You’ve probably heard the phrase, “work smarter, not harder”. When we wait on the Holy Spirit to move in His power, we avoid exhausting ourselves (and probably screwing things up in the process!) by trying to work out of our strength. And the power of the Holy Spirit doesn’t just enable amazing results in our own lives — it also moves us to be a witness to others about what Christ has done for us.

Mary was chosen to carry the Son of God, to give birth to the Savior who would come in the flesh to save us from our sins. She trusted God’s promises, and because she allowed the Holy Spirit to work through her, He fulfilled them. As Christians, the same Holy Spirit dwells in each of us — and when we trust God for His promises, it impacts not only our own lives, but the world around us.

Scripture tells us that the message of the cross is “foolishness” to many who hear it. The Gospel is a crazy story, and only the Holy Spirit can give us the power to believe it. It’s not our job to convince people to believe in God or follow Jesus — but it is our job to plant the seeds of truth in their hearts and pray that the Spirit will grow them.

It’s our job to share the Gospel with those we meet — but it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict them on what they hear. No one will be convinced of the truth of the Gospel without the work of the Holy Spirit in his or her own heart and life. We’ve got to trust that God will work in His time according to His purpose to convict them of their need for redemption through Jesus Christ.

The devil’s attempts to scare us are a 24/7 job — because he knows that when we live in bondage to fear, we can do nothing of use for God. But when the Spirit of God lives inside us, we have nothing to fear. When we truly believe that the Lord is greater than anything that can come at us, we realize that nothing compares to His mighty power!

Insider trading might be illegal on the stock market, but it’s the best type of “spiritual trading” we can ever do! When we trade our lives in to God and ask Him to fill us with His life instead, He gives us His Spirit to lead us each and every day. And when we let His light shine through us, it attracts other people to the saving power of the Gospel, too.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructed His followers, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Today’s culture often associates “meekness” with “weakness”, but in reality, it takes a strong person to allow themselves to be controlled by the Holy Spirit! When we try our hardest to act godly, the work will wear us down sooner or later. But when we yield ourselves to Jesus, His work in our lives manifests itself in fruit of the Spirit — a fruit that others will notice and want for themselves, too!