Author: LoLo Roberts

I am a practicing gratitude girl that strives every day in every way to recognize and celebrate my blessings. God is the center of my life and His love allows me to live life to the fullest. Every day is a day of growth and self improvement. I am blessed you have joined me to read my blog. love, peace and gratitude.

The Woman With Only Oil and One Jar

LoLo Roberts

2 Kings 4:1-7

4 A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.”

2 So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”

3 Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 4 And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”

5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. 6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.”

And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. 7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

This verse cries out to me. I recently lost my dad to pancreatic cancer and things are different. The control of my life is gone, the heartbreak my mother feels, my sleep patterns, and so much more.

The fear that the woman feels is so understandable to me. Emotions are flying all over the place. Tears flow at the drop of a hat. I struggle but I am standing in peace with the help of the Holy Spirit and I know where my dad is. I am grasping for “what I have in the house”. What I have is God’s love, my family, and confidence in God’s promises.

Just as the lady feels she has nothing but a small jar of oil, God steps in and fills all the jars to the rim. The oil flows until there are no more jars. He has filled her needs as He always promises. God has done the same for me.

As tears flowed to the point my eyes stung and were dry, He filled my heart with His love and comfort. God reminded me constantly of the beautiful life my family had when my dad was with us. The family vacations we took every year, the family reunions, the special Christmas presents, the food we enjoyed together, weddings, graduations, births, and most of all his silly jokes.

God knew I needed replenishing just like the lady needed her oil jars filled to be restored and free of debt. He knew that just assuring He was with me and my family allowed my heart to overfill with love instead of sadness. He replenished me as He always does.

Thank you for being here as I return to blogging. May God bless you each and every day! LoLo

Hear My Prayer, Oh Lord.

LoLo Roberts

Hear my prayer, O Lord; answer my plea because you are faithful to your promises. Don’t bring me to trial! For as compared with you, no one is perfect. My enemies chased and caught me. They have knocked me to the ground. They force me to live in the darkness like those in the grave. I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear. I remember the glorious miracles you did in days of long ago. I reach out for you. I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain. Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens; don’t turn away from me or I shall die. Let me see your kindness to me in the morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for my prayer is sincere. Save me from my enemies. O Lord, I run to you to hide me. Help me to do your will, for you are my God. Lead me in good paths, for your Spirit is good. Lord, saving me will bring glory to your name. Bring me out of all this trouble because you are true to your promises. And because you are loving and kind to me, cut off all my enemies and destroy those who are trying to harm me; for I am your servant. Psalm 143:1-12

I absolutely love this prayer and passage. I find myself reading it over and over. It addresses so many things; imperfection, losing to temptation, depression, guidance, rescue, being faithful, and redeemed.

I run this plea from David through my mind over and over. I am broken and You will forgive me. My enemies (the division in America) chased and caught me. The media and opinions have beaten me down. I need to be pulled from the darkness. Anxiety, fear, worry, and paranoia surround me. Vaccine conspiracy, abortion arguments, secularism, hatred, continued Covid deaths……… rescue me oh Lord.

How can I be exhausted? I am a gratitude coach finding the good in everything but I must admit Satan is really thriving in this chaos. We must pull ourselves out of this muck and into the peace and love God offers us.

I don’t think there is a day that passes that I don’t hear the fighting over to vaccinate or not vaccinate. Why fight? If you believe the vaccine is beneficial, get vaccinated. If you don’t believe the vaccine is beneficial, don’t. Please don’t think there is only one correct answer and most of all don’t become hateful if others don’t agree with you. This is a personal choice. A choice you believe is best for you and your family without regrets either way. Same with abortion, this should be a discussion between you and God, not earthly men and women. A decision made on either of these two topic should be in prayer with Our Holy Father. He will tell you what is best.

Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

1 Peter 2:7

We are blessed to live in the United States and have the freedom to choose. Do you realize that less than 20% of the world now live in what is considered a “free” country? We may walk into any church we choose to worship in, we have the privilege to choose a president, I can choose how I want to spend my money, who I choose to marry, and so much more. There are places in the world have no freedom of religion and are constantly persecuted or killed for their beliefs. Places where marriages are arranged. There are dictatorships that hold most of the wealth and leave the people they lead in poverty and destitute. We are incredibly blessed to have our freedom, why not preserve it?

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

Colassians 3:16

I ask you to read David’s cry for God to hear his prayers in Psalm 143:1-12. Meditate over it deeply and ask God to change you heart or rescue you for the darkness we are living in. Ask God to shine His loving light onto you showing you how blessed we truly are. My love and gratitude for you! LoLo

Allow God to Take It

LoLo Roberts

Every person in this world will wake up with a struggle. It may be a small struggle like you have overbooked yourself and will be running constantly from meeting to meeting. It may be that you and your spouse had a fight that wasn’t resolved before falling asleep. Possibly you have rent due today with a negative bank account. I guarantee, everyone woke up to a stuggle.

