Month: February 2021

Categories
Book Review Faith Book Review

Book Review: God, Himself by Dr. Tony Evans

Title: God, Himself

Author: Dr. Tony Evans

Genre: Christian

Publisher: Moody Publishers

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Y’all know I love me some Dr. Tony Evans.  So when I saw this book on my list of available books to do a review on for Moody Publishers, I jumped on it!  Then I got distracted by Kingdom Agenda by Dr. Evans and then hit a reading slump.  I’ve had this book for months (sorry), and it’s been on my to-read list since December.  Finally, at the end of January, I said bump it and picked it up.  And I am glad I did. If the title didn’t clue you in, this book is all about who God is.  His attributes and His characteristics.  I’ll admit, I can be a bit selfish.  So at times, my prayers can be all about me and what I need.  So reading this book (after the Bible, of course, the Psalms helped a lot) really had me taking moments to focus on who God is and what that means.

*A huge thank you to Moody Publishers for sending your girl this book for free as part of the blogger program.*

My Thoughts

God, Himself is broken up into ten chapters, with each chapter being dedicated to an attribute of God.  It covers the following attributes: His nature, His allness, His holiness, His wrath, His sovereignty, His love, His wisdom, His goodness, His grace, and His glory.

Dr. Evans tells us that we cannot truly live the abundant life that Jesus promised us if we don’t have a real grasp of his attributes.  The prophet Jeremiah tells us to boast in the fact that “he understands and knows Me.”  So Dr. Evans walks us through how to do just that.  He starts with God as the Creator.  This, for me, was a lot of information that I already knew.  Same with the information about God being a spirit, Him being personal, and Him being eternal.  But after that, we start going a bit deeper.  Dr. Evans breaks down each attribute into more detail.  So while I have heard of God being omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence, being able to see how Dr. Evans was able to combine them into, for example, the allness of God, really helped me grasp not only what that means of God, but what it means for my life.

Like with all of his other books, Dr. Evans gives you plenty of Scripture to back up the information He provides you. I always enjoy the glimpse into his life that he gives in each of his books.  It honestly makes him seem more personable, which can get lost sometimes if you only see him on tv.  One thing that I absolutely enjoyed about the book is how Dr. Evans was able to connect each attribute to us as God’s children.  Honestly, I walked into this book expecting to learn more about God.  I didn’t expect to walk away knowing more about me.  And that is exactly what happened.  Because of the Holy Spirit that is in us, we all have a piece of God.  And while there are obviously some of His attributes that we can’t take on, like being everywhere at all times, there are things that make us a better Christian if we adapt to it.  

One thing I will say about this book that I didn’t notice with his others is there was a lot of repetition.  And I don’t necessarily mean repeating what I already know.  But there were many different times where he would say something only to repeat it a page or two later.  This was done so many times that I really think the book could have been half the length.  

So, in the end, if you have done some deep Bible study and specifically on who God is, this book might be a bit repetitive to you. That on top of the fact that it seems Dr. Evans repeats a lot of information over again in the chapters, this may not be the best read for you.  But if you are new in Christ or new in understanding who God really is, this was a simple and easy book to read that broke down His attributes in easy to understand ways.

Categories
Faith Family Mental Health Productivity the Word of God

A Digital Detox and No Coincidences – 2/15/21

Digital Detox

So I did a thing yesterday.  I deleted my FB and IG apps on my phone.  I have this weird addiction to my phone and social media that’s quite annoying.  If it weren’t for my blog and business and keeping up with family and friends in different states, I would delete my social media presence altogether.  So after talking to my Wellness Consultant, Cheya Thousand, I decided to do a digital detox until April 1st.  Why April 1st?  Because that is when I will be launching my Financial Counseling, Planning, and Organization business.

Taking time away lets me focus on the last minute details and accomplish some plans and goals that I have set for my blog and business.  One of those things is to get more consistent with blogging again.  To do that, I decided to bring back my Rhenáe’s Randoms.  If you are new around here, Rhenáe’s Randoms are just nuggets from my day that I want to share. Unscripted and unedited.  

No Coincidences

My first one is from my Bible reading this morning.  For February, I decided to read Leviticus and Matthew since they have 27 and 28 chapters, respectfully.  One chapter from each book a day.  But about a week in, God shifted me to Nehemiah.  Nehemiah is an excellent book on leadership, praying, and planning, so I wasn’t disappointed (outside of my type-A personality that insists I finish what I start).  A few days later, He nudged me to add Daniel and Ezra to my reading.  If I had to pick my favorite books of the Bible, Daniel and Ezra are it.  Ezra helped the Israelites return to God, and the public reading of the Word, and Daniel was a dreamer.  Y’all already know how I feel about the Word.  And God often speaks to me in my dreams.

Today’s readings were Nehemiah 7, Ezra 2, and Daniel 2.  Random chapters, right?  Not to God.  Nehemiah 7 and Ezra 2 contain the exact same genealogical record of the exiles that in Ezra, were returning and in Nehemiah, had returned.  Mind blown!  But get this…I made a note of Nehemiah 7:5, “Then my God put it into my mind to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be registered by genealogy…”.  I added it to my OneNote Bible study section on How God Speaks To Us.  Then as I am reading Daniel 2, I come across verse 28-29, “But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has let King Nebuchadnezzar know what will happen in the last days.  Your dream and visions that came into your mind as you lay in bed were these: Your majesty, while you were in your bed, thoughts came to your mind about what will happen in the future…”  

Now I don’t believe in coincidences, so I know that God has purposely guided me to these readings on these days.  I don’t know what for just yet, but I know God will reveal all of that in His own, perfect timing.  Until then, I will continue to share what I learn.

