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Posts Tagged ‘harpazo’

JD does an amazing job laying out the prophetic puzzle pieces we are seeing play out today and how it affects every one of us!  Well worth the 30 minute listen…

Remember, the darker it gets, the brighter and farther our little light shines!

Maranatha, Lord come quickly!

myblessedhope

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Click on the article title for a link to full original referenced article.

In Romans 10 Paul lays out how salvation is open to all, Jew and Gentile.  He writes:

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:4-5

What he is saying is now it is not about works or how closely to a “T” you follow the law.  But that it is through God’s gift of grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  It is really that simple, and yet a hard step for some of us.

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9

Christ is the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14), through faith in Him you will be saved.  It is the only “works” that God requires for eternal salvation.

It is The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  To learn more check out the following link.

Read Full Post »

Amazing article that I can relate to, we are not alone, and need to hold our heads up and stand firmly on our believes in Christ’s words!

Remember, the darker it gets, the brighter and farther our little light shines!

Maranatha, Lord come quickly!

myblessedhope

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Watch and Do Not Grow Weary

Pete Garcia

Ever feel as though you are all alone, in waiting for the Lord to return? Do you attend a church that would rather give a seminar on the Ebola virus, than the Lord’s return? Ever feel as though you want to watch and wait, but then life takes over and you get caught up dealing with the problems and cares of this life? Ever feel as though you simply don’t have enough hours in the day to devote to spending time with God? Ever feel as though you don’t think you make a difference?

Well friend, if you’ve ever felt that way, you are not alone. Since my reconversion in 2007, I can honestly say, I’ve felt all the above on numerous occasions, for extended periods. I know it’s not any fun, and I know that in those moments, it seems unproductive, but let me share a quote with you from Winston Churchill:

“Mountaintops inspire leaders, but valleys mature them.”

Arguably, what has cemented my passion for the Bible all these years has been prophecy…even when I was drifting away from God. It was in those times that I often thought that the low points of my spiritual walk were simply self-inflicted products of my own faulty understanding and interpretation. Or that in my flesh, my relapses into former habits somehow kept knocking me down to new lows and I would never grow as a believer.

But even in my lowest of lows, I could never not be expectant of the Lord’s return. I just pushed it out of my mind and tried not to think about it. There were times when I even tried to think like other Christian’s, who didn’t seem to have that same awareness. Somehow if I could just get on board with the ‘flavor of the week” Christian movement, I could somehow be more productive and have more friends.

Besides, wasn’t I tired of always being labeled the “gloom and doomer?” My friends and family would ask me, “Why do you always focus on the negatives?”                 Or that “We aren’t called to sit around and just look up into the sky all day, we need to be busy doing the Lord’s work.” I’m accused of being obsessed about the Lord’s return, and that I am a “one-trick pony” always going on about the same subject. All I can say is, “Guilty as charged.” I might be a “gloom and doomer” but that’s only because the world is racing toward an eternal abyss, and where it is heading is no joy in that message.

My spiritual walk has oftentimes felt like one gigantic valley. It’s always uphill both ways, and I feel at times, incredibly isolated.                 I’ve attended two prophecy conferences in my life…one in 1991, and the other in 2009.                 I simply don’t have the time, money, or resources to ever go to the big ones…in part due to my job, and also due to my personal commitments. So if you’re out there and you feel alone, please don’t. I mean, you are in the physical sense temporarily alone, although you have a network of believers most of which you haven’t met on this side of the Rapture, but will rejoice all the more on the other side of it.

Assessment

I believe that the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 not only speak to the individuals and congregations of John’s day, but also to the seven specific periods of time chronicling church history. There is one repeated phrase in each of the letters; look at what Jesus has to say to each church: “I know your works.”

Jesus is not unfamiliar with our struggles. Remember, it is He who is walking amongst the candle-stands, and it is He who holds the seven stars in His hands. He is intimately familiar with each of our struggles, and what we as a “corporate” body of believers go through in each day, and in each era. I also believe that the last four churches are in existence at the same time, and notice what He has to say to those faithful Philadelphian believers…

“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.                 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.                 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown” (Rev. 3:8-11, emphasis added).

