Psalm 82

God stands in the congregation of the mighty.

The key verse in this Psalm is V 6.

I said, “You are gods,[b]
And all of you are children of the Most High.

How can we say we are gods.

John 10:30

30 I and My Father are one.”
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’?[c] 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 

37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe[d] that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

Here what happened is Jesus said " I and My Father are one"

And Jews are ready to stone Him.

The reason that Jews answered Him saying " We don't stone for your works, but for saying that you are God."

Now the Lord quotes Psalm 82 and says.

You are called god, because you received the Word.

V35 - God called them gods, to whom the Word of God came.

When the Word of God comes to a person and the Word is received, the deadness in thee person goes away and Life of God enters.

And He becomes like god. gets God like character.

You are called god, because you do the Works of Heavenly Father.

 V37 - you are called god, when you do what God does.

When a person receives the Word of God, he gets wisdom and understanding.

He doesn't react the way the world reacts, He doesn't do things how the world does, but because he is god, He does the works of God.

But, too often, although we receive Word of God, we don't behave like god, we don't do the works of the Father.

Genesis 3:9

9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

Here God is asking Adam, Adam you are the god in the garden, and you are also the god in your family, why did you do this?

12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

But Adam says in V 12 - I am not the god of my family, its the woman who gave me is the god in my family, she decides and I follow it.

Genesis 2 : 15, 16

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

It is Adam, who received the Word, so Adam is god.

one good thing Adam did is, He passed on that Word to Eve after she was created, he passed on what God said.

But He couldnt't do the works of God, because he doesn't realize God kept him as god of the garden, god of the family.

Are you the god in your family?

Noah, is the god in his family. Even when the whole world is against him, because he received the Word of God, he stood for the Word, and did the works of God.

When a person is not a god, and he sins, only that person gets affected.

but when a person is a god, and he sins, the whole family gets affected.

Example:

Lots wife - God planned to bring whole family of lot because of Abraham and because of Lots own righteousness.

but lots wife own lust, she herself got destroyed, but the rest of the family was able to come out of sodom, because Lots wife is not the god of the family.

Jacobs wife Rachel - 

Also when Rachel brought the gods, and Jacob said , whoever has the laban gods. they should not live, and eventually after Benjamin is born, rachel died and she is buried roadside.

rachel is also not the god in the family.

But look at Achan.

when Achan sinned by bringing accursed things from Jericho.

things which God told not to take

Joshua 7:24, Achan, gold, silver, sons, daughters .. whole household got destroyed because, Achan is the god of the family.

Did God keep you as god by giving His Word.

When God keeps us as gods in our families, workplaces, wherever , do the works of Heavenly Father.

Exercise the authority as god, do the justice, never show partiality.

And especially defend the poor and fatherless and widows.

Psalm 81

This psalm - God says how He would care for a person who is obedient.
For God what matters is obedience.
We think many times that we can come to Church, we can give offerings. we can do lot of works.
But for God , only thing that matters is whether we are obedient or not.

God does lots of wonders , miracles for us.
When you cry out to God for an answer, He answers and before the you see completness you will go through a test.
V6 - He Removes the burden
V7 - In trouble you called, He answered
V8 - then comes the test.

Every time you call out to God, and God delivers you or blesses you, before it becomes a true blessing , there will be a testing period.

sometimes, we ask for a job, God blesses us a good job, but there will be a test there whether that job
we ask for a children, then we are tested whether we bring them in the fear of God or because of our busy.

V10:

I am the Lord God who delivered you out of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

Subdue the enemies
Bless them with finest wheat
Satisfy  them honey


V 5 -  Testimony

On a little side track.

I want to share with you how to share your testimony.

What was my problem/situation/challenge you were facing?
How God Intervened?
What is the result of Gods dealing?

Keep it simple and short.

1) Don't prolong it too much with unnecessary things -

            for example: Bro.Robins testimony about their parents coming to USA.

He shared a a very good testimony saying,
My parents never traveled, this is my dream to bring them here.
and God Brought them here, and I am very happy about it and thanks to Ashish and Sonal who accompanied them.

Dear brothers and sisters, all of us have dreams, some dreams get fulfilled , some don't.
but in my life, from childhood on wards, every dream i get it is fulfilled.
this time also i had a dream of bringing my parents to USA.
then i told my parents to come. they scolded me , not only you went , but you are asking us also to come, then i told my brother to convince them, then i told my neighbors and relatives also to convince them but finally they agreed to it, and then started the struggle. i don;t know how to apply visa, then i went to cecil bhai and asked him how to apply, you know when i went to their house, it was so big, crystal has made delicious food, but i learned how to apply.
but when my parents are going to visa, there was repair for the car.
and they have to wait 2 hours.
and the visa officer was so nice, although woh ghora they are like relatives,
but i thank God, God brought them here finally.

