November 26, 2024

Sacrifices and Joy

June 3, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love
and His wonderful deeds for mankind.
Let them sacrifice thank offerings
and tell of His works with songs of joy.
Psalms 107:21-22

When one reads the Bible and thinks of sacrifice, they probably think about animal sacrifices to God.  However, most cultures do not do animal sacrifices anymore.  It is, in today’s modern world, an outdated practice in most cultures. Yet there are other ways to make sacrifices for God’s glory.

As parents, we sacrifice our time to raise Godly children.  We sacrifice our time to ensure that our children know who God is when we could be doing something else.  We sacrifice our own wants and wants of the flesh to bring glory to God through serving at church or in other capacities, working in various ministries, etc.  These are  just some ways we do “sacrifice thank offerings”—by giving up our own time to serve Him in some capacity.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Romans 15:13

When we accept Christ or witness others accept Christ, we are filled with joy.  We are joyful that one of the lost has found their way back into God’s arms again.  We take that same joy and tell of God’s great works and miracles through song and praise.  We tell of His wondrous life and works with joy to anybody who is yearning to hear His story of peace and redemption.  We become filled with the hope that the Holy Spirit brings us.  We spread this hope and joy and peace through sacrificing our time and selfish human desires to serve and worship God.

“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead
and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
Luke 15:31-32

As in this parable about the prodigal son, the father had made great sacrifices to provide for his family.  He gave the one son his inheritance who then squandered it.  But, when that son returned home, the father was overjoyed.  In this parable, we can see God as making sacrifices for us, those who choose to ignore Him and refuse to follow Him.  However, when we come back to Him and accept Christ, He is overjoyed.  We are alive again, and we can tell of the great joy and miracles that God brings us through voice and song.

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Dear Heavenly Father, we are overjoyed that You love us.  We sing with joy of the wonderful blessings You give us and of the miracles You perform.  May we be strong witnesses of Your love and grace.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Breaking Free

May 29, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love
and His wonderful deeds for men, for He breaks down gates of bronze
and cuts through bars of iron.
Psalms 107:15-16

Have you ever been by an iron mill when they are melting iron? If you have ever seen the movie “Rudy” then you at least have an idea about what goes on in the mill.  They are melting the iron down so that it can be used in the production of goods.  Have you ever been to one of those old- timey craft fairs where the blacksmith is working with some type of iron (or other metal)?  He beats the metal into something like a horseshoe or sword—just something that can be used for the good of mankind.

Now imagine an old junk yard.  This junk yard is full of old cars and trucks and just about anything else made of metal that you can think of.  Everything is starting to rust and break down.  There are people out there who go to these junkyards and get parts to keep cars and machinery running.  They use old parts from this rusting junk pile to make something, not exactly new, but to keep it running.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17

God does the same with us when we accept Jesus as our Savior.  He breaks us out of the iron restraints of sin and washes us clean.  He breaks us out of the iron hold of the world and Satan, and He purifies us.  God breaks down our old spirit and molds us into a new spirit that is worthy of His glory.  The old is thrown away, and God begins to mold us into how He wants us to be—pretty much like an ironworker working to make iron usable.

We are a new creation.  We are no longer rusting or going bad.  God has broken us out from an iron-clad prison that was holding us back from glorifying Him.  We are no longer prisoners of sin.  Because God loves us unfailingly, He does not leave us to rot in our sin.  He stays with us—pushing and pulling us out through the broken prison bars.  He never leaves us, and He works with us to accomplish the goals He sets before us.

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Dear Heavenly Father:  Thank You for Your wonderful and unfailing love.  Thank You for breaking us out from the chains of sin.  You have made us new and set goals in front of us that will make us more like You.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Thankful

May 26, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

‘Cause we’re all stillborn and dead in our transgressions
Now we’re shackled up to the sin we hold so dear
So what part can I play in the work of redemption
‘Cause I can’t refuse, I cannot add a thing
‘Cause I am just like Lazarus and I can hear Your voice
I stand and rub my eyes and walk to You because I have no choice

So I am thankful that I’m incapable
But I’m doin’ any good on my own
I say that I’m so thankful that I’m incapable
Of doin’ any good on my own

It’s by grace I have been saved
Through faith that’s not my own
It is the gift of God and not by works
Lest anyone should boast

So I am thankful that I’m incapable
And I’m doin’ any good on my own, yeah
I say that I’m so thankful that I’m incapable
And I’m doin’ any good on my own

Listen while you read! 

Written by Derek Webb, Alex Band, Aaron Kamm Kamin

Performed by Caedmon’s Call

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For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9

Anytime I see or hear the above verse, I think of an old saying that my dad used to say to me as a child… “The road to heaven is not paved with good works.” Only as I grew up and grew, hopefully, wiser did I start to understand what he meant. As a teenager I learned that to be “saved” you had to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and confess with your mouth that you believed He died on the Cross for you. Yet, as anyone goes through life and accepts Christ, they learn that it is more than that—it is having a personal relationship with Him.

Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.”  Then Jesus shouted,“Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
John 11:40-44

Just like Lazarus we are dead—not physically but spiritually—until we believe and confess that Jesus died on the Cross to defeat the sentence of death for our sin. Our spirits are asleep as long as we refuse to “wake up” and see the true teachings and miracles of Jesus. We are in a spiritual grave until Jesus calls to our hearts, and we answer. We come stumbling out of the tomb just as Lazarus did when Jesus gave him life.

Just like Lazarus, we are products of God’s glory and work. We are created to worship God and bring Him glory in all that we do. We are incapable of doing His work without having Him in our hearts and at our sides. When we acknowledge that God is with us and that He died for us, we grow stronger, and unbelievers can see the work of God in us. Jesus unwraps us from the tangled web of sin and sets us free. We become capable when we have Jesus with us.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for untangling me from the web of sin. Thank You for making me capable of showing the glory of God in my everyday life.  Thank You for making me capable.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

An Unfailing Answer

May 18, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love
and His wonderful deeds for mankind,
for He satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.
Psalms 107:8-9

Two weeks ago, almost three, the area we live in was ravaged by storms. An EF-0 and an EF-3 tornado touched down not far from our home. My husband and I believe that the EF-0 was a spin-up in one community, picked up, came over our neighborhood, and touched back down in a community not far from us as an EF-3. That is our speculation, and it may not be true. It is just a speculation.

However, based on that speculation, we thanked God (when we realized that this was a possibility) that the tornado did not touch down in, or near, our home. We drove over to the community that was hit where an entire neighborhood was destroyed. Other homes were damaged. Trees were either split, uprooted, or just gone. It’s a mess that is going to take a while to clean up.

We ended up in the hallway at a little past 3 am that morning. My son and husband fell back asleep on the mattresses we had pulled into the hallway. My daughter and I played with my phone since she wouldn’t go back to sleep. She is going to be too much like me—if there is something going on, she is not going to sleep. Between selfies (yes, this three year old knows that my phone takes pictures) and games, she was up and away. The family Bible was not far from me either. I was ready (or so I prayed) for anything. I prayed that God would not leave us during the storm, and that He would bring us through those two hours in the hallway unscathed. God answered my prayers.

The Lord does, indeed, love us. He shows us that love in many different ways. His never fails to show us His love, even when we don’t ask for it. He does wonderful things and deeds for us, His children, and we should be thankful for every blessing and miracle that God performs us. God did not have to do this for, but He does because He eternally loves us. He satisfies our needs with the good things that He knows that we need to have a fulfilling and wonderful life. Because of this love, God will never fail us or leave us—no matter how bad (or good) things get for us.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your unfailing love and blessings. Without You, we would be unsatisfied and always seeking that which does not satisfy our spirit. Thank You for being there for us and loving us no matter what we do or what situation we may find ourselves in. In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Teaching the Young to Seek God

May 16, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

But let all who take refuge in You be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread Your protection over them,
that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.
Surely, Lord, You bless the righteous;
You surround them with Your favor as with a shield.
Psalms 5:11-12

My children are five and three years old respectively.  They are the light of my world.  I wear a necklace which has a birth charm for each of them (you know, the little boy and little girl charms that have their birth stones.)  When my husband got me that one, I hardly ever took it off.  However, I did eventually get bored and changed the necklace out.  This past Christmas my husband got me a silver cross that I have not taken off since December 25 (except for when I had my wisdom teeth pulled).

This cross necklace has come in handy over the last few months.  When our son was around the same age our daughter is now, we started teaching him about what the Cross stood for, and now we have started teaching our daughter the same.  They both know that it stands for Jesus and His death.  Now we are starting to work on the “why” with both—more so with the oldest.  If they can start learning their letters and how to read before the age of five, they can start learning about Jesus.

By helping them learn now, we hope and pray that they each will accept their own shield of faith before they can really be influenced by peer pressure and the outside world.  While they are this young, we still have some control over what parts of the outside world they see.  Hopefully by teaching them young, they will come to know how to seek out God’s protection before they hit their teen years.  They will need discernment to know right from wrong.  They will be able to spread the joy of God to those around them and be a good influence wherever they go.

I already pray daily that God protects them with His shield.  They are little and young.  They do not fully understand how the outside world works.  Hopefully we can equip them to be able to rejoice in the Lord and seek His protection when they are older and begin to spread their own wings.  May they be able to sing for joy to God when they do.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the blessings and protection You give our family. We seek to do right in Your eyes and to sing for joy in Your presence. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Blessed Are The Believers

May 9, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.   Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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Sticks and stones may break my bones,
But words will never hurt me.
Yet, words hurt me when I am alone,
With no one to help me be
Happy and to be me.

