Keep Pursuing Jesus All of Your Life!

Dear Friends,                                                                                                                                                  

Words could never express the incredible joy that filled my heart as your priceless emails and charts came in from the Summer Devotions Pursuit...

Spilling off of the pages are testimonies of each of you ~ walking with Jesus, finding Him to be so real, experiencing the true fulfillment He brings, being nourished by His Word, delighting in talking with Him, and discovering the power of accountability in seeking Him. 

This is what you were created for!  This is where you find true joy.  This is what will cause your soul to be increasingly filled and bubble over to reach others for Jesus - and I see Him doing exactly this in your hearts as you seek Him!

Next to the joy of personally knowing Jesus, nothing makes me happier than to see you all experiencing Him this way!!!

Oh sisters, let this only be the beginning of a lifetime of walking with Jesus in this way! 

Our desire is that the Summer Devotions Pursuit would give you a taste of what walking with Jesus is like that will create in you a passion and habit to continue to seek Him for as long as you are on this earth!  Keep going deeper with Jesus - daily seek His face, fill your heart with His Word, and live each moment with Him.   As you do, you will find that Jesus only grows more beautiful to you, His Truth continues to impact in your heart, and your life is flooded with deeper purpose as you see it in light of Jesus and His Truth.

He is what we need, what our soul craves, and is the only One who "...satisfies the longing soul."  Psalm 107:9

We are praying for you as you continue to walk with and seek Jesus!

I am so excited to continue to walk with Him together,

Amy Vest

“Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”  Hosea 6:3

Encouraging Testimonies from the Summer Pursuit

As we wrap up the Summer Pursuit 2012, we wanted to share a few testimonies of what Jesus does as you seek Him!  It was such a blessing to hear story after story of God's mighty work in hearts and lives as young women dedicated their summer to seek Him!  This is what happens when you seek our amazing God!

Here are a few testimonies we received from young women who took the pursuit:

The Summer Pursuit has taught me more about God and made it come to life for me!  It made God come closer to me and help me understand. ~ Joy

This summer when I signed up and made a commitment to read my Bible every day, I had no idea what a challenge it would be!  God showed me how much He wanted me to read and love His Word.  It was hard to get up and study His Word every day, but when I would get into the Bible, the Lord really drew me to Himself in a special way.  ~ Bethany

"The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple." Psalm 19.  I have done the Summer challenge several times, yet each time I learn more and grow closer to Him than before.  You can never stop learning from God's Word.  ~ Anna

The Summer Pursuit was an answer to my prayers ~ I was having difficulty setting aside time each day for devotions and prayed the Lord would help me to find a way to make my time with Him a more regular practice.  Not only did the Summer Pursuit help me to do that, but it also helped me by making me accountable to others and to hide His Word in my heart.  It really made a difference in my life.  ~ Havala

Throughout the year, I have been struggling to do devotions daily, but I just kept on saying to myself, "I'll do my devotions this evening, when I'm not so busy."  I would almost always forget.  Summer Pursuit has helped me to do devotions daily and not to only read a few verses from the Bible every once in a while.  It has also brought me closer to God so that when I pray, I always remember that He is listening to me. ~ Cecily
I had so much fun doing the Summer Pursuit, Jesus can really and truly change your life forever and I am glad that this program gave me the opportunity allow Him to do so."  ~ Victoria

                                                                        (Elisabeth)

I really enjoyed it.  It was a wonderful time for me to grow closer to the Lord with having to keep track and make sure I kept up with my Bible reading and I hope that now that will be a habit and I will read God's Word every day. ~ Elisabeth

Summer Pursuit Reward Package Help

For those of you who completed the Summer Pursuit, you should have received - or will be receiving - your reward package!  Here is a picture of the helping hands who so cheerfully got them in the mail to you!  May you continue to treasure the greatest reward of knowing Jesus better!

"We didn't want to stop."

"I did the Summer Devotions Pursuit this summer and was blessed. I am faithful in doing devotions every day, but it was such a blessing to have an accountability partner to encourage and pray for me. My accountability partner and I decided to continue memorizing Scripture together and to share prayer requests with one another even after the Summer Devotions Pursuit ended. We didn't want to stop."  ~ Cassidy

Every day counts

Every day counts...

Stop and think about it. In your life - moments add up to hours, which add up to days, which add up to years. Who you are today is a result of the things that took place in the days leading up until today. The choices you make in every moment - can either lead you closer to Jesus or further from Him.