Do the modern day, Pre-Millennial, Pre-Tribulation dispensationalists feel like they have a lot of strength these days?                 Hardly.                 Look at America’s Pastor for instance; clearly a man who cares little for the prophetic word, yet, he’s made tens of millions of dollars off of books he’s written.                 His influence in the evangelical world is impressive…yet even he has little influence over significantly important geo-political matters.

How much less am I who writes online once a week? I can’t hold a conference and have thousands of people attend. I can’t write a book that sells millions of copies. Well, I mean I could if God had wanted me too, but that is not what I’m speaking to. God has allowed the weak and beggarly things (me) to continue on for a purpose.

God has placed me in this time in this place, for a specific purpose, and has allowed my life to turn out as such, that I would bring my unique set of circumstances and understandings to the public forum…not for my glory, but for His. I struggle at times, and I told Jack that every topic I wanted to write about, has already been written about six ways from Sunday.

He told me that that didn’t matter. What matters is that I write it from my perspective, which has never been written before. And so off I went, and now three years have passed and I don’t regret a single word I’ve put into print. Honestly, I don’t know the reach of what I write, and all I hope, is that I’ve helped get the message out that this age is coming to an end, and that our Lord is returning soon!

But guess what else? He’s done the same for you. The prophets of old and the apostles and the early church fathers, and everyone since then, has LONGED to see the days in which we live.                 To see Israel back in her land. To see the world coming about just as the Bible said it would. We live in exciting times and in this moment when our anticipation and excitement should be peaking, Satan is ramping up the pressure to keep us subdued, suppressed, and deflated.

He does this through work, through bills, through negative responses from friends and family, through distractions, through an oppressive culture that all but begs you to give up the faith, and come back to “reality.” Not to say that Satan has possessed friends and family along the way, but Satan greatest power in this age, is as an influencer, and the world is currently under his sway. So although we preach the truth and watch and wait, and anticipate the Lord’s return, Satan has a way of raining on our parades. But that’s okay, because we know how our story ends.

1 Corinthians 15:51-57:

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’

‘O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?’

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

John states that we who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ in this age, are already overcomers. While we are privileged to live in such an age, it does not come without a price. Although we know how it all ends, there is still the problem we face as we have to live out our faith in a world that is all but collapsing spiritually, mentally, and culturally around us.

We are called to endure and to wait upon the Lord’s perfect timing. Just like those who lived in Christ’s day did not understand what had to transpire, looking back, they can see God’s perfect plan unfolding in such a way that even Satan himself, could neither foresee, nor forestall, what was to take place.

“However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:6-8).

So do as Christ instructed, hold up your heads and look for His soon return. For He will not delay one second longer than necessary, but will wait until that last person places their eternal destiny in His nail-scarred hands. Do not let the worries of this life get you down because eternity awaits, and the time we spent here will in comparison seem like a grain of sand on a road that stretches on forever.

“Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants” (Luke 12:37-38).

The Lord promises to those who wait for Him, that their reward will be great. Our reward will not just been in what comes after the Rapture, but also before the Rapture. We do not worry like the pagans about what tomorrow brings.

We do not worry about the current chaos that is quickly enveloping the world, because it is happening just like the Bible predicted. If anything, that should bolster our faith in God’s Word.                 We do not even worry about what comes after death…because we worship a risen Savior who conquered death, hell, and the grave.

So keep a watchful eye, and an expectant heart. And remember that this world is merely a dulled shadow of things much greater to come. Let our prayer be, that if the Lord tarries another 20 years, that we still be found faithful and expectant and ever mindful of our Lord’s warning…

“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly” (Luke 21:34).

 

Pete Garcia is an editor-at-large for The Omega Letter

 

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Click on the article title for a link to full original referenced article.

In Romans 10 Paul lays out how salvation is open to all, Jew and Gentile.  He writes:

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:4-5

What he is saying is now it is not about works or how closely to a “T” you follow the law.  But that it is through God’s gift of grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  It is really that simple, and yet a hard step for some of us.