People are going to talk
Behind my back
As I quietly walk
Down the road and back.

Evil will be spoke against me,
And I will try to block it out
As I try to be
My best without any doubt.

There will be those who hate
The belief that I hold dear
But I know my fate
Just as I know theirs.

They will answer one day
For all that they do
And everything they hurtfully say
Yet they have no clue.

Yet I know what that one day
Will bring to me and believers all
Who believe what One has to say
For we answered His call.

Our reward brings joy
To our hearts because it is great
To know that glory
Is now our fate.

Those who went before
Were treated the same
But they knew the score
Was with the one without blame.

We should all smile
And hold our heads high,
As we walk our hard mile
For our reward is nigh.

He will come soon
And end all the hate.
It may be high noon,
But unbelievers will meet their fate.

Believers will have eternal life,
With joyous smiles and eternal glory.
Nonbelievers will have eternal strife,
Within the confines of eternal fury.

The Cross bore the brunt of the hate, but Jesus still won.  He beat the persecution and the evil so that we could live in eternity.  The prophets knew this was coming, and we know that it happened.  We know the joy and the rewards that await in Heaven, and that should get us through these days of hate and pain.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for defeating evil.  Thank You for the opportunity to walk with You and be in a relationship with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Everything

May 2, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Find me here
And speak to me
I want to feel You
I need to hear You
You are the Light
That’s leading me
To the place
Where I find peace again

You are the Strength
That keeps me walking
You are the Hope
That keeps me trusting
You are the Light
To my soul
You are my Purpose
You’re everything

And how can I stand here with You,
And not be moved by You
Would You tell me
How could it be
Any better than this

You calm the storms
And You give me rest
You hold me in Your hands
You won’t lemme fold

You steal my heart
And You take my breath away
Would You take me in
Take me deeper now

You’re all I want,
You’re all I need,
You’re everything, everything

~  Sing this song with me as our prayer and worship today.  ~

Singer/Songwriter: Jason Wade / Performed by Lifehouse

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This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need
but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue
but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:16-18

Jesus is everything to those who believe in Him.  When we are lost, we are wanting to feel something.  We are wanting to see and hear something that makes us feel whole.  We need to see the light.  We need purpose, and Jesus brings that to us when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior.

When we accept Jesus, we find peace and love.  We find Someone that will listen to us and love us when we hit rock bottom.  Jesus leads us from the dark to the light.  We can speak to Him about any thing and every thing.  He brings us the strength that we need to get through everyday life and gives us the joy of knowing that we will one day be in eternity with Him.

As you watch this video, you can see that some of the most troublesome pressures about life can be dealt with by just letting Jesus be your everything. Drugs, depression, peer pressure, etc. can be handled by God if we just let Him have everything that is on our plate and allow Him to guide all of our life.

Jesus is all that Christians should want.  We should not want to be part of this world but part of the world that Jesus and God are building for us in Heaven. They are everything that we need because they provide us with what we need on a daily basis.  They do not forsake us. The miracle of Jesus moves those who believe to enter into a relationship with Him.  Believers give up their worldly lives and material possessions to worship Jesus.  We as believers should remember the acronym from a while ago (for some reason, you hardly see it anymore) — “WWJD” standing for “What Would Jesus Do”?  If Jesus is our everything, we should live our lives like Jesus would want us to on a daily basis.  We should always ask ourselves, “WWJD?”

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Dear Heavenly Father, You are our everything!  You provide for us and take care of us even when we think that we don’t need it.  You bring us peace, light, love, and purpose.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Blessed Are the Followers

May 1, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:10

Our world is in chaos. Our world is slowly self-destructing. This has all been predicted by God. We have a Shoulder to lie our heads on when the world pulls on us to the point where we ourselves are about to self-destruct. We already know Who wins. That is glorious news to come!

However, until that day comes, we must wait here on earth for Jesus to return for us. Until then, we are supposed to spread the good news of His birth, life, death, and resurrection. However, as we proceed to do this, we will always meet those who scoff at the story of Jesus and do not believe in the miracle that He performed on the Cross.

  • Prayer is no longer in our schools.
  • Students and teachers must be careful of what they say and do in school.
  • The National Day of Prayer is under attack.
  • Our missionaries are being imprisoned in foreign countries where Christ is not welcome.
  • The freedom of worship is being attacked and prohibited in our military.

BUT

  • God is with those who are with Him.
  • He leaves those who forsake Him and do not follow His laws.

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
1 John 3:13

We should not be amazed that the world hates Christians nor should we dwell on this fact either. As Christians, we should forge ahead carrying our shields of faith into battle. The world does not like what it does not understand. For those who have no real exposure to Christ, they do not understand who He is or what He has done. Therefore, they choose to hate instead of getting to know the Truth. It is our mission as Christians to live as Christ did and show those who do not understand the truth behind God’s love.

