“I  find a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with  me.” Romans 7:21.

“O my soul, thou art always striving, yet sin is always stirring; thou fearest the truth of grace, because thou findest the working of sin.  But it will be always thus; thou canst not come out of Egypt, but Amalek will lay wait in the way; the flesh will be sure to trouble thee, although it be never able to conquer thee.  If one therefore sits down and is at rest in sin, it is a sign that Satan is there, the strong man, because his kingdom is in peace; but where there is any work of Christ, there will always be war with sin.  Sin was the womb of death, and only death must be the tomb of sin.  God would have my soul humbled; therefore, though he hath broken my prison, yet he hath left the chain upon my feet:  God would have my graces exercised; therefore, though he hath translated me into the kingdom of life, yet he hath left the Canaanite in the land:  God would have my faith exercised; therefore Goliath still shows himself in the field, that so I may go out to him “in the name of the Lord.”  I will betake me to the strength of Christ; and though I cannot help the rebelling power of sin, yet, through grace, I will labor to prevent the ruling power of it”

Though sin will in believers dwell,
Till death the inmates part,
O Jesus, save me from this hell
Which lurks within my heart.
_________
(A Golden Treasury ~ February 12)