I hope you enjoyed today’s Rhenáe’s Randoms.  While taking a break from social media, I still want you to follow me to know when I come back.  Tanisha Rhenáe will still house my blog updates, book reviews, and personal life.  Tanisha Rhenáe Consulting will have all things Financial Counseling, Planning, and Organization.  Rendel and Rhenae Management will allow you to keep up with our business management company.

Categories
Faith Family Productivity

Discipline…2021 Word of the Year…Again

2020 and Tech Did Not Mix

Last year, around September or October, I wrote about my 2021 Word of the Year. But, falling in line with all that 2020 was, my website went down and I lost over 4 months of blog posts. This is the one time I am happy my lack of motivation and overall busyness with other things prevented me from writing so much. 

But truthfully, after writing about Discipline, I started to feel like maybe that wasn’t my word anymore. I began to hear some other things from God, and I was actually sure that my word moved from discipline to discipleship.

So what did I do? In true Tanisha Rhenáe fashion, I bought some books on discipleship and started to pray. And honestly, my website going down and erasing my posts going all the way back to that Discipline post, I was about to take that as a sign that it wasn’t my word.

But then God made it very clear that I had a few areas in my life that needed some discipline. And those areas are ones that I’ve been struggling with, and I know that only Jesus would be able to pull me through. So I wanted to share some things I am hoping to build discipline in. Let’s start with my physical health.

My Heath

If you have been around for any amount of time, you know that I love food and I hate exercise. My Word of the Year for 2019 was Health. (the wrap up for 2020 is lost to internet Heaven and probably won’t be resurrected.). And while there were plenty of areas in 2019 that I improved health-wise, my physical health was not one of them. What I did include, I failed miserably at. And to be honest, I still wouldn’t be focused on it this year if I didn’t have to.

2020 Quarantine and Deployment 15

I’m lying when I blame the 2020 quarantine for my weight gain. I’m a homebody. And if I weren’t trying to do my part to save the world from this pandemic, I would still be in my house, away from the world. But hubby had a deployment last year, and it definitely played a part in some depression that made me want to do nothing but eat until he came home. (To be clear, him being deployed doesn’t make me depressed.  But me missing him adds to the depression I have already been diagnosed with.)

And let’s continue with the confessions (queue Usher’s album). When I say 15, I really mean 75. Pounds. Sign. So a couple of months after the quarantine started, my body did this crazy thing where I lost my appetite. I wasn’t hungry, and since I tend to get busy and forget to eat anyway, I wasn’t really eating. I ended up losing over 15 lbs. This was great because I could stand to lose the weight, to begin with.

My psychiatrist didn’t tend to think so. And since we were trying to figure out my insomnia, he decided to give me a sleep med that also had a benefit of increasing my appetite. Y’all, this medicine is the devil. It increased my appetite alright. Not only did I gain the 15 lbs back, but I also gained an additional 50. My hunger would hit me shortly after I take the medicine (at night since it was a sleep med), and I would literally not be able to go to sleep until I ate something. And, of course, it was usually something unhealthy.

And it all snuck up on me very quickly. This weight gain happened in a couple of months. I see my psychiatrist every two months, and bless his soul, he could immediately see the weight gain at my next appointment. And I couldn’t even blame it on the camera. But because my sleep was improving, it’s one of those things that you have to decide is it worth it to stay on the meds?  Well, we decided it was.  So your girl has to figure this out.

Getting Disciplined

So what am I changing? First, I decided I needed to track what I eat.  I know I overeat.  I make big plates.  I always eat sweets.  Pasta and other carbs are my favorite.  I just love all things food.  And while I don’t plan to count calories or anything like that, I wanted to see exactly how much I was eating (a lot, btw!).  And while I know I wasn’t only eating when I was hungry, it still shocked me to see how much food I was eating in a day.

I decided to pay for the premium subscription for the Lose It app.  One of the benefits of tracking what I eat is that I can also keep a close eye on my sugar intake.  I have fructose malabsorption, plus my glucose and cholesterol levels were up, and my doctor warned me that I needed to get them under control.  To do that, I switched from white bread to wheat bread and started to eat oatmeal for breakfast.  I also don’t remember the last time I had pasta.

I’ve also switched to eating more of lean meats and seafood diet.  My love for steak and oxtails are getting pushed to once a month or a quarter.  And while Chris just refuses to eat veggies, I am getting back in the habit of having 1-2 veggies with each meal.  Along with trying to eat one salad a day.  I also add fruit to my oatmeal in the mornings.

As much as I hate to admit this… to lose weight, I need to exercise.  But since I still despise exercise, I am only willing to walk.  The good thing is, I hang out with some people that love to exercise.  One of my friends has offered to go walking with me three times a week.  I’m hoping that Chris loves me enough to push me to walk with him at least three other times during the week.

Let’s Do This

I’ll admit, I’m not really all that excited about this.  But I know what I need to do when it comes to my health.  While I am all about body positivity and loving yourself no matter the size, my weight is starting to actually hurt me.  I feel the weight on my joints.  My fibromyalgia is flaring up more and more.  Not to mention, I always said that if I hit a certain weight, I would start exercising.  Well, that was 13 lbs ago.  So while I may not be excited, I am about to get disciplined.