Blog Archives - COACH Toby Schwarz

COACH Toby Schwarz

Belief

7/31/2016

Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment. Matthew 9:22

Coaches often talk about "Believing in yourself". Teachers do too. As do Parents, Counselors and well meaning friends. After a while, the idea that "all we have to do is believe and we will see a noticeable change" becomes noise and more of an irritant than an assistance. The truth is that belief is indeed a huge asset and a necessity toward reaching our full potential. Belief in Christ is even more crucial. We can read the Bible and go to church every Sunday and say our prayers before every meal but those behavior means very little without belief in the one who lives out the Bible, and is the one we worship at Church and the one who answers our prayers.

Lord, help me to believe in You and what You can do through me with the gifts You have given me.

Placing Blame

7/30/2016

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5

Death, Taxes and the Need to be Right. Three certainties of this world. It is rare find a person who doesn't have the urge to be right. Even when we do something wrong, we look for someone to blame for "causing us" to make the mistake. "Sure, I messed up but if it wasn't for you who did ... I wouldn't have done it". And when we lack a person around us, we sometimes result to blaming God.

Lord, please help me to be honest with myself and take ownership for my wrongs and help me to show my love to both God and others by not blaming them for what I do.

Plan A?

7/28/2016

Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.  Jeremiah 17:14

What is our Plan A? Whenever we encounter a problem or a decision, we often have a Plan A. We have a procedure or policy or rule that we put into action that will hopefully solve the problem or more easily make the right decision for us. The interesting thing about Plan A for most of us is that we rarely think through the ramifications of Plan A or the validity of a Plan B or even Plan C. Often, Plan A includes the easiest path or the path where we are in control. The truth is that Plan B, which is often God's plan for our life, should be our Plan A every time.

Lord, help me to set my default to You as my Plan A and ask for your healing when I am hurt and ask for You to save me when I am lost.

Proactive

7/27/2016

LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. Psalm 30:2

Proactive or Reactive? In my experience, there seems to be two types of people in the world. There are those who sit around and wait for things to happen to them and then when something does happen, sometimes positive but often times negative, they react to the situation. Then there are those who are proactive or intentional about planning ahead and taking control of a situation before it happens. Events often don’t unfold as we may plan but being proactive allows us to be in a better position to be responsive to unplanned situations. Proactivity allows us to respond (ask God for help) while reactivity usually catches us off guard and paralyzes us from action.

Lord, help me to be proactive and intentional and not simply wait for You to help me but to ask for your help before, during and after it is needed.

What do We Really Deserve

7/26/2016

In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Revelation 5:12

We are in a time where ideas of “justice” and “equality” and “rights” are at the forefront of our minds and in the headlines of the media. This attention to “what we deserve” tends to lead us more toward “selfishness” than “selflessness”. We look at what others have and we feel we “deserve” the same. Unfortunately, it is always what people have that we deserve, and we fail to see what they may not have and wonder why we don’t deserve that as well. Based on how we live our lives, we don’t deserve much and yet God sent His one and only son to die on the cross, which he didn’t deserve, so we are provided with eternal life, which we don’t deserve.

Lord, help me to be thankful for what I have and to also be grateful to You for what you have done for me.

Always Here

7/25/2016

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 8:38-39

We often pray “Lord, be with me” or “Lord, be with us”. The truth is that God is never away from us. If we ever feel a separation from God, it is on us. God is always there. He hasn’t gone anywhere. Our prayers should more often be “Lord, help me to see that you are with me” or “Lord, help me to feel your constant presence”.

Lord, thank you for always being with me and please help me to always recognize it.

Life is Better Than We Perceive

7/22/2016

The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

We rarely make good decisions when we are sick or tired or hungry. When we aren’t at our best, the smallest inconvenience can seem like the biggest problem. Our stress and anxiety in life is unfortunately driven by our perception of our current situation instead of the realities of our entire life. The reality is that our life may not always be what we want it to be but it is more often much better than we deserve and can even imagine. We have a God that loves us and protects us and cares for us, and all in despite of anything else that may go on in our life.

Lord, in a world that is full of pain and challenges and conflict and uncertainty, thank you for be a God of peace and love and comfort and joy.

Uncomfortable

7/15/2016

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

By nature, we seek comfort. We spend most of our life pursing money so that we can have a nice car, beautiful house and all of the tangible items that allow us to achieve a desired quality of life. Throughout the day, we often choose our clothes based on comfort. We choose our food based on comfort. We choose our relationships and leisure time activities and even vices, based on comfort. However, we can all admit that the growth that has occurred in our life that is of most value to us has occurred when we are put in uncomfortable situations. We learn more from failure than success. We are tested by fire and if we choose to persevere, we come out stronger.

Lord, help me to see trials as an opportunity to grow instead of an attack on my comfortable life.

Tobisthenics is now available on line

7/14/2016

It only took 20 years but you can now access Tobisthenics routines and exercises on line through the new website CoachTube.

So if you ever wanted to pass the beauty and pain that is Tobisthenics on to loved ones, you can do it.

Go to ...

https://coachtube.com/course/track-and-field/tobisthenics/527902

or to ...

www.coachtube.com

Choices

7/14/2016

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live. Deuteronomy 30:19

Choices. We make a lot of them each day. Some of those choices can be life changing, while others are very meaningless in the grand scale. Some of those choices have negative impacts on our lives while others turn out in our favor. There is one choice that we make in our lifetime that will impact not only this life, but our life eternally and that is the decision to follow Christ. Not making a decision is actually choosing not to follow Christ. If you haven’t chosen to follow Christ, today is as good a day as any.

Lord, thank you for allowing me to choose to follow you and help me to renew that choice daily.