FAITH CAPSULE: Focus on God and be steadfast not to contradict the journey to advance.

Genesis 19:12-26, Daniel 1

It is time to advance in the calling of the Lord. 
The process of advancing in the calling of the Lord demands having the trust to have a clean heart and a steadfast spirit. 
In addition to a clean heart and steadfast spirit, maintain focus and let the past be in the past by ignoring the multitude in life. 
Maintaining focus is crucial to making advance in the calling of the Lord. 
The focus will keep one from distraction. 
A failure to maintain focus will lead one to distraction. 
Distraction can lead to sudden and untimely death for its victims. 
Daniel is an example that denied distraction.
Daniel, while in captivity, maintained focus when he purposed in his heart not to defile God. 
The king appointed Daniel and his brothers with a daily provision of delicacies, wine, and three years of training.
It is possible to sound good for a young captive to accept, but to Daniel, it was considered not to focus wrongly.   
Daniel 1:8 records the response of Daniel not to defile himself, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore, he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”  
Daniel kept focus on becoming a vessel for God, and he made advancement everywhere he turned. 
Daniel engaged his journey in captivity with a purposeful heart. 
He allowed God to reign in his life when he refused to defile his body (the temple of God). 
Daniel was steadfast in not contradicting his journey to advance. 
The wife of Lot could not let the past be in the past.
She disregarded the command of God that said to her: “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” (Genesis 19:17) 
The wife of Lot did the opposite when she looked back and became a pillar of salt (Genesis19:26) 
Whatever she was looking for in her past represents a multitude (unnecessary baggage). 
The multitude in her life caused her to become a pillar of salt and not escape as ordained for her by God. 
No one goes forward by looking back. 
The wife of Lot is a testimony to the truth that no one sets sight on the past and can see what is ahead. 
The case of her is that of a shifted focus. 
Lot must have been steadfast, looking forward in obedience to the direction of the word of God.
Daniel could not allow any distraction but focused on being steadfast in his life journey.
It is time to advance in the calling of God, focusing on His word and avoiding distraction.

Prayer for today: Ask for the strength of God to focus on Him.