continuation of . . .ARE ATHEISTS RIGHT?

This is a continuation of the post I started previously:

Here are more of the faith-filled (and prophetic) words of Isaiah in ISAIAH 25: ". . . He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples . . . He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces: He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the Earth . . . . In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God: We trusted in Him, and He saved us. This is the Lord; we trusted in Him; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.'"

My desire at that moment-driving along that beautiful stretch of Braeswood at dusk-was that I wanted to know how it could be that He is loving and all-powerful and this world is such a mess; and I wanted (and now also want) to be able to tell others how it can be so. I don't know how the Lord has developed in me such a rock solid faith that He "is love" (I JOHN 4:8), and that He can do all things, but this faith I have.

Some things that have helped me along the way are:
-My father always pointed out to us things in nature that are beautiful and wonderful (like Canada geese way up in the sky)
-At one point after years of thinking of the Bible as a dusty, old, out-dated, boring book, I found out it contains some valid advice. I CORINTHIANS 7:9 says, "But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion." Impressive loving level-headed wisdom from the Bible. (I've since learned more common sense things from the Bible.)
-I was always a shy, socially marginalized person. Someone encouraged me to use that aspect of my life to become closer to God.

After I realized the Bible contained some practical helpful, realistic info, I started studying the Bible with others. The more I learned of it, the more it made sense, seemed really connected to reality and seemed like God actually communicating with us.

I think there have been some specific truths I have learned (including the above) that have very much increased my faith in God and Jesus, and my love and understanding.

Let me tell you about the six parables of MATTHEW 13, verses 24 to 52. (All of MATTHEW 13 is important, but these last 6 of the 7 parables are short; and my new understanding of them gave me a new perspective and hope.)
verses 24-30: Jesus teaches that the Church will have good and bad people in it.
verses 31&32: Jesus teaches that the Church will start out tiny and become a giant organization that is so pleasant that some people will become attached to it and profit from it (as the birds in the tree are not part of it) because it is pleasant and profitable, not because they want to be part of God's work.
verse 33: Jesus teaches that since the "kingdom of heaven", the Church, is an institution of mankind and God, combining the substance and purity and perfection of God with the inconsistency, fallibility and corruptibility of mankind (as symbolized by the yeast), the Church must inevitably become a mixture of God's good and mankind's wrongness/imperfection.
(verse 35: After that parable, Matthew, who recorded these words of Jesus and the events of His life, referred to PSALM 78:2 "I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.")
verse 44: (continuing with the parables) Jesus teaches that although the Church, the kingdom of heaven, will be an imperfect thing, it is very precious to God, to the point that He will purchase the field (the whole world?) to save those who would be His followers, this "kingdom of heaven".
verses 45, 46: Jesus teaches that God gives everything to "buy" this thing- this pearl, this combination of God and mankind working together, this thing of beauty brought about by imperfection.
verses 47 to 50: Jesus teaches that although the Church will contain both people who love and put their faith in God and those that are just there 'cuz it's a good place to be, it is not our job to judge the hearts of others; that will be done by God or by His angels at another time. We are freed from that concern. We can judge fruit, maybe, but not heart. Let God do that. That's how I read that parable. I don't know if that is the correct interpretation of that last one, but I can't see anything else for it. God is good. Love to all, Joan.