The world will try everything it can do to bring us down. It will hurl insults and injure those who do not conform to its will. Yet, the ones who live by God’s grace and follow His will live a blessed and eternal life with God when time ends. They will also inherit the Kingdom of Heaven and receive their reward for enduring the wrath of the world. They will worship God throughout eternity in the heavenly place that is being prepared for them.

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Dear Heavenly Father, we pray that You will stand with us as we walk through this life and spread Your wonderful message. We know that there are those out there who do not understand the story, and they are the ones who try to bring us down. We pray that You show them the Truth and help them to understand. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Peace of Jesus

April 21, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9

Ever been in the middle of an argument?  Ever been in the middle of chaos?  When you have kids, it seems like you are there every day.  Our children are now five and three, and the arguments, though low in frequency, have started.  As a mother, I sometimes feel like I am at my wits’ end.   Yet, they are a blessing from God that I would never give back.  As their mother, it is my job to be the peacemaker when they fight or do something to each other.  For my role in that, I get the blessing of being their mother, and they get the joy (and thrill) of being my children.

Peacemaking is just not about settling the petty arguments of our children.  It is about bringing peace to world.  It is about bringing the peace that Jesus brings to the world.  For those of us who bring that peace or know the peace of Jesus, we are the children of God.   Jesus lives in us, and He is with us at our most troubled and stressed times.  He comforts us and brings us the peace that we ourselves cannot give to ourselves.

As the children of God, we know peace, love, joy, healing, hope, and we receive the blessings of God every waking moment.   God loves us and, through this love, He brings peace to our hearts.  It is up to use to feel the peace that God brings. If we do not feel the peace, then how can we survive this world.  This world has gotten chaotic, and it is getting harder to live in.  Let God bring you the peace that He wants you to have at this moment.  Then share this peace with the world by living as God has intended us to live in this world.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the peace that You bring to us as Your children.  That peace brings us through each day in this troubled world.  For it is in Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Lead Me To Calvary

April 18, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

King of my life, I crown Thou now
Thine shall the glory be
Lest I forget Thy thorn crowned brow
Lead me to Calvary

Lest I forget Gethsemane
Lest I forget Thine agony
Lest I forget Thy love for me
Lead me to Calvary

Show me the tomb where Thou was laid
Tenderly mourned and wept
Angels in robes of light arrayed
Guarded Thee whilst Thou slept

Let me like Mary, through the gloom
Come with a gift to Thee
Show to me now the empty tomb
Lead me to Calvary

May I be willing, Lord, to bear
Daily my cross for Thee
Even Thy cup of grief to share
Thou hast borne all for me

Fill me with Thy desire
For all who know not Thee
Then touch my lips with holy fire
to speak of Calvary

~  Sing this song with me as our prayer and worship today.  ~

Jennie E. Hussey/WJ Kirkpatrick/ Performed by Andrew&Saskia Smith

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And as they led Him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian,
coming out of the country, and on him they laid the Cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.
Luke 23:26

As we near this time in the year that we celebrate Easter, it is easy to focus on other things as we get nearer to the Easter weekend. Many of us are busy with family traditions and other things, and it is so easy to forget what Easter is really all about—just like we do at Christmas. Yet, Easter and Christmas are both about something different from the Easter Bunny and Santa.

During Easter, we celebrate the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We celebrate Christ’s defeat over sin and death. We celebrate His sacrifice so that we may live in eternity with God. Yet there is more to those three days than we often realize. In other people’s actions, we can see hints of what is expected of us as Christians.

When Christ was led to the Cross, the Roman soldiers pulled a man, Simon of Cyrene, from the crowd. The soldiers forced Simon to help Christ carry the Cross to Calvary. When you look at the verse above, notice the last phrase: “…that he might bear it after Jesus.” Now symbolism can take root here. As it is told to us and sung to us, when we accept Jesus, we are supposed to take up the Cross with Jesus.

In a way, this is saying that as Christians we take up the Cross with Jesus upon our acceptance of Him into our hearts. Just as Jesus took up the Cross to bear the weight of our sin, we should bear the Cross as a reminder of why Jesus died for us. Our Cross will be the sufferings and sorrow we endure here on Earth. Our Cross will be the persecution we receive from those who do not follow Christ. We will bear the Cross with Jesus.

By bearing the Cross with Jesus, we will be blessed with eternal life in Heaven. We will be able to beat death just as Jesus has. One day Christ will return and resurrect His faithful followers to return with Him to Heaven where we will spend eternity. We worship our God every day, and there will be no suffering or pain. There will be great joy and happiness abound.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your sacrifice on the Cross. Without that sacrifice, we would not be able to look forward to eternal life. We would not be able to defeat death. Thank You for Your love and Your presence in our lives. In Jesus name, Amen.

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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