My message this morning has been inspired by the book, "The Power of Joy, Knowing God through the Psalms." This book is a gift that we have written and created for by our ministry featuring the extraordinary photography of Ken Duncan as well as selected verses from the Psalms.

Look at this sad little pug face. Have you ever felt like him? Do you feel like life has gotten you down? If you have ever felt like him, today's message is for you, "Joy: A Faith Lift when Life Gets You Down."

If you need a faith lift, you do it by getting a face lift. You know, as we women get older, we start thinking about it. Some of us actually do it, most of us don't, but we all think it: getting a face-lift. There have been times when I've washed my hair in the morning and the towel was on really nice and tight on my face. Looking in the mirror I thought, "You look pretty good, Sheila. Face is still nice and lifted." However, when the towel came off, down came my face along with all my God-given wrinkles.

The need for face lifts, it's all gravity's fault. So, I wrote a poem just for today, called "Ode to Gravity":

Gravity, oh gravity, what in the world have you done to me?

I'm not the girl I used to be.

When I look in the mirror, I don't recognize that face I see.

My chins have grown and multiplied.

It's gravities fault, pulling my cheeks till they're mortified.

But, it doesn't stop there.

The downward trend pulls everywhere.

The arms, they wobble, right? The chins, they gobble.

The legs, they hobble.

Gravity, oh gravity, what in the world have you done to me?

But, just you wait and see.

From now on, I'm living upside down.

Then eventually, by the time I die. I'll be a new me.

We get a faith lift by getting a face lift. It's free. You don't have to pay for it, don't have to go see a surgeon, in fact by the time we all walk out of here today, you'll all have a free face life, faith lift, thanks to the Lord God Almighty and me. When life gets you down, you get a faith lift through a face lift when you look up into the face of God. Let me say that one more time. When life gets you down, you get a faith lift through a face lift when you look up into the face of God.

Today, I want to be your trainer; I want to help you put some muscles on your faith. A few years back I hired a trainer, I don't know how much good he did me. I did my exercises but I went home and continued to eat the same way. But, any rate, I still went to the gym. And when I'm on one of the cardio machines or I'm curling those weights – (they're baby weights, believe me) I think sometimes that this would be a lot easier if I were doing this on the moon. And when I step on the scale, I always think, wow, just think how little you would weigh if you were doing this on the moon. Gravity weighs us down.

And too often, life pulls us down. We carry things with us, stress, discouragement, depression that weigh us down.

What is weighing you down? For some of you, it's fear. For some of you, it's regrets. For some of you, it's a broken relationship. For some of you, it's failure. But we all have things that weigh us down. However, we can build our faith muscles to where we can lift heavy weights of life. We can, we can! And I'm going to show you how today.

The way you do it is by getting a face lift and looking into the face of God. But, more than that, it is knowing who God is. The antidote to depression, the antidote to unhappiness, the antidote to all of the discouragement that people are feeling today is joy. Now, there's a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is what you feel when things happen to you. Happiness-happenings. Happiness and happenings are interconnected. They affect each other.

Most of you can relate to a day like this. I begin my day by opening my e-mail. "Hurray! Good news!" I feel happy! I go into the office and I open some inner office mail, not such good news. Whoa, where did that happiness go? It's gone as quickly as it came. Then, I go home, I check my voice mail, and there's good news on the phone. I'm happy again! Then I open my mail and there's a bill that I forgot to pay and it has a big old horrible late fee on it. Where did my happiness go? Gone. Happiness goes up, down, up, down, up, down because it depends on the happenings around us.

But joy is that contentment, that knowledge that everything's okay, even when its not. Joy is smiling through the tears. Mission impossible? No, mission possible! It's possible to walk on the moon even when life is dragging you down. It's possible to have joy even when life is falling apart around you. It's possible when you get a faith lift through a face lift, looking into the face of God.

Some of you are saying I don't know want to look into God's face because I'm afraid I might see disappointment. I might see anger. I might even see rejection.

C.S. Lewis wrote the classic series of children's books entitled, The Chronicles of Narnia, They're parables. In Narnia Jesus Christ is represented as this great golden lion, named Aslan. He's fierce and He's strong and He's powerful. He's the hope of Narnia. There is also a little boy named Edmond who did a very naughty thing. As a result, all of Narnia was in chaos. Edmund was in big trouble. You can imagine how Edmund felt when he received a summons from Aslan, the big, fierce lion king.

