Blog Archives - COACH Toby Schwarz

COACH Toby Schwarz

Struggling?!

8/30/2019

"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go." Joshua 1:7

It is easy to blame others or society or life or even God, when things aren't going as we had hoped or expected. It is much more difficult to look at ourselves and ask, "how have I failed and thus contributed to my undesirable situation?".

Lord, help me to be strong enough to look at my own life to see where I have failed and help me to be courageous enough to make the right choices to fix my situation.

Think Differently!

8/28/2019

"Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God." Romans 12:2

There are a lot of opinions out there. People want us to think one way and they portray that way to be the only way. I am too skeptical to trust most people, including those who want me to think something specific. The only one I allow to have that kind of control of my life is God. I trust what God wants me to think.

Lord, thank You for providing a safe place for me to find the truth.

A good Day?!

8/27/2019

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

We often determine the quality of our day by the circumstances of that day. It is acceptable to determine whether specific events of the day are positive or negative but God desires that we look at our entire day as a blessing and not as a curse, regardless of the circumstances.

Lord, help my attitude be guided by You and not by the events of my day.

Jesus In The Bleachers!

8/26/2019

"Don't work only while being watched, in order to please men, but as slaves of Christ, do God's will from your heart." - Ephesians 6:6

I realized in high school that I worked a lot harder when coaches were watching me compared to when I worked out on my own. I decided to imagine my coach in the bleachers whenever I worked out by myself and that motivated me to work much harder. The same is true for those who value Jesus in our lives. We need to imagine Jesus in the bleachers, or in our car, or in our office, or in our homes, and hopefully that will motivate us to be more like Jesus and less like ourselves.

Lord, help me to realize that You are always with me.

Give All!

8/23/2019

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." - Colossians 4:2

"Devote" is a verb that may be defined as "giving all". Prayer shouldn't be an afterthought or only occurring out of convenience. Prayer should be a priority. Prayer should be the first step and not the last.

Lord, help prayer to be a priority in my life.

What Should I do?!

8/20/2019

"Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

We have all found ourselves, at one moment or another during our life, wandering around wondering what we should do. Should I change jobs? Should I pursue a specific relationship? Should I quit or continue on? Honestly, I don't think God cares as much about those specific decisions as we do. What He does care about is that we make a decision to follow Jesus and that we rejoice in everything, pray always and give thanks for all that we have. That is God's will.

Lord, thank you for being clear for what Your will for my life should be.

I Don't Care How You Feel!

8/16/2019

"Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men." - Colossians 3:23

Not the most compassionate or sensitive comment but that is really what God is saying. We tend to act on feeling. I like doing something so I am enthusiastic about it. I don't "feel" like doing something but I have to do it so I do it begrudgingly and half-heatedly, complaining along the way. No matter how we "feel", we need to be enthusiastic about it. God doesn't feel like hearing all of our moaning and complaining but He does listen and we are grateful for that.

Lord, help me to be motivated by what is right and not by how I "feel".

Forget about it!

8/15/2019

"Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14

As students prepare to head back to school and we all transition from the summer routines to the fall schedules, it is a perfect time to remember to look forward and to be intentional about what is ahead. There is little to nothing we can do about our past. We have a lot more influence and control of our future. God wants us to look forward and live in the present and to not let our past limit what we are able to accomplish.

Lord, thank you that my past does not need to be my future.

IPDE!

8/12/2019

"You were running well. Who prevented you from obeying the truth?" Galatians 5:7

The one thing I learned in Driver's Ed class ... IPDE (Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute). As we drive, we must identify the problem, predict what will happen, decide what we will do to avoid the accident, and then execute. The first step is to "Identify". The first step in avoiding any incident or mistake or error or problem in life is to identify. If we can't identify the problem, we can't find a solution.

Lord, help me to be aware of the things in my life that cause me to stumble and fall.