Leave out unnecessary things.
Be Generic - 
when you share your work related testimony, don't get into the work specific things.
like a software engineer may say" you know what during the development, the database server was down, but there is no fail over server, and even after they recovered the tables, were not there, even the webserver is also on the same server as database and all the code on the webserver is gone,

Most important, tell thing where God is glorified.

write down your testimony and read it on the paper.
I hope this will be helpful , because many of us are not used to holding a mike and speaking in front of public.


Back to the Psalm.







                                   

Psalm 79

V8 Oh, do not remember former iniquities against us!
Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us,
For we have been brought very low.

God allows each one of us to go through humbling situations, brokenness.

v9 brought low

after becoming believers we still have that pride.
even in prayers we say, God because I give this to you,  You should do it. 

Blessed are the poor in Spirit.

Although brokenness is only for a period of time, enduring that period is important.

V9    Psalmist says Help us for Your Name.

V 13 We are Your People, Sheep of Your Pasture.

Response during brokenness.

Some people when broken, they get angry they accuse people for their brokenness, 

David was broken , but see his response.

2 Samuel 16 : from V 5 

When David was already broken, and to add the insult to the injury, this man Shemi is cursing David and throwing stones.

Look at response of David in V 11 and 12.

That s the heart of man of God.

Joseph knows in Exodus 45:5.

the times of his brokenness is for ultimately for the good.

today  are you going thought broken situations, how is your response in these situations.

David endured through broken times, depended on God, did not take things into his own hands and became king.

Joseph endured through broken times, but allowed God to lead things and finally became primeminister of egypt.

Paul went through sever times of suffering, 5 times 39 lashes, sleeplessness, hunger,naked, all for one sake to preach the gospel. and in the new testament he can boldly say follow after me.

If you are going through broken period, goto Lord and say Iam Your Child, for Your Name sake fix me.

if all is going fine for you,  then let not pride enter the heart, not looking down on others,  but encourage others who are broken. 

In all things God works for good of those who love Him

Romans 8:28


God works - 

Some times when we go through trials we might say why God is silent?
why God is not doing anything in our lives. How long i should bear this problem.
How long i should go through this? this wait time is too much.



In all things


Story of Joseph:


Genesis 37:8 - God gave the dream, and

V8  -  being hated by brothers - is it good - NO
but God allowed it.  In a single thing it doesnt look good.

V10 - being rebuked Father doesn't look good always look good.
but God allowed it. It is not a pleasant experience.

my story - i remember my dad rebuking because every time i talk about God.

V28 - sold by his brothers to some foreigners
Can you imagine the agony of being away from the loved ones , not knowing when you will meet them again.
Its not a good thing.

Chapter 39:v20 :  Wrongly Accused
Joseph was wrongly accused - and put in prison.

By this time if I were in that place, lot of self condemnation, lot of self introspection.
Every individual thing is not a pleasant experience.
I would have asked "Is the Lord sleeping , not working"
But see Chpater 39: v21 - The Lord was with him.

Chapter 40:23  - People Forogt,  -  Waiting Time 
The man to whom Joseph helped, he forgot him.
Man might forget your help. But God doesn't forget.

           Luke 13:From V10.
                   Woman is 18 years she was bound.  Did God forget? No, in the right time, God is glorified                             through healing her on Sabbath and also exposed the hypocrisy of Pharisees.

Your waiting period is not wasted period.

God worked through a dream to Pharaoh, 
When God wanted to do good to you, He can use anybody.
Here He used pharoah by causing him a dream.

for good
In all these things God used for good of Joseph and his family.

a) Joseph became Prime Minister.Genesis 41: 41-44.
b) During Famine, all family of Jacob got food and settled in Egypt ( Genesis 46:26)

my story - when all the while i was sharing about God in my growing up, now i see that many people got saved.


of those who love Him

Love Him - 
Loving God is more than doing just a duty.
When you do a job, you just go there and want to finish off the 8 hrs and come back.

When you do for God its different. You Love Him and you do things.
Joseph is a man who loved God.
Genesis 39: 9
With  Pothiphars wife , Joseph said one thing.
How Could I sin against God whom I love?
When you love God you hate sin.  Psalm 96:10 ( Those who love the Lord hate sin)

How do you know if you are still in death or you have come to life.