So, this naughty little boy comes face to face with a fierce lion. With fear and trembling, he kneels before him. He can feel the breath of the lion. He doesn't dare look up into his face because what will he see? Finally, Aslan says "Edmond, Edmond, my beloved boy Edmond, look up. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me."

Edmond finally looks up. What do you think he saw? C.S. Lewis writes it this way: "He saw great golden lion tears." Edmund looked into the face of Aslan and came face to face with the love of Christ."

Today, I want to introduce you to the God of the Psalms because when you look up into the face of God of the Psalms you are going to see a God who loves you, a God who cares about you, and a God who has great, great God tears of love for you.

You are not here by accident. You are here by design. God has a word for every one of you today. He has something He wants you to hear today. And there are different words for different people. So, I will give you a little quiz so you can find your word from God today.

Is your back up against the wall?

Are creditors calling?

Are fellow workers gossiping about you?

Have family members cut you off?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then this is God's word for you: Take refuge! God is your refuge. God says, "I am your refuge. So be glad and sing for joy because I the Lord spread My protection over you." If you look up into the face of God, you will see a God who is a refuge for you, a protector.

Are you lost?

Confused?

Don't know where to turn?

Which path to take? Get more education? Start your own business?

You have troubled relationships and don't know which step to take?

I you answered yes to any of those questions here is God's word for you: Take God's guidance! God says, "I the Lord God will make known to you the path of life. I will fill you with joy in My presence." That's God's word to you today.

Are you weary?

Heartsick?

Worn down by life's challenges?

If you answered yes to any of those, here's God's word for you: Take heart! "I the Lord your God am your strength and your shield. Trust, put your trust in Me the Lord God. I will help you and will give you joy."

Are you in the miry pit of loss or depression?

Are you struggling with anxiety or mourning the loss of a loved one?

If you answered yes to any of these questions then this is God's word for you: Take comfort! "When anxiety is great within you, My consolation, the consolation of God, will bring you joy."

These words of God are promises. And they are just a few of the promises in this little book. The psalms are full of God's promises for joy. As your trainer, I hope you will learn from this lesson that if you want to build your muscles of faith, go to the Psalms. Read one or two or three a day. If you do, you will find that you are going to discover and get to know the God of the Psalms. You will get to know that He is a God who loves you. He is a God who forgives you. He is a God who cares about you. He is a God who will not let you down.

My husband and I have four sons. One summer when our neighbor was away on vacation, Jim and I volunteered to bring in their mail and feed and water their dog for them. One day we took our youngest with us. Nicholas was about four, three or four years old at the time-not pool safe. When we went next door to bring in our neighbors' mail we kept a close eye on Nick because they had a pool. I didn't see or hear a thing. But all of a sudden, my husband turned toward this deep end of the pool covered by a blue pool cover. All of a sudden, I saw him reach down underneath that blue pool cover and yank up our son Nicholas. I had no idea he was down there. He was drowning in the deep end of a pool under a cover where I couldn't see or hear him. I didn't know he was down there. But his father happened to see him slip under the cover and ran to his rescue..

Today you might feel like you are in the deep end of a pool, and the waters are getting pretty close to being over our head. And there's a pool cover over your head. You don't see any way out. But today God wants you to know that right now, He is thrusting His hands toward you, He's got a hold of you, and He's yanking you up. He's taken a hold of you dripping wet, holding you close, He will not let you go.

Take a moment and close your eyes, take a deep breath, and exhale slowly. Think about what's getting you down. Are you afraid to look into the face of God? Are you afraid that He will let you down? Are you afraid that you've done something to make Him mad? Or worse, disappointed? Keep your eyes closed. Now lift your face, tilt your face all the way back, stretch that chin until you can feel the warmth of God shining on your face. Open your spiritual eyes and look into the face of God. You may not see an actual face but you can feel His love.

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for being a God who is faithful. Thank You for being a God who is a refuge to whom we can run when life becomes too scary. Thank You for being a God who provides direction when we are lost and confused. Thank You for being a God who is a source of strength when we are weak. Thank You for being a God who consoles when we mourn. Thank You for being a God who is a rock of salvation. This knowledge lifts us up when we are down. This knowledge gives us joy that no one can take away from us. So we praise You and thank You for being You. How we love You, Amen.

© Copyright Hour of Power 2009. This message was delivered by Sheila Schuller Coleman from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral and aired on the Hour of Power, September 13, 2009.