Test every spirit
by Ivan Ho 5 Jan 2026
God has commanded us to test every spirit, whether or not it is of God.
God speaks to us with words, primarily through the written word in the Bible. The word of God is also spoken to us by the Holy Spirit in various ways.
But here’s the thing, not only does the Holy Spirit speak to us personally, demonic spirits also speak, often times mixing God’s words with demonic ideas, just like the serpent did when he spoke to Eve in the garden of Eden. We need to be careful or else we will be deceived. We need to test the spirit behind the words that come to us.
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Test the spirits behind certain words
Sometimes words come to us through our own thoughts, through prophecies, through preaching, through counseling, through friends, close relations and so on. Not every word that comes to us is of God.
Words can also come to us through lyrics in songs, either secular music or worship music. Some words are intentionally chosen by the enemy with demonic messages, sometimes words that infiltrate through sermons and worship songs in certain churches.
Let’s examine a few words that some Christians use which make us wonder what spirit they carry?
VULNERABLE
I did an AI search on the Single Life Workshop offered by Nothing Hidden Ministries which comes back with the following information:
The workshop emphasizes creating “a safe place for community” where participants can practice vulnerability and develop real relationships within the workshop setting . The goal is to help singles experience “greater freedom in risking, pursuing and engaging with the opposite sex in a dating relationship”
The word Vulnerable means:
- Susceptible to physical harm or damage.
- Susceptible to emotional injury, especially in being easily hurt.
- Susceptible to attack. (American Heritage dictionary)
Capable of being easily hurt or harmed, either physically or emotionally, and is also used to describe someone or something that is open to attack or danger. (Merriam-Webster dictionary)
Why should any person lay bare his or her life to another person thereby become susceptible to physical and/or emotional harm and injury, especially if they’re not in a wholesome marital relationship?
Is the other person “God” in disguise, one whom we can totally trust, one who will never do us any harm?
This is supposed to be workshop designed for singles, mind you. Even in a marital relationship, the wife should not become vulnerable to the husband, and vice versa, Honesty yes, but not become vulnerable.
Vulnerability is NOT a Christian virtue they seem to make it out to be.
God never tells us to become vulnerable to anyone or anything. That word is not found anywhere in the bible, although we can see how Samson became vulnerable when he revealed his secret to his lover, Delilah, which led to his downfall.
Be careful not to publicise our weaknesses and become vulnerable
Superman becomes powerless whenever he is near a krptonite. He disclosed this secret during an interview with Lois Lane who innocently published it in the daily newspaper. The enemies learnt about this and use krptonite to attack him, rendering him powerless.
The enemy knows exactly what our kryptonite is, and attack our weaknesses that hurt us the most. Know what your krptonite is, be careful not to announce it publicly. Familiar spirits also know your krptonite and uses it to attack you not just once but multiple times, seemingly hurting and defeating you each time. God sometimes allows these attacks to take place but He will help you go through them without killing you. It is the point of attack that you are powerless to resist in your own strength, but Superman (the Holy Spirit in you) always triumph in the end.
The enemy wants you and I to lay down our guards, and attack us at an opportune time when we are most vulnerable. Put on the full Armour of God daily so we don’t become vulnerable to demonic attacks.
ABANDONED
Abandoned, or abandoned love is a word that occasionally appears in new age Christian language, ministries, song lyrics and so on. The word also appears in The Passion Translation (TPT) of the bible:
When you live a life of abandoned love, surrendered before the awe of God, here’s what you’ll experience: Abundant life. Continual protection. And complete satisfaction! Proverbs 19:23 TPT
First, Proverbs 19:23 in TPT totally departs from the original Bible translation:
Proverbs 19:23 KJV
The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: And he that hath it shall abide satisfied; He shall not be visited with evil.
Proverbs 19:23 NASB
The fear of the Lord leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.
How the author of TPT turns fear of the Lord into abandoned love is beyond me.
According to Brian Simmons’s testimony, Jesus came to his room in 2009, breathed on him and commissioned him to translate the bible. Test the spirit of who his “Jesus” was.
Let’s look at the dictionary definition of the word abandoned:
Left without care, support, or protection, often referring to something that has been deserted or no longer used. It can also describe a state of being completely free from restraint. (Merriam-Webster dictionary)
Left in a particular place or condition, usually forever; left behind, left without care or protection. (Cambridge dictionary)
Hence, we have abandoned baby, abandoned pet, abandoned house.
Abandoned is a new age Christian terminology which probably means total surrender. But the trouble is, this is not the original meaning of the word. You can’t say to someone “I hate you” to mean “I love you”. Words carry spirit dimensions and that’s why we need to be careful what words we say, even if it comes from good intentions. Wrong words spoken at the wrong time will create wrong atmosphere, leading to wrong outcomes.
God never abandons His children.