Tahni Cullen - The Good Gift Giver: 21 Days of Unexpected Blessings

BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC

Racine, Wisconsin, USA

BroadStreetPublishing.com

The Good Gift Giver: 21 Days of Unexpected Blessings

Copyright 2017 Tahni Cullen and Cheryl Ricker

ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-5479-9 (softcover)

ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-5483-6 (e-book)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188, USA. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked MSG are from THE MESSAGE. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Interior design and typeset by Katherine Lloyd at theDESKonline.com

Printed in the United States of America

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By Tahni Cullen

M y life spun me into supernatural mode when my seven-year-old, nonverbal, and autistic son, Josiah, who had never been traditionally taught to read or write, suddenly typed his first independent sentence on an iPad: God is a good gift giver.

God unlocked my sons spiritual senses to the deep joys of heaven, renewing my hope, joy, and excitement for Gods Word, power, and presence. Josiahs gems on our Josiahs Fire Facebook page delight people from around the world with his wisdom, insight, and hope.

What a joy to partner with my dear friend, Cheryl Ricker, writer and coauthor of Josiahs Fire: Autism Stole His Words, God Gave Him a Voice. As we share Josiahs quotes with twenty-one personal devotionals, we know they will spark fresh gratitude for gifts you have not even yet identifiedgifts personally prepared for you by the good Gift Giver himself.

James 1:17 says, Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (NIV).

God is a good gift giver...

If faith, then he gives it.

If joy, he finds it for you.

If love, he names it to you.

If hindsight, he recalls it to you.

If boldness, he joins it to you.

If diligence, he brings it to you.

If peace, he sends it to you.

If wisdom, he teaches it to you.

If hope, he presents it to you.

If thankfulness, he plants it in you.

If joy, he builds it into time for you.

Open it as freshly as you can.

Josiah Cullen

By Tahni Cullen

J esus said, In this world you will have trouble (John 16:33 NIV). So why do we struggle so much when trouble strikes? Where did God go?

When the Father opened Josiahs communication through typing, I thought we would finally be free of the intense pressure autism had brought into our lives for five years. Surely healing would come and bring us back to the easy life God intended.

But what if the journey of a God seeker unfolds differently? Although I continue to pray expectantly for Josiahs wholeness, God uses him and his words to uniquely show me how I perceive my life through distorted goggles and that we can always overcome because Jesus overcame for us!

I didnt know anything about trout when Josiah first wrote about them on the iPad, but it turns out that when its time for them to birth upstream, these creatures are designed to do impossible feats to overcome the most impassible areas. Neither the strength of the current, nor the size of the rocks, nor the power of crashing waterfalls can keep a breathing trout from reaching its destiny.

Will you let resistance keep you from yours?

Im not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. (John 17:15 NLT)

For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6 NLT)

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:3739 NIV)

Whats an example of resistance that you have

faced or are now facing? How do those times

impact your relationship with God?

By Cheryl Ricker

H as God ever asked you to do something unreasonable?

This happened to me when God whispered to my nine-year-old heart that someday he wanted me to write books for his glory. How could I do that when my teacher had placed me in remedial reading with foreigners who didnt even speak English?

But since when does God get nervous about our insecurity or immaturity? Even our momentary natural limits dont have the power to stop the one who has a history of using unlikely vessels to do great things.

God used weak and fearful people like Gideon to defeat massive Midianite armies. Gideon could have enlisted support from tens of thousands of soldiers, but God wanted to whittle it down to a measly three hundred to pull off the impossible.

Likewise, God enjoyed personally teaching, leading, and developing me, helping me against the odds to write and publish several books that happen to highlight his goodness.

When tempted to fret over impossible-looking circumstances, why not call on the miracle-working breeze-maker who loves making things fly for his glory?

Papa, thank you for calling unlikely people and infusing weakness with your strength to showcase your glory on earth as it is in heaven