Are you strong, mentally, physically, spiritually, or emotionally?
If you said yes then you are in danger. You see God resists the proud and His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Samson was the strongest man who ever lived. When he was born an angel of the Lord told his mother he should never cut his hair. His strength came from
God’s spirit.
Judges 14:6: And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart.
Judges 15:14: Then the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands.
Even though he had physical strength he had weak habits. He made poor choices when it came to women, and he never tried to change.
He married a Philistine woman that betrayed him. He slept with a harlot in Gaza. He fell in love with Delilah who later betrayed him for money. He chose women based on looks not character. Because he was so strong he thought he could not be defeated. Delilah (which means delicate) did not appear to be a threat to him.
Do you think it will never happen to me?His enemy the Philistines could not defeat him because of the strength that God gave him. They knew that he had a weakness for women. They went to Delilah and offered her money if she could find out the secret of his strength. So she directly asked him. “Tell me where your strength lies.” He told her a false answer and then she would try to bind him and he would break free. This happened three times, so he knew she was trying to catch him. He
rationalized away the danger, and he made a compromise by not leaving someone that was not good for him, and trying to hurt him.
Are you rationalizing away your problems? Are you making compromises in your life when it comes to your habits or who your friends are?
If you and I don’t deal with our weakness or problems they will keep reappearing and get worse. Just like the Philistines kept coming after Samson, problems will keep coming back at us. Just like Samson’s bad habits with women our bad habits will come up again and again if we don’t deal with them.
She kept pestering him for his secret of his strength. She said to him if you really loved me you would tell me. Have you ever had some one say this to you?
“If you really love me you would do this for me”. If you hear someone say this look out! If you really love me you will have sex with me. If you really love me you would lie for me. Any person who tries to make you prove your love is probably not the right one, and does not have your best interests in mind. Remember that real love won’t ask you to compromise your standards.
He used bad judgment and finally broke down and told her what he thought was his secret (if he cut his hair he would loose his strength). He became comfortable with her even though he knew she had tried to hurt him (he fell asleep in her lap).
Are you letting sin cloud your judgment? Are you becoming comfortable with the bad company you keep, and the repetition of bad habits?
She cut his hair while he slept. The Philistines came and blinded him and captured him. Judges 16:20: He awoke from his sleep and said “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that The Lord had departed from him. Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes. They bound him with Bronze fetters and he became a grinder in the prison.
Don’t let sin blind you and don’t let your repeated disobedience cause the Lord to leave you defenseless to fend for yourself
So, what things can we learn from this story?
1. Moral compromise (even the small ones) will make you vulnerable!
They can add up and keep coming at you and lead to a big fall
2. Temptation comes to you in attractive packages.
Delilah was good looking to him, so he stayed even when he knew she wanted to do him harm. Don’t let the outside appearance fool you. The fruit in the Garden of Eden looked good. Satan knows how to package sin so it looks good to us.
3. Temptation comes when we choose the wrong company
1 Corinthians 15:33: Evil company corrupts good habits.
Who do you choose to hang around with? Are you picking your friends wisely?
4. Sin is intoxicating. Sin will cloud your judgment.
When you sin it will feel good at first. It will get you excited. It will cloud your judgment and you will do it again and again and make more bad decisions.
Sin will blind you, sin will find you, and sin will grind you.
Sin will blind you. It will make you not see things clearly, like Samson did not see Delilah as a threat. You will not see things as a threat that are and do them. Things that in the long run will harm you, like cheat on your loved ones, or do drugs or drink.
Sin will find you. If you compromise and put yourself near temptation you will eventually take the bait, like Samson who took the bait hooker line and sinker. You will not be able to hide this from God. Sin will find you out. You will fall away from God and be defenseless.
Sin will Grind you. Samson in the end became a slave, the grinder at the prison. Sin will destroy you, grinding you down. It will take away your strength as it took Samson’s, and it will in the end take away the best things in your life; your wife or husband, your health (aids), your family.
The good news is God can give people second chances, even if you sin and disobey God.
Judges: 22 and 29-30: And the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaven. Then Samson called to the Lord saying, “Lord God remember me I pray! Strengthen me. I pray, just this once. O God, that I may take vengeance on these Philistines.” Samson took hold of the two middle pillars that supported the temple. Then Samson said. “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it.
Samson got a second chance to redeem himself and help his people against the Philistines. You may get a second chance but there may still be consequences for sin. Samson in the end died. He could have defeated the Philistines from the start but he compromised, and messed around with sin. Don’t compromise, don’t tempt yourself, and be careful who you hang out with.
Are you strong, mentally, physically, spiritually, or emotionally?
