WHAT I BELIEVE

Here's a little about what I (Anna) believe, and while I am no expert, I may as well try and explain.

This is a list of basic principles that I have been blessed to grow up knowing.

1) God created the universe.  In the very beginning of the Bible is the creation story - how God, according to his great and marvelous plan, crafted out of nothingness sun and moon, day and night; Earth, the heavens, and the universe, and all that is in it; planets, stars, land, sea, fish, mammals, birds - all  animals! - and human beings.  (And he created time, of course, as you will see in the next paragraph.)

2) God Himself was not created.  Unfathomable as this may be - when I try to think of it, it makes my mind go practically insane with bewilderment, confusion, and total awe! - God has existed for all time - before time was even created.  That is, nobody made Him; He made everybody!

3) The Trinity - 3 in 1.  Scarce less fathomable as that God has existed always is that He, His Son - Jesus Christ - and the Holy Spirit are 3-in-1 - 3 persons, 1 "unit", or "being", I suppose, as they say.  The Trinity is all part of God, and was not created, either.  So, as you may have inferred, Jesus is God's Son and not created.

4) Before the fall, the world was sinless.  This does not mean that prior to autumn, the universe was unblemished.  It means that before humans' fall into sin, they did not sin.  All humans were created in the image of God and by God from the dust of the Earth, and Eve was formed from Adam's rib.  (It is likely that Adam and Eve were the first two people.)

Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, and God commanded them that they could eat of any fruit of the Garden except that of one certain tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, I believe.  The Serpent, Satan, tempted Eve to eat of its fruit, and she did, and then gave it to her husband, Adam, and he ate it.  They were and still are - meaning their descendants, meaning people - punished and in sin.

5) Everyone is born into sin.  Nobody is perfect or without sin.  As a remedy, God sent His Son Jesus to the Earth, incarnate, to die and be raised to life, and in so doing, fulfill his Father's plan, defeat death and give all those whom He has chosen, predestined, in the beginning of time to come to know Him truly and fully, a relationship with Him, and everlasting life in Heaven with Himself.

6) God allows sin for a short time in order that He may bring His plans to ultimate completion and to His glory - no one else deserves it, we are incomprehensibly weaker than Him! - but in the end He will defeat it just as He did death.  Sin was not part of His plan, but He allowed for it to happen - and always knew that it would - so that His glory may be revealed at its fullest measure.

7) God is over all, and so much more powerful.  Humans and everything He has created are so much more weak than Him, and it is only by His power that we have any power at all; it is only by His compelling that we have faith in Him at all.  Those who truly believe in His name bear His fruit.

8) He is a forgiving, loving, compassionate God.  God does not begrudge you or hold your sin against you.  If you confess that He is Lord, and that His Son Jesus Christ (part of the Trinity and therefore of one being with the Him, the Father) died on the cross and rose again for your sins, He will completely wipe your sin away and forgive you, because that was the whole point of Jesus dying - he took your sins away so that you could be forgiven!  He is loving, compassionate, and merciful; He is a refuge in the storm; He loves you because He created you for His purpose.  Trust Him.  He will not fail you.  You may not see what He is doing, but don't worry, He's got it all figured out.  He's not just the All-Creator, He's, well, He's All-Wise-and-Knowing-and-Loving-and-Trustworthy, too.  He wants what is best for you, be that what you think it is or not.  He will guide you and be your light in the darkest of times.

Trust Him, even if it means giving everything up - your closest, most cherished possessions and relationships, the ones you've always felt comfortable with - to do His will.  Even if it means you go through complete internal anguish.  Even if you're going insane with wondering why He'd do this to you.  He has a plan.  He'll carry it out for His ultimate good and, sometimes in unexpected ways, yours.

9) Those who believe will have everlasting life in Heaven with Him.  In Heaven there is no sin, and thus no sickness or death, for these are the results of sin.  Those who truly believe will, having perished from this world, live with Him forever in the light of his splendor and majesty and holiness.

10) Pray without ceasing.  Seriously.  It will help you.  You don't have to be at church to pray; your prayers do not have to be long-winded afront a mass of people.  You can pray anywhere, whatever you're doing, about anything, anything at all - you can even pray silently in your head and with your thoughts - and God listens and hears you and will comfort you.  He knows your feelings already - why not tell Him yourself with honesty?  (Some people don't know why it is good to pray if He already knows what you're thinking and how you're feeling.  God's Word says Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  Cast your burdens on (pray to) the Lord, for He will care for you (Psalm 55:22). )  Like I said, you may not see what He's doing with your life, but He does and He knows what is best for you and, because He loves you, does it.  You may not think so, but in the end you'll realize things you never could have imagined for yourself happened because you trusted Him.  God wants a relationship with you.  He knows whether, in the end, you will turn to Him or not, and as aforesaid, He allows for sin so His design can be worked out to its "highest potential".  One of my favorite verses is James 4:8a - Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  Also, there's James 1:5 - If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it {wisdom} will be given to him.

There are lots of interwoven fabrications, but as I believe, God's grand design is, very principally and at its most basic form, this.  

You can read the Bible here.