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9

Christ is the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14), through faith in Him you will be saved.  It is the only “works” that God requires for eternal salvation.

It is The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  To learn more check out the following link.

Read Full Post »

An honest assessment of the times we find ourselves in…times that are exactly as Christ said they would be.

Remember, the darker it gets, the brighter and farther our little light shines!

Maranatha, Lord come quickly!

myblessedhope

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Peace of Mind in Perilous Times

Pete Garcia

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!                 —Isaiah 5:20

It used to be, that people didn’t need to lock their doors at night, or worry about someone stealing a bike from their front yard. You didn’t use to need to worry about your kids walking to the store by themselves, or just being out all day playing until dinner time.

You didn’t need to worry about whether your government was spying on you. You trusted the banks to do with your money, what they said they would. If bad guys did bad things, they were caught and went to jail (and for a long time). You had a national border that actually stopped, or at least, limited the amount of unknowns coming into your country. At one point in your life, you had faith in the system.

But what we’ve seen in the last 25 years in the United States, is a rapid and aggressive acceleration into a national decline in almost every sector.  We have effectively transitioned from a producer-nation, to a service based nation. We have rapidly transitioned from a creditor nation, to a debtor nation. We have justified to ourselves (vis-à-vis an ever rising debt ceiling), the current level of sky rocketing debt we currently find ourselves in. Time honored cultural and religious institutions are being turned on their head. Marriage is no longer just between a man and a woman. Children don’t necessarily need to come from only two parents. Science is quickly outpacing the ethical boundaries that prevent the abuse of those technologies.

Globally…  Ebola, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, and a half dozen other diseases are but hairbreadth away from becoming pandemic. Strange animal die-offs are occurring at alarming rates.  The radioactive fallout from Fukushima pollution of the Pacific has begun to change the face of life in the world’s largest ocean. ISIS, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Boko Haram, and many other Islamic terror groups are rampaging across the 10/40 window, leaving a trail of carnage in their wake. Crime and murder have all but seized our city centers, which in turn has driven the law abiding citizen, further and further out of it.

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good” (2 Timothy 3:1-3).

The norms and basic civil decencies are being turned on their head.   Ethnic tensions are on the rise globally, but none so alarmingly as they are right here in the US, where black inner-city mobs “knocking out” or beating up non-black persons, is seemingly becoming common place.  The media are reluctant or outright afraid to call things what they are, and ‘hate crime’ is seemingly only reserved for those “dangerous” Tea Party types.

Right is wrong, up is down, black is white, and evil is good…and it’s only getting worse.  Notice how the Apostle Paul’s words are ringing truer and truer by the day. Things are not getting better, but are getting progressively worse. And now that we find ourselves in these very times he spoke of, are we surprised that they are anything less than what the Bible said they would be?

Assessment

Not many years ago, it was really hard to find things to dig up to prove that we are in fact, in the last moments of the last days. Such is not the case in 2014, where so much is happening on so many fronts, that it makes your head hurt just thinking about it. It would be really easy to get discouraged with all that has transpired since 9/11/01, and conclude we must already be in the Tribulation in some form or fashion. Maybe that is why positions like Pre-Wrath and Post-Tribulation positions seem to be growing at more rapid rates within eschatological circles. It is natural to assume that when things take a turn for the worse, we must be in one or more of the judgments.

For instance…  The other day I was scanning the news when I came across an article talking about the pros and cons of the new RFID technology. It had a long laundry list of potential benefits that it could have constructive impacts to many of the aforementioned problems we are currently experiencing in this nation.  For instance, it could help prevent crime, track predators, protect property, and prevent identity theft.  But at the end of the article, it asks the question of whether or not it’s ethical, and whether it has the potential for abuse. I thought that was a rather silly question, considering all we know now about the abuses of government thus far, over privacy and what not. But I liken it to the pre and post mindset people had before and after 9/11.

