, beyond our power: wars, floods, famines, storms, political changes, economic shifts, accidents, illnesses and deaths.
These come and go in seemingly meaningless, random patterns, empowering some, snuffing out the lives of others, bringing and taking prosperity, uniting and separating families and strangers.
Even on a personal level I have only a certain amount of decision-making control, mostly in how to spend the time, money and energy given me. In the limited scope of my life, this seems to be quite a bit of power, but outside events can easily disrupt this control: an accident, sickness, loss of income, a fire, a storm, a fight ending a relationship Any one of these can come to me easily without my wanting or being able to prevent it.
To think of how powerless I am is disturbing: human beings do not like weakness, randomness and insecurity. However, when we become a child of God, born again into His family, there is a great shift in this scene. While the situation remains the same, there is one significant truth added that alters everything drastically: all those events and things that are out of my control are fully and securely in the hands of our loving and powerful Heavenly Father.
He who breathed the stars into existence, who hung the earth on nothing, who set it in exactly the right orbit around the sun, who spun it at the needed speed on a perfectly tilted axis, who formed the mountains and valleys, who spoke the animals into life–He is the One who holds our lives, our future in His hands.
He is not only in control, He has a specific, detailed plan, one that will not fail: “…the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” And no one can frustrate Him in it: “The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples” (Psalm 33:11,10). No matter how hard we may try, we cannot circumvent what God has prepared: “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD” (Pro. 21:30).
And what our Father has prepared for us is good: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'” (Jer. 29:11). He may lead us through many difficulties, as the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, but these are for our good, our maturity, our equipping, our bringing more glory to God.
So, Lord God, I willingly submit myself to your plan for today, whatever it may be, painful or pleasant, difficult or delightful, and commit myself to honoring you by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving for whatever will come.
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Worship Journal Entry

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 5, 2019
 
An entry from my worship journal written in 2015
This morning I slept until 7:45! Not to my liking. I’d rather get up much earlier, as I usually do, but I praise you anyway, Lord, for this. You know what is best, and I thank you for what you have allowed.
You are the God of glory, the Lord of Love, the King of kindness, the Ruler of righteousness and the Shepherd of strength. To you we belong, as well as our time, energy, abilities, possessions and relationships.
 
To you also belong trust, surrender, dependence, obedience and love. To you belong worship, praise, honor, fear, awe and glory. And to you belong wisdom, power, grace, goodness and holiness. All of these you share with us whole-heartedly, abundantly, richly, graciously.
Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, for your sweet shepherding of us through the valley of the shadow of death, through the disappointments, hurts and difficulties of life, through loss, failure, pain and suffering, through conviction, repentance, forgiveness and restoration. You are wise and good in knowing what we need.
I thank you for the “limbo” we are in now with Barbara’s illness and the disorientation she is suffering. I praise you, Father, that you have things planned out: how long we must wait, the help you will give and the circumstances we will go through.
I praise you, our Sovereign God, who allows us the privilege of choice in our sphere of responsibility, and that you then weave together our choices, both good and bad, and those of others around us, to bring about the great conclusions you desire.
Praise be to you for the guidance you will give today, the protection you will provide and the strength you will grant. Help me to make decisions in partnership with you, bringing about what you desire for today.
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