I have been waking up to the same struggles for a while now. My dad is struggling to overcome pancreatic cancer. My daughter and grandbaby are in a high-risk pregnancy that requires a fetal medicine team for monitoring and different care that her first pregnancy. Big struggles, health struggles, yet I am walking in peace. How you may ask? Let me get to that.

It hasn’t always been this way. In the past, I relied on my own knowledge and understanding of how I could “fix” every situation. The minute someone told me their struggle I would automatically (without thinking) begin to solve their problem. It came very naturally to me. I thought it was my “special gift”. I was wrong. I was really just giving earthly suggestion on how to put a Band-Aid on the struggle.

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

How do I wake up every morning with my struggles and smile, look up, and say “Thank you God! Thank you for today’s struggle!”? That’s right, I do it with God’s love and gratitude. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying ignore the problem with blind bliss. I am saying trust God and His plan and find gratitude in every situation. Yes, every situation and ask God to take your struggle.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

You see, whatever your struggle is, God knows about it. He planned your life. You may have thrown in your own free will to take it down a different path. I did this. Many years ago I got addicted to the power of a wallet full of credit cards. I struggled to pay the minimum payments on 17 credit cards with a $41,000 debt load. I couldn’t get out of debt. I was smothering myself. I couldn’t sleep, I constantly worried about the debt, my mind was so jumbled trying to figure out how to clear this debt. One day God “pressured” me to make this the day to handle this debt. I felt Him strongly “encouraging” me to confess to Him and my husband that I had made a mistake and I needed forgiveness and grace.

I cried and prayed all day long. I confessed my overspending sin to God and asked for forgiveness and help. My husband came home from work and he saw me sitting on the couch with my eyes swollen, red, and bloodshot from crying all day. I went into the confession that God had told me I needed to complete. This was the day to share my debt with my husband. My husband listened intently as I spewed out words and tears of how this happened over seven years and that I could no longer hide it.

My husband looked at me and said, “We are going to pay off the debt and never talk about it again.” I looked up and asked, “Why are you giving me this grace? Why aren’t you mad at me? I thought you would divorce me and leave me alone to pay this debt myself.”. His response was, “I am giving you grace and forgiveness because some day down the road I may need it from you.”.

Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him.

Please notice the difference of me handling my struggle and changing the focus to God stepping in. The difference is dark and LIGHT. I know God, through the Holy Spirit, put such a heaviness on my heart to get this struggle behind me because His plan was so beautiful. In one small God inspired conversation with my husband the struggle was solved. My husband and I grew closer because of that conversation.

This example and testimony to God understanding our struggles perfectly allows me to wake up in the morning with Him. Knowing my loving Father is with me always and wants the best for me allows me to trust His plan for my struggles. I am human. I do still get initial twinges of anxiety and worry when a new struggle arises in my life. I handle this by taking the deepest breath I can and in my mind at the same time I say, “God’s love in (on inhale) my gratitude out (on exhale).” This helps me to remember as I breathe in that God is within me and filling me with His love always and I am always going to be grateful for that love. For that love is what carries us through our struggles.

God’s is infallible. The word infallible means “incapable of error.” If something is infallible, it is never wrong and thus absolutely trustworthy. God is infallible, then so will be His Word and we can always trust Him.

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

I love and pray for each of you and I am grateful you are here reading my blog. LoLo

Heavenly Father, I am praying today for those reading this blog. I know they have struggles Father and I know You are with them. Please give them peace in their hearts, let the Holy Spirit guide them to turn to You and ask for help. Bless them with the peace of knowing You want only the best for them and if they surrender their struggle You will not turn away. You are our good and loving Father who can heal, strengthen, extend grace and mercy and bless His children. In Jesus’ holy and precious name, I pray for these readers. Amen

Faith Catalysts

LoLo Roberts

This morning at Chase Oaks Church I heard the most inspiring and understood message from our senior pastor, Jeff Jones. This message truly helped me realize the path I had taken to start my ministry. He explained the faith catalysts that lead you to your purpose that God has planned for you. It’s so powerful and I want to share it with you.

The first catalyst he spoke of is practical Bible teaching. This doesn’t mean to read the Bible but to put the Living Bible into action. Apply the Bible to your life each and every day. Think before reacting, what does the Bible teach us to do in this situation? Ask God before asking yourself. The Bible teaches us how to live in every situation choosing good over evil. Every issue is address by God in His divinely inspired Word. Use it always and in every situation.