1 John 3:14
Loving fellow brothers and sisters.
Joseph is a man eventhough his brothers hated him and sold him, Forgiveness is revealed in his life

Genesis 45: 7
Joseph said dont be afraid, God has sent me here to preserve for you a remnant.
Joseph knows in every trial of his situation that God is at work.
Romans 8:28 says We know.
the question is do we know? in our every situation that
God is at work?
God is at work for our good.
All we need to do in these things is just Love Him , by obeying His Word, by hating evil and loving the brethren.

God is the beautiful story writer if you love Him.

Psalm 78 ( 1-20)

V4 - We will not HIDE from genereation to come

Whatever we have heard and known and our fathers have told us

Are we hiding anything from our Children.

if you are not sharing what you have heard from men and women of God,  or what you have known of God through your experiences,  then you are hiding it from God.

what to share.

                        Praises of God

                        His Strength - Declare how God revealed His strength in our weakness.

                        His Wonderful Works  - Declare how mighty He is. and reveal that with God all things                                                                   are possible.

Why to share.

                        Hope in God

                        Not forget the works of God

                        Keep His commandments

Isaiah 1:3

The Ox knows its master - 

The Donkey knows

The ox knows who’s boss, -
    the mule knows the hand that feeds him

God says Israel missed out on 2 most important things.

If you know the boss - you will walk in His commandments.

If you know the hands the feed you, you will always set your hope in Him.

Today's children struggle a lot, they hear from Church, they hear from school.

Lot of voices comes to them and they struggle.

Dont blame it on children, Dont blame it on the culture.

As parents lets look if we have hidden anything from them.

Did we share everything that we have heard of God, we have known of God.

Impart it in their hearts when they are still young.

experience of Joslyns healing.

Are you sharing or are you hiding?

Heaven and hell stew story

V19 - They have asked for their fancy food.

Numbers 11: 4-6

While growing up in India, at my home, only on Sunday my dad brings chicken, monday to friday - veggies, Saturday is egg and Sunday finally comes the mother of egg - the chicken herself.

But when i came to this country , everyday its meat. 

Here Israelite were asking to change the menu, they were fed up with Manna and they want something spicy.

Is God not compassionate enough to change the menu.

Remember that Lord Jesus after teaching the multitudes, he was compassionate on the crowds and did a miracle of giving 5 loaves and 2 fish  to 5000 men.

But here in Numbers 11, the Israelites were already eating angels food. and  now they were recollecting the food in Egypt and were asking Moses for meat.

so when you pray for fanciest thing, will you get it, sure you will get it but it might become the deadliest thing in your life.

God is Holy

There are many names , titles of God in bible.

when we put a name to child we mean something.

The Name of God in every situation revealed who He is.

 God is Holy (Is 43:15,57:15)

Defining holiness is like defining God! It can't be done completely. 
John 21:25 says the world itself couldnot contain the books that would be written what Jesus had done just in 3 1/2 years.We can describe holiness and find plentiful illustrations of it, but we can't define it entirely.
Only God is absolutely holy with an infinite, incomprehensible fullness of purity in a sense that we cannot
define Him any more.

God is Holy Gods attributes are Holy 
Because He is holy, His attributes are holy.In many ways Holiness is God's central attribute.It is the essence of God's character and inherent part of His Being.

Isaiah 5:16
Verse Concepts
But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousnes

Even in Righteousness of God , God is proved holy.
Every attribute is driven by holiness.

Holiness is what makes God God!

God’s holiness is manifested in His works. ... in His law...at the Cross...Because God is holy, He hates all sin. God is so pure that He cannot tolerate sin in any form in His presence. One day He will destroy sin forever.

meaning of holy --->
1) utterly pure,seperated from sin, distinctive or different.
2) to be set apart  

1) Applied to God, 
Psalms 47:8
8 God reigns over the nations;
God sits on His holy throne.

Holiness is that characteristic that "sets Him apart" from His creation. 
There are many verses that speak of God being "on high," "reigning," "in his holy temple," "sitting on the throne." These verses all picture God as separate from creation and reigning over it.
In the scriptures if we see, God’s Name, “Holy” is what you find most, not “His mighty name,” or “wise name.” Occasionally you read “His great name,” but most of all, it is either “My holy name,” or “His Holy Name.” 

example of my friend who realized that Jesus is true God because all other gods that he heard of has some unholiness.only Jesus is Holy God.