Before 9/11, Americans would have never allowed the Patriot Acts to pass through the halls of Congress.  But afterwards, because of fear, it seemed like a very logical thing to do and it was pushed through at break-neck speed. Now that it is in force, its tentacles of intrusion have only ever grown in its scope and depth as it reaches into the lives of average Americans. All it took for the American people to hand over personal liberty, was the right threat. Each new potential threat is used to justify a continued and ever more pervasive reach into the lives of the public…and again, that too, is by design.

Fear drives our daily lives now.  Fear feeds into our belief systems, and into what we are willing to accept as normal.  Fear is ingratiating itself into our eschatology, which is why positions like Pre-Wrath and Post-Trib are on the rise in evangelical churches. Fear is an insatiable monster in and of itself, and it feeds on hope, and devours peace, crushes action, and delivers you into a cradle of bondage.

Conclusion

Being grounded in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture as THE Blessed Hope, is more than just lip service. It is more than just head knowledge. It’s more than just having the correct, chronological understand of end time’s events. It was designed by God, to give us, a light of hope, in an increasingly darkened world. Whether we want to accept it or not, we are that generation that will see the Lord return. We are the generation with Israel back in her land. We are the generation with Israel in control of Jerusalem. We are the generation that has the technological and economic means to control all buying and selling in the world. We are that generation that have all the signs converging at break neck speed. And yes, doom and gloom is big business…just turn on your local or national news. Fear sells, but we, are not called to live in a spirit of fear.

Peter said…

“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).

We are not only to have the proper understanding of Scripture, too include how things end (eschatology), but we are also supposed to apply that knowledge to our daily lives.  If you notice in the New Testament, almost every passage referencing the Lord’s coming at the Rapture, is preceded or surrounded by passages that promote holy living.  We are to live out our beliefs, by being grounded in the reality, that Christ will return, and that His return, will be before the world enters into that final seven years.  We are not called ‘overcomers’ for nothing…

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

It’s knowing, believing, and sharing that belief through our word and deed that will draw people to Christ, because we have this hope, in an increasingly hopeless world.  We belong to Christ, Christ is in us, and we make up the body of Christ…and Christ is God.  If Christ existed before all things, and by all things were created through Him, and Christ conquered death and hell at the Cross…what have we to fear?

What is in this life that poses a greater threat than that?  Nothing.  We are not called to have a spirit of fear.  The Pre-Tribulation Rapture (or catching up) is just hope realized and codified in Scripture for our benefit.  It was God’s plan, hidden before the foundation of the world, revealed through Paul and John to us, that we should live boldly and confidently, in a world that is passing away. (Eph. 3:1-7; 1 Thess. 4:13-5:9; 1 John 2:17).

A world passing away, is juxtaposed with the peace that passes understanding. Yes, these are dark times, and they are growing darker by the day.  But the worse it gets, the closer it is to Christ’s return.  We simply need to keep all that in perspective.  So beloved, don’t get sucked into false beliefs that promote fear, and rob you of hope.   Don’t be drawn to teachers that feed doom and gloom, and promote their own ministries or eschatological beliefs, over what Scripture actually teaches.  Don’t let their confusion over the Rapture, with the Second Coming, lead you down a path which has you prepping for Armageddon, when we are called to live boldly and confidently in this time so soon near our Lord’s coming.   (See Matt. 6:25-33).

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:16-17).

Pete Garcia is an editor-at-large for The Omega Letter.

 

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Click on the article title for a link to full original referenced article.

In Romans 10 Paul lays out how salvation is open to all, Jew and Gentile.  He writes:

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:4-5

What he is saying is now it is not about works or how closely to a “T” you follow the law.  But that it is through God’s gift of grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  It is really that simple, and yet a hard step for some of us.

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9

Christ is the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14), through faith in Him you will be saved.  It is the only “works” that God requires for eternal salvation.

It is The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  To learn more check out the following link.

Read Full Post »

Chuck Missler breaks down the Pre-Tribulation Rapture prophecy and where it is found throughout the Bible.  It is an amazing break down of all of the Jewish idioms that model/frame the Rapture as well as the Jewish Wedding Feast ritual that Christ Himself layed out for us as a model for our relationship with Christ as His bride.  He also goes through the multiple examples of when this has occurred in the Bible and also how it aligns with quantum theory.