This catalyst truly was the first step for me to change and transform my heart. This is where I learned to trust God. I had many trials coming my way daily, way more than I could handle. I remembered a pastor once saying, “You won’t handle anything on your own. You have to ask God to handle it for you.” I went to the Bible and it was there for me to see and apply.

“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” –Psalm 34:17

The second faith catalyst Jeff spoke of was providential relationships. I scratched my head on this one, “Wait, what???”. He began to explain that God puts people (provides people) in our lives to grow our faith. There are no “chance” meetings, only “God provided” meetings. Another AH-HA moment for me and my ministry. I had started Grateful Gratitude to share my gratitude and appreciate the blessings God has given me. It was a good start but soon He placed people in front of me to do a totally different type of work. That work was a ministry.

Shortly after starting my gratitude walk He introduced me to a local crime advocate that saw my ministry clearly and asked me to help local victims of violent crime. She has given me the opportunity to gift gratitude hearts to these women and children and instill HOPE in them. I do this by having them hold the gratitude heart and expressing gratitude for something God has blessed them with. It could be the security of a job, a safe place to live, healthy children, or anything that turns their anxiety and worries back to God. And yes, again, it was in the Bible for me to read.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. Luke 12:31 

Faith catalyst number three, your private disciplines. May I just say I love the word “disciplines” because it reminds of the word disciples. So our private disciplines are how we connect with God in private. We do this by reading the Bible, praying, speaking in conversation throughout the day with God, and any intentional activities that draw us closer to God.

I found myself after starting my ministry I was starting to help those God put in my path. These people needed hope and to help them I needed to study Him more. Daily, I would listen to inspirational messages on YouTube like Above Inspiration or a sermon from a pastor that the sermon title drew me in. This led to me watching more informational videos on TUBI like “Drive Through History The Gospels” and “Jesus the Game Changer”. These are short episodes that I could learn more about Jesus and His ministry and Christianity in small bites. I took notes so I wouldn’t forget. I have include links for you to discover these wonderful series. Another fabulous source of information is Bible Talk TV.

https://tubitv.com/series/300005343/drive-thru-history-the-gospels

https://tubitv.com/series/300005751/jesus-the-game-changer?start=true

https://bibletalk.tv

Number four faith catalyst is our personal ministry. I have talked about how I led up to working at a ministry but I wasn’t yet at my “personal ministry”. I was serving others but I needed to dig deep in my heart and find out what my life experiences were and how could I best use them. I have spoken many times that I was a single mom and never knowing how I would pay my mortgage of feed my child. My ex-husband became addicted to methamphetamines and alcohol. He was not present and it was a very dark time in my life. How could I share this experience with others taking this walk and give them HOPE?

There was only one way, forgiveness. Once I forgave my ex-husband truly in my heart God opened my eyes. He was telling me, “You don’t have to specifically help women with the same problem, you have to not be ashamed to tell your story. I will help others see your faith in Me through your walk.” It was that simple. Forgive whatever you hold onto so God can help be a catalyst to your personal ministry. Guess what? It was there in the Bible for me to read and apply.


But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. Psalm 130:4

Lastly, the fifth faith catalyst is our pivotal circumstances. What negative and positive things has God walk through with you that you can testify for His glory? First, you must recognize that trials are for us to see God’s goodness. You won’t be able to move through this step if you only see bad in negative situations. Let me give you an example of this going back to my first marriage.

When I was married to my first husband I struggled daily with if he would come home, was he with another woman, would he wreck his truck and kill someone or himself? I would lie to my family about my home life and my marriage until I could no longer take it. He came home one night and fell to the ground in our front yard. I opened the front door to see him rolling in the grass saying, “The devil is in me, get him out. Help me.” I didn’t want to turn my back on my husband but I no longer wanted to suffer or not have a happy life. I was shielding a small daughter from this and we both deserved better.

I filed for divorce and moved to Texas for a better life. My daughter and I flourished here. I met my wonderful husband, Wes and we just celebrated fifteen years of marriage. I had this awful first marriage. How was I going to see good in that? I prayed and said to God that I wanted to forgive my first husband and move forward in a positive light. God answered that I have to forgive him so I could move on. I first thought that was an impossibility. I soon realized that my first husband did have good qualities along with his demons. He loved my daughter dearly. He was so proud to be her father. He was a hard worker before his addiction and provided for us. As I started listing thing good about him (I am confident with God’s suggestions) the dark spot in my heart started to light up. Also, I recognized that God blessed me with a second husband that was so opposite of the first and He rewarding me for understanding the walk He took me through was for good. Forgiveness and gratitude brought me through and opened my eyes.

Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. 1 Timothy 4:4

My life has changed since opening my heart to what God’s purpose is for me. I understand that we are here a short time and all God asks us to do is accept His son, Jesus Christ, know only one God, and love our brothers and sisters. When we do this, we find our purpose and Hid good on earth. Blessing and my gratitude-LoLo

Here is the link to Pastor Jeff’s message if you would like to watch it.

Don’t Offer Pity, Offer Prayer

LoLo Roberts

It seems like I hear more and more, “I feel so sorry for that person!” They go on to say that the person has cancer, lost their job, filed for divorce, are struggling financially, lost their home, lost a family member to Covid, crashed their car, and the list goes on.

We have been taught to say, “I’m sorry.” when someone gives us sad news and sharing with us what their struggles are. Haven’t we also been taught to pray for our brothers and sisters?

Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

I recently was blessed to share hearts and pray over women that were victims of violent crime in my community. I think this is truly the moment that I felt so many people pitying one and other. I heard volunteers tell victims, “It’s so awful what you have been through. That’s so hard.” It broke my heart because I approach this so differently. I didn’t ask a victim their story, I ask what prayers they needed and then I prayed with them.

Jesus taught us to love one another and pray for one another. There is no judgement or pity in love. We are not to “form” opinions on someone’s situation but to accept and love. I’m sorry if this seems harsh but most of the women I met that night were beautiful, strong women that just wanted someone to reassure them that they would be alright. They wanted to know someone else went through this and survived and moved onto a better life. They wanted prayers, not pity.

After praying deeply for these women I recognized that there are many different names of God. These names can be used when praying specific prayers. I always started my prayers with Heavenly Father because He is my Father in heaven. I now use some of His other names, powerful names when I pray. I would like to share a few with you.

The name Jehovah Jireh has become a strong Godly name in my prayers. Jehovah Jireh means “Our Provider”. He is the One that always provides that unexpected money to pay a bill we couldn’t pay or the One that gives us just the right words to share with someone in pain. Sometimes I have had no words to comfort someone and then Jehovah Jireh provided the right words with the most meaning.

Jehovah Jireh, I am coming to You today for provision. My bank account is drained and my pantry is bare but I know You are my Provider. You always make a way for me. You always show up for me and never let me down. Jehovah Jireh I trust in You and I know You are with me and will provide for me. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.

Another name for God is Jehovah Rapha meaning “God who heals”. I am praying constantly to Jehovah Rapha for my dad and his cancer walk, my daughter and grandbaby in their walk with gastroschisis, my cleaning lady with continual health problems, a woman I met with a broken heart, too many to mention for healing from anxiety and depression.

Jehovah Rapha, I have many to pray for today. Many people that surround me are broken and need healed. Jehovah Rapha please comfort, strengthen, and touch my dad, Lexie, Mila, Amber, Jennifer, Kara, Danielle, Ms. Vee, Ryland, and Courtney with physical and mental healing. I know You only want the best for us so please allow these people to open their hearts and accept Your healing. I love and trust You and in Jesus’ name, I offer this prayer. Amen.

Next I want to introduce you to Our God, Abba. Abba means Father as well as Father I obey You. This is the sweetest most intimate name I use when praying. Just like I want to always make my earthly father pleased with me, I want this for my Heavenly Father. Abba is such a soft and comforting name. It is said in a breath type way Ahh-Bahh. If you say it slowly and genuinely if offers such a sense of innocence. When we pray to Abba, Our God, we are opening ourselves up to childlike prayer. Innocent, gentle, big-eyed prayer.

Abba, my loving Abba. You see me for who I am and You still love me unconditionally. I know I am nothing without You and even though I am in this broken world You never leave me. Every day Abba I sin and do wrong, yet You are always the first to forgive me and forget. I am grateful for Your love Abba and in Jesus precious and holy name, I say this prayer. Amen.

The last name I want to share with you is Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is peace. Goodness, so many times in the last year and a half I have cried out to Jehovah Shalom. Peace is the only way to combat anxiety and fear. Anxiety and fear are the ways Satan tries to control our thoughts and lives. Jehovah Shalom offers calming and beautiful peace. He can place peace in our hearts and minds immediately. I describe it as completeness, harmony, and “no worries”.

Jehovah Shalom, You are my peace. I am feeling anxious and I need Your comfort and reassurance of peace. Breathe Your love into my heart and mind to clear my anxiety and remind me that You never send mental unbalance to me. Protect me from the enemy and his wicked ways and bless me with Your peace, the peace that is life changing. Thank You Jehovah Shalom for Your constant stream of comfort. I love You and in Jesus’ name, I pray for peace. Amen.

There are so many name of God that I can share with you but I ask you to seek them out on your own. I found when I learned about God’s powerful names my prayers changed. My heart changed. My love for Him changed. May God bless you and thank you for reading my blog-LoLo