God is at work in your life - extending His grace to you and seeking to draw you closer to Him, make you more like Jesus, and do His work through you!

He calls you and gives you grace to respond. We need the Lord's help with this every moment, in order for this to come to pass.

Every day you must receive that grace, moment by moment, to choose to do just that - in your thoughts, what you choose to believe, your use of time, what you listen to and watch, who you spend time with, what you place as your first priority, etc.!

This happens as we walk in fellowship with Him, live in obedient surrender, and follow His leading.

For example, in your life today:
- When you are tempted to let your mind wander or dwell on something that is not pleasing to Jesus - receive His grace to instead turn your mind to Him, His beauty, and His Word.
-When you have free time and start to get on the internet and spend lots of time reading blogs, watching videos, etc. - instead get into the word of GOD and let it fill you and build you up in Him!
- When you need to make a choice, ask, "Will this bring me closer to Jesus, or draw me away from Him?" Let this direct you to God's best for you in each moment of your day.

When you receive the Lord's grace and choose the things that will draw you closer to Him, He floods you with His life and amazing things happen!

Living like this day after day will add up to an amazing relationship with Jesus that transforms every aspect of your life!

Let today count in the right way - let it be a day that draws you closer to Jesus.

"Choose this day whom you will serve..."  Joshua 24:15

Registration Opens Today for the "Beautiful to God" Conference!

You are invited to join us for a special time of encouragement in personally discovering the fulfillment of a relationship with Christ, the power of basing your life on the Truth of His Word, and the joy of living a life that is beautiful to Him!  (You can view the invitation video by clicking on the picture above.)

Who: Young women, their mothers, grandmothers, and mentors – ages 11-111
Dates: November 16-17th, 2012
Time: 6:30pm-9:45pm Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm Saturday
Location: Roseville, Minnesota
Cost: $25.00 per person before October 1st, $30.00 after October 1st
Registration: Brochure/registration form may be printed out at www.lovingthelordministries.org.
Hosted by: Loving the Lord Ministries, Inc.

Topics covered include:
~ Loving Jesus as Your Best Friend
~ The Heart of Real Friendship
~ The Importance of Inner Beauty
~ Finding Your Identity in Christ
~ The Influence of Your Thoughts and Attitude
~ The Power of a Pure Heart
~ The Impact of a Life that Is Beautiful to God
… and more!

For more information: www.lovingthelordministries.org!  
Contact us with questions: events@lovingthelordministries.org.
Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/437652142923879
Please invite your friends, family, and church to join us for this conference! 

Jesus created you to live a life that is fulfilled in Him, that radiates His beauty, and that impacts the lives of everyone you touch for His glory!  Our desire is that through this conference, you would be strengthened to embrace the life that He says is "very precious"!  (1 Peter 3:3-4)

We hope you can join us as we seek Jesus and discover the unparalleled joy of living a life that is beautiful to Him!

“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”
~ Proverbs 31:30

As a little update for the Summer Pursuit

We have been receiving emails from those of you who are in other states and out of the country who are concerned about your charts arriving on time. This is what you can do - today either scan and email a copy of your chart to us or email us with your address and let us know that your chart is on its way. (You can email us at info@lovingthelordministries.org.)  We want you to receive your reward package - though of course it doesn't even compare to the best reward of knowing Jesus!!!  Blessings as you continue to seek Him!

A Summer Pursuit Testimony from a Sister in Australia

"I have been doing the summer pursuit with all of you, but being an Aussie girl my friends and I have been calling it the winter pursuit. I have been learning so much about my Father in Heaven through this that I have never imagined that I would be able to know. I have been looking at the “Beauty of the Lord” and “Falling in Love with Jesus” over the last three months. It has been a great challenge to keeping up with the reading and the memory work every week but with the Lord’s help I have been able to keep on going.  I have been able to learn heaps of verses - I am not very good at memorizing. I think that because I am willing to spend time with God each day, He has given me a good memory and lots to think about and do to get closer to Him and be more like Him... I have learned to really trust the Lord and see the hard times and the trials as the Lord trying to teach me to trust Him more and to seek Him when it is hard."  ~ Michaela, age 20

One of the verses Michaela shared that really helped her to keep looking to Jesus and seeking His beauty and not her own was Psalm 27:4, "One thing have I desired, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple."

Micheala did a lot of her Bible verse memory earlier since she would be working with sheep near the end of the Pursuit - above is a picture of her (in the middle of the picture with her hands out) at work.