2)The word holy itself means "to be set apart." 
A thing is holy if it is set apart for a special use.
That's why we call the Bible the Holy Bible-it contains the Word of God. 
We call Israel the Holy Land because it is the land He chose for His own people. 
Jesus called the angels as holy angels(Matt 25:31, Mark 8:38) because they belong to God. 
The sabbath is holy because He set it apart for Himself. 
And when Moses stood before the burning bush, he was told to take off his shoes because he was standing on "holy ground"-ground that God had set apart for himself.
Likewise things which were set apart for God and by God are holy like eg.,
in Exodus it says (ch.28)holy garments,holy place,holy gifts,holy crown(ch.39) and 
in Psalms 15 says holy hill, holy arm in Ps 98:1, holy temple in Habakkuk 2:20.

Holiness is the only attribute of God mentioned in triplicate. 

Rev 4:8
Two times the Bible tells us that God is holy, holy, holy (Is 6:3, Rev 4:8). 
Think about that for a moment. If God says something about his character once, that's enough to settle it. When he says it twice, that's emphasis. But when he says it three times, that means it's of supreme importance. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love or mercy, mercy, mercy, or justice, justice, justice or even righteous. But it does say that he is holy, holy, holy.

God gives utmost importance to His Holiness, that is why when
Men of Beth Shemesh in 1 samuel 6:20
said, who is able to stand before this Holy Lord God? Isrealites looked into the ark and the Lord struck them because in Numbers 4:20 it clearly says that the act of looking into the ark was strictly forbidden by God but they foolishly did it.

Incidents where mortal men encountered a holy God. Let us just look 2 events.

1) Isaiah 6

Our first episode comes from the life of the prophet Isaiah. It takes place early in his ministry, “in the year King Uzziah died” (v. 1). That note is important because Uzziah was one of the best kings Judah ever had. He had a heart for God unlike many of his predecessors and successors. When he died, the nation was plunged into confusion. A golden age in Israel’s history was drawing to a close. Would the people continue to walk with God or would they return to idolatry? In that fateful moment, Isaiah came face to face with the living God.

We can summarize his experience with four words:
Majesty 1-2 : I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
Worship 3-4 : And they were calling to one another: ’’Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
Confession 5 : ’’Woe to me!” I cried. ’’I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
Cleansing 6-7 : With it he touched my mouth and said, ’’See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Of all the things we might say about this magnificent passage, let’s concentrate on one central truth: When Isaiah saw the Lord, he also saw himself! That’s why he cried out, “Woe is me!” Until then, Isaiah didn’t look so bad. Doubtless he was far more moral than his contemporaries. Compared to them, he looked clean; compared to God, he looked filthy. Isaiah saw himself when he saw the Lord, and that seeing led to confession, repentance, and cleansing. About 26 times in the book of Isaiah, he mentioned God as the "Holy one of Isreal" may be because of his vision of the Lord.
So it is that whenever we see God for who he is, we will then see ourselves for who we really are. His Holiness leads us to confession and repentance. The closer we come to God, the more we will recognize our own sinfulness.

2) 2 Samuel 6:6,7

The third incident comes from one of the strangest passages in all the Bible. David has just been crowned king of Israel and has just conquered Jerusalem. All that remains for him to do is to have the Ark of the Covenant transported from the house of Abinadab to the Tabernacle in Jerusalem. The Ark had been absent from the Tabernacle for nearly 20 years. The Philistines captured it, but later gave it back to the Israelites. David wanted it back in the capital because it represented the presence of God with his people.

David ordered that the Ark be taken back to Jerusalem and assembled thousands of people who joined in the great celebration. He had the Ark put on a cart pulled by a team of oxen. The two sons of Abinadab walked next to the Ark to steady it lest it fall to the ground. Now we pick up the story in verses 6-7:

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.

Number one, although David meant well, he did not obey the Lord’s command. Yes, God did want the Ark back in Jerusalem, but he had given specific instructions that it should be transported by priests who would carry it by means of long poles inserted through rings attached to the Ark for that very purpose. If David had followed God’s plan, the Ark would have been safe. But because he substituted his own plan, Uzzah died.

Number two, Uzzah probably also meant well. After all, if you were walking beside the Ark and it began to tip over, what would you do? You’d put your hand out and straighten it, wouldn’t you? And that would be the last thing you’d ever do. You see, Uzzah knew that no human was ever to touch the Ark of the Covenant because it was holy. In the tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant is in the Most Holy Place and everything in the Most Holy Place is laid with pure gold because it is where God dwells that means it is so Holy.Uzzah mistakenly thought that his sinful hand was somehow less sinful than the dirt of the earth. How wrong he was. God never said the dirt was sinful. It was just dirt, nothing more. Uzzah disobeyed the Lord’s command.

