Blog Archives - COACH Toby Schwarz

COACH Toby Schwarz

Trump!

8/31/2018

"Many plans are in a man's heart, but the LORD's decree will prevail." Proverbs 19:21

God's plans are always better and will surpass our plans. Our energy and effort should be directed toward knowing God's plan instead of wasting energy and effort on our plans that will ultimately be inadequate.

Lord, help me to realize that Your plans are always trump my plans.

Mind Your Own Business!

8/30/2018

"'If I want him to remain until I come,' Jesus answered, 'what is that to you? As for you, follow Me.'" John 21:22

This is God's way of saying, "Mind your own business." If you are more concerned about your lot in life compared to someone else, then you have too much free time and you need to reassess your life choices. Most of us have enough on our plate and we need to focus on those things first. We don't have enough time to be jealous, envious, covetous toward others and what they have compared to us.

Lord, help me to stay in my own lane and to take care of my stuff first so then I can help others to take care of theirs.

I Don't Know LeBron James!

8/29/2018

"Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord." Habakkuk 3:2 (NIV)

I have never met LeBron James. He doesn't know me and I don't know him. However, I know the one who created him and He knows me. I win.

Lord, thank you for knowing me and thank you that I get to have a personal relationship with you.

Look!

8/27/2018

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

I have read this verse countless times. This is the first time that I noticed "look". It is as if God is saying, "Hey, wait a minute. Pay attention. Can you see that new things are coming. Don't just focus on the desire for old things to go away. Look at all of the new blessings in your life." Often times, those who accept Christ do so out of a desire to escape or run from something. We want to rid our lives of something. We also need to "look" at it a different way. What are ALL of the blessings we are adding by following Christ.

Lord, thank you for all You add to my life, as well as the things You have saved me from.

Helpful or Judgemental?!

8/25/2018

"Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you won't be tempted also. Carry one another's burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he is deceiving himself. But each person should examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in respect to someone else. For each person will have to carry his own load." Galatians 6:1-5

We can judge others or we can help them. We can think of ourselves as being better than others or we can empathize with them. We can make others better or we can be selfish.

Lord, when You tell us to Love and to think of others first, you are telling me to be less selfish.

Know Your Competition!

8/24/2018

"Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour." 1 Peter 5:8

You can't beat an opponent if you don't know who they are. In sports, the more we know about our competition, the better we are able to beat them.

Lord, help me to be aware that I may be my worst enemy but there is a bigger enemy out there that I need to be aware of and I need your help to overcome.

Unlimited!

8/23/2018

"Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think-according to the power that works in you." Ephesians 3:20

We are limited. God is not. We limit God because we are limited. God "un-limits" us because He is unlimited.

Lord, thank you for being unlimited which gives me even more reason to worship and follow You.

Replacements!

8/22/2018

"You turned my lament into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, so that I can sing to You and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise You forever." Psalm 30:11-12

If you have ever been to an ocean beach and tried to dig a deep hole in the sand near the water, you find out two things quite quickly: 1) the sand falls back into the hole and 2) water will soon begin to fill the hole from below. You can dig all day and never make much progress. The hole either gets filled by the original sand or by the new water. Removing something negative from our life is very similar and equally difficult. Whenever we attempt to remove a negative from our life, we leave a hole. A hole wants to be filled. If we don't fill it with something positive, the negative will fall back in.

Lord, help me to find something positive to replace anything negative in my life.

Run To Win!

8/21/2018

"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it." 1 Corinthians 9:24

Step 1: Run.
Step 2: Run to win.

Lord, help me to be intentional about what I do and help me to do it with all that you have given me.

Finding Confidence!

8/20/2018

"We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ. It is not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life." 2 Corinthians 3:4-6

Confidence. We all want it. We all value it. We all struggle with it. Believing in ourselves is extremely hard to do because we know ourselves and we know our failings. It is true that we are not as good as we may think we are but we definitely aren't as bad as we think we are, if we have Christ. Our confidence is not in us but in what God has given to us.

Lord, help me to be humble but to believe in You enough that I believe in me more.