Must See!

Remember, the darker it gets, the brighter and farther our little light shines!

Maranatha, Lord come quickly!

myblessedhope

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Click on the article title for a link to full original referenced article.

In Romans 10 Paul lays out how salvation is open to all, Jew and Gentile.  He writes:

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:4-5

What he is saying is now it is not about works or how closely to a “T” you follow the law.  But that it is through God’s gift of grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  It is really that simple, and yet a hard step for some of us.

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9

Christ is the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14), through faith in Him you will be saved.  It is the only “works” that God requires for eternal salvation.

It is The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  To learn more check out the following link.

Read Full Post »

JD – appears to be in a lot of pain this week, we should keep him in our prayers.  I think it was his back from what I have pieced together.  Even through the pain, he does an amazing job of laying out the answer to:

Why the rapture?

Where do we see this in God’s word? (In more places than you think)

Why do we not see the words rapture in the bible? (It Greek to me, literally!)

And finally why it is important to believe God’s word about the rapture?

What really gives us hope?  Our Blessed Hope and Blessed Assurance!

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Click on the article title for a link to full original referenced article.

If you’re not certain you’re saved, here is what you should do, right now:
  1. Acknowledge that you have sinned against a holy God and ask for forgiveness (even if you don’t feel you deserve it) (Rom. 3:23).  Genuinely feel the pain of your sin and be willing to turn from it (repent) (Acts 3:19).
  2. Believe in your heart and mind that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died on the cross for you (John 3:1-18) in your place, and was raised back to life.  There is no one else you can turn to (John 14:6): “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”
  3. Confess that you are trusting Jesus as your personal Savior.  Since Jesus is alive, you can talk to him.  This is called prayer.  So talk to him right now, in your own words, accept his invitation to know him.
It’s simple faith through grace, the kind of faith a little child would have.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)
Welcome brother or sister in Christ!  This is just the start of the journey, we are called to live in this world but not be of this world.  Begin studying God’s word (the Bible) daily to give you the strength and wisdom to live this calling out.  There are many sites like this that can help you as well.

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Paul first used these words in his letters.  It was his personal reference to the Greek work Harpazo which we translated into the English word Rapture.

Harpazo – from the Greek Lexicon

  1. to seize, carry off by force
  2. to seize on, claim for one’s self eagerly
  3. to snatch out or away

Paul, since the first time he mentioned “Harpazo” has always put forth the positive unfearful, longing for the Blessed Hope.

The definition of the Rapture and how we got there via translation is a topic for another article, though worthwhile as that seems to be an area of much concern and attacks from critics.  But today I would like to focus in of the phrase “My Blessed Hope”.  It was the name I felt led to call this site and it has great importance to me as God’s promise for me, and you.

Hope.

We seem to hear this word a lot these days.  I feel the use of the word has been cheapened somewhat by the over use on things of this world.

The “blessed hope” is not the kind of hope that says “I hope my uncle gets well.” or “I hope it doesn’t rain on my wedding day.”  This word for hope has much more certainty.  It is a Bible word that speaks of “a blessed confidence.”  It speaks of a future event that has long been guaranteed by God Himself.  This hope is future, but it is as certain as the one hundred Old Testament prophecies that speak of our Lord Jesus’ first coming.  Which is now historical fact. – (paraphrased from Perhaps Today)

That is the Rock, the confidence Paul is saying we should have in Christ’s promise to Harpazo His church, the Rapture.

It is a promise given to us not of this world but in the world.

It is the Hope we should live everyday for as we go about striving to accomplish God’s will.

It is my blessed hope and I truly hope it is yours as well.

God Bless!

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If you have not asked Christ into your life, the essential gospel is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and that He was raised on the third day (1 Cor. 15:3-4).  Believing this is the only qualification for salvation.  We are sinners in need of a savior.  Jesus died for our sins, and to prove that His death was sufficient for us,  God raised Him from the dead on the third day. Believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead is our assurance that He will raise us, too.
 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, (1 Cor. 15:3-4). 

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