This story teaches us that good motives are not enough. Our passion or zeal must be accompanied by obedience. We’ve got to do the right thing with reverential fear.

What holy means for us practically?

1) Worship - God in His Holiness.
Worship is not about coming to Church and singing few songs and go away but you bow down like the elders and angels say in Revelation 4:8.
One thing the elders and angels have confessed in Worship is Holiness.
In Worship, what you see is Holiness of God.
When angels, elders worship they fall down and say "Holy Holy Holy"
The holiness of God produces true worship in the heart of a believer.

2) Look at Gods holiness in the blessings you receive. 1 Samuel 2:2
Hannah looked at Gods blessing of Samuel and said God is Holy.
When you receive a blessing, what character of God do you see?
It is easy to relate to Love of God when you receive blessing.
But if you truly realize how God dealt with the situation then you will see Gods Holiness.

Hannah in 1 Sam 2:2 prayed that No one is Holy like the Lord. His unique character was described by her.
9)Mary,the mother of Jesus in Luke 1:49 praised God that Holy is His Name.

3) Consider God as Holy.
Many times we don't consider God as Holy.
Moses could not enter promise land because he didn't treat God is holy.
Numbers 20:12

If your emotions take over your obedience, then you are putting down God's Name infront of public, and you are not believing in treating God as Holy.

example of a tough boss.


4) 1 Peter 1:15,16 says that He who called you is Holy ,so you also be holy in all your conduct

this means that as God is set apart, are you set apart.

God’s Holiness is that which makes God God! In a sense, our holiness is what makes us truly Christian. 
Because
it has to do with our character. As His Holiness is manifested in His works, likewise our holiness will manifest in our character and conduct.

Don't Pamper unholiness.
If we want to be holy as God is holy,we must adopt His attitude toward sin. You must hate it as He does. If we pamper sin or excuse it or immerse in it, we cannot be holy as he is holy.

Isaiah 35:8
A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it.

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According to 2 Corinthians 5:17,we are new creation in Christ,old things have passed away,behold, all things have become new. Col 3:10 --> We need to put on the new man by renewing our old mindset according to the image of God who created him.Let us see how the new man was created Eph 4:17-24 --> new man was created according to God in true Righteousness and Holiness which means our new man was created according to the Image of God.
Also in Luke 1:74((Telugu)) Zachariah prophesied when he was filled with the Holy Spirit that God has granted us salvation inorder to serve Him in holiness and righteousness.
1 Thesslonians 4:7 says that God did not call us to uncleaness, but in holiness ((read in Telugu)) This verse is saying that we need to become. It is our choice whether we live up to what our new man was created with.
2 Corinthians 7:1 ((read in Telugu)) says let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh(defilement by outward acts like all kinds of filthy words and actions like idolatry,murder,sexual immorality,fornication,drunkenness) and filthiness of spirit (defilement by the internal acts of the mind, such as evil thoughts, lusts, pride, malice, envy, covetousness, and the like), also defilement includes love of this world which God considers it as filthy because the love of the Father is not in us if we love the things of this world,as we know in 1John 2:15,16 says love of the world means lust of the flesh,lust of the eyes and pride of life, perfecting holiness(not sinless perfection but spiritual maturity) in the fear of the lord which means it is our responsibility as kings in the kingdom of God.
Also 1 Peter 1:15,16 says that He who called you is Holy ,so you also be holy in all your conduct. As christ's return is coming soon, let every area in our lives be transformed into His image i.e., in true righteousness and holiness.
Lastly in 2 Sam 16:10, David is a classic example of how our words should be when someone curses right infront of us and calls us rogue.
The conclusion is holiness and sin cannot coexist. If we want to be holy as God is holy,we must adopt His attitude toward sin. You must hate it as He does. If we pamper sin or excuse it or immerse in it, we cannot be holy as he is holy. May the Lord help us to live a holy life which is approved by Him as He is holy. Amen.

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Who are the ones who said that God is holy? As far as i know
1)God Himself in Lev 11:44,44; 19:2; 20:3,26
Isa 43:3,15; Jer 50:29; Ez 39:7

2)Jesus Himself addressed God as Holy Father in john 17:11

3)God's created being,Seraphim cried out to one another and said Holy,Holy,holy in Is 6:3

4)Four living creatures before the throne of God said Holy,Holy,Holy in Revelation 4:8

5)Unclean spirit cried out to Jesus addressing Him as the Holy one of God in Mark 1:24

6)Moses and children of Isreal sang to the Lord when the Lord saved Isrealites from Egyptians near the Red sea in Exodus 15:11
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