Connection Magazine, The Premier Good News Publication www.connectionmagazine.org

God's Joy Is My Strength
by Danita Harris

One of the most asked questions that people want to know about me is "How are you so perky and upbeat at 5:30 in the morning"? My response is simply "GOD". I could not do what I do if it wasn't for my faith in God. Every day before I go on the air I say a prayer that the people would see Jesus in me. You see, it's not about "Danita" and how "Danita" feels. If that were the case, you would see a very sleepy and tired news anchor in the mornings. But because I believe what I do is truly under God's direction, He gives me the strength and energy to accomplish it. I love what I do and it brings me joy to make people smile.

Now, did I ever see myself being in front of a camera? NO!!! I was the poster child for low self esteem for a very long time. I would tell myself that I was unattractive, not articulate enough, not smart enough, etc. If it was a negative thought, I said it to myself. So how did I come out of it? Through my "relationship" with Jesus Christ. You see, you can accept Jesus into your heart and not have a "relationship" with Him and that was my story. I went to church on Sundays, sang in the choir, and told everyone that I knew the Lord. But I didn't communicate with Him and study His word like I should. When we accept Christ, we must understand that He desires to commune with us. He wants us to talk to Him and then we should be open to hear what knowledge and wisdom He will impart to us. And we must OBEY his word.

We come to God with a lot of mess in our backyard and we expect Him to clean it up immediately, with very little effort on our part. Well let me tell you, it doesn't work that way. There is a process that we must go through. In my case, I had to confess that I was tired of feeling bad about myself. I wanted to have an inner joy and peace. Some of us don't want to fess up to God about our "stuff" and yet we want him to fix it. Once I started praying to God about my feelings and immersed myself in His word, I realized that even though I thought I was "nothing" God always saw me as "something" very special. He was just waiting for me to open up so that he could show me how much love he had for me.

Once I embraced the power of God's love, I began to love myself. No more self-defeating thoughts that started with "I'm not" and "I can't". They were replaced with "I am more than a conqueror", "I am a child of the most High God", and "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And the cherry on top was the full knowledge in mind, body and spirit that GOD LOVES ME! WOW! If you just meditate on those three words, I guarantee you the fear and negativity that may be haunting you right now will flee. 1John4:18 "There is no fear in love; perfect love drives our all fear..."

So I stepped out on faith and gave a fear a big knockout! I no longer believed that God wanted me to stay hidden behind a camera...never seen and never heard. Instead, he showed me that once I took that step of faith, He was going to run with me the rest of the way. But I had to step out in order to step up. I had to step out in order for God to step in and show His greatness.

When you watch me on television, I pray that you see the light of Jesus in me. Because if it wasn't for His grace in my life, I would still be that scared young lady living beneath her potential in God.

Danita Harris is an anchor at WEWS News Channel 5 and can be seen daily on Good Morning Cleveland and News Channel 5 at Noon. She loves to write poetry, sing, and volunteer with The Girls Club of Ohio. Danita loves to encourage people in the Lord, and prays everyday that people would see the light of the Lord in her life.

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