This is a great set by some of the best in bluegrass. The sound quality is pretty good too!
The canyon has four parts divided by upper, bottom half of the upper, middle and lower.
The pools are often large but not as deep as in the middle section and you can navigate with just getting your feet wet in most cases. Expect to do a little wading in this part of the canyon, but no real swimming is required. There are several access points to the upper section.
You can access from the north side of the canyon at both Maxwell Trail and Tramway Trail that are the ends of FR 81E that forks near the end. These trails switch back down into the canyon from the rim and are steep but are well maintained Forest Service trails. You can also enter from the south at FR 142E which is a little steeper and more rugged trail. There are some pictographs on the north side of the canyon just downstream from the Maxwell trail that are interesting to visit. 
This upper part of the canyon is a great day hike destination to get a feel for what this place is like. The travel in this upper section is much easier than the the middle section of the canyon
The bottom half of the upper canyon: This part is accessed by two trails from the south side of the canyon. One is the Calloway Trail at the end of FR 142B and the other is an unnamed trail at the end of FR 142A. the Calloway Trail is a steep switch back decent from the rim down into the canyon but the trail is maintained and well built. The trail at the end of FR 142A is more of a scramble in places and pretty steep. This bottom half of the upper canyon is more difficult to travel. In the canyon between these two entrances are some places you will have to swim to get past. In one place there are two large deep pools right under some power lines that cross over the canyon. These pools have steep white cliffs on both sides. 
This is a great place to go for a day hike and swim on a hot day to get a feel for what West Clear Creek is all about. 
If you go farther down stream toward FR 142 A there is a place that was hard to get past with another large pool where I just jumped into the water instead of trying to climb around it. Some people make a long loop by going down Calloway trail at FR 142B and then go down the canyon and come out at FR 142A. this could be an overnight trip or a very very long day. 
The middle: this part of the canyon is from FR 142A down to where trail #17 comes down off the rim. To my knowledge there are no access point in this whole section (unless you rock climb). For me this is what West Clear Creek is all about. Remote solitude, with deep still pools reflecting canyon walls. This part of the canyon the travel is rugged and difficult and will test even the most fit outdoor enthusiast. 
After you negotiate the White Box the canyon opens up again and travel is boulder hopping along the creek. The next major landmark in the middle section is a hanging spring. This is one of the most beautiful spots in the canyon. A spring coming out of the south wall of the canyon drops water like a shower right into the middle of the stream. Often this spring is covered with yellow columbine flowers to add to the effect. There are some good camping sites that can be found near this spring. 
Farther down stream the canyon narrows again and this time the cliffs are red and there is a series of tight slots with big pools of water you must swim. This is called the Red Box. 
The Red box has more pools than the White Box and is a longer section but none of it's pools are as big or as long as the one big one in the White Box. 
This red Box section has beautiful red cliffs and pool after pool of still water. There are pretty much no safe camp sites in this area where you can get up above the creek in case of floods
So camp before this section if you get to it late in the day or you will have to rush through one of the best parts of the canyon in order to set up a safe camp while there is still day light. After the Red Box again the canyon opens up and you are back to boulder hopping and fighting through brush. By now you will be a pro at this type of travel. Then again the canyon closes back in for some more swimming. You will find hopping from boulder to boulder with wet feet and a water logged pack (heavy) will wear you out. and you will sleep well each night from sheer exhaustion. 
The next major feature or landmark is the water fall. This is my favorite spot in the whole canyon. It has a big pool at the base of the falls to swim in and it is a great place to stay the night. We camped here on our second night coming down the canyon from FR 142A. 
To get past this obstacle (waterfall) you need to climb up and around on the south side. This place has some flat rock benches or ledges up above the creek that are good campsites. I have come in from the rim on trail #17 and stayed here overnight several times now. Often staying two nights just to enjoy this spot and explore and swim for the day without the weight of a pack. Oh and did I tell you this creek is full of trout and many of the pools in the middle section are rarely fished. After a day of fun and rest at the falls I then head back out. Once you are at the falls you can get out in one day. Down stream from the falls there are at least two or three more swims and then the canyon opens back up the rest of the way down to Bull Pen Ranch. 
The Lower: This part of the canyon is a wide canyon with a well traveled trail (Trail #17) coming up from Bull Pen Ranch. This is the most visited part of the canyon and also the hottest and most uninteresting in my view. In many cases the trail takes you away from the creek and it only crosses four or five times in five miles.
This is a real fine quality soundboard recording of Jethro Tull from the Songs From The Wood time period. It has several songs from that album as well as the great ones fom earlier albums.