The Place of Restoration Podcast

Please enjoy Watchmen Wives’ first podcast and be blessed! Click this link: Restoration Podcast

No Longer Bound

“#1 thing I have learned is I can trust God! #2 A wedding band or ring doesn’t make a marriage.  Commitment does!  #3 I can choose to live by how my husband used to be and what he used to do. Or I can choose to trust God and look at the new things God is working in my husband’s heart in spite of familiar situations. So today, I surrender and stop holding on to all of the “used to’s” and I embrace change. I welcome this new man who’s coming forth and overturning all of my assumptions. I take the thoughts captive that used to explain and make sense of the negativity and the adultery and I lay them at the foot of the cross. They have been holding me captive for long enough! I will no longer look for the living new man amongst the dead memories and mistakes of the past. I no longer give the past authority because I see that my husband is doing his best and has reassured me every step of the way that he is no longer a man of the streets but instead a family man. I finally see a man who wants to be my husband and do right. Today~ from now on, I’m choosing to trust God has this worked out.”~Cassandra♡
All rights reserved.

Pick Up Your Marriage Bed and Walk!

The topic of June 19, 2014’s Wives Prayer Call with Veronica of Married & Making It WORK was “Regaining Love After Crisis”. Many couples wonder how to regain their love after crises such as : adultery, pornography, addiction, neglect, etc. There are many tips and books written on this topic, but the answer I have to give is quite simple and the best solution. JESUS
God gave me a word from His Word in John 5.
John 5:2-9~
” Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.”
Take a look at verse 3. When we are not in faith and looking within ourselves for solutions to our crises in marriage,  are we not impotent–powerless, ineffective? When we are focused on our circumstances,  are we not blinded by them and hindered from seeing the victory we have in Jesus? When we have taken our eyes off of Jesus and put our faith in our own abilities, are we not halt –stuck spiritually and lacking faith? When we either don’t trust or fail to acknowledge the healing, authority over the enemy, and the power that is available to us now by the Holy Spirit, are we not spiritually withered and weakened? And waiting.  We can be waiting on the Lord but the question we must ask ourselves is “Wilt thou be made whole?” Do you want healing and deliverance from what has caused your marriage to be infirm?
If so, action is needed on your part. There is no certain season; and don’t wait for someone else to lift you and carry you into your healing. Get in the water,which is God’s Word now! Don’t wait like the man with the infirmity for 38 years, who laid upon his bed by the pool. Get in God’s Word, pray that His Word will be stirred in you everyday, that you will have a desire to get in the water–His Word–everyday–so you can speak that healing and claim it over your marriage! So you can pick up your marriage bed and WALK!!! In seeking healing, we must meet Jesus in the water and we must have faith in Him!
When you seek Him, pray that you can live with all the Passion that He lived with here on earth as He accomplished God’s perfect will! Even  to the point of Death just like Jesus and the sacrificing of your flesh–your selfish desires, plans, goals, doing it your way–all to the glory of God in your marriage! Seek Him! Go to the tomb in your marriage and ask Him to roll away the stone that keeps you from seeing your victory and healing in Christ!!! Believe that the same power that rose Jesus from the dead is available to us now! God can Resurrect every dead place in our relationships with our spouses.
Do you long for love again with your spouse? To regain it after crisis requires intimacy with Jesus. Relationship! Our healing points us to Jesus!  In Greek transliteration the word for “intimacy” is “koinonia”, which means communion. In holy communion, as one body we make remembrance of Jesus’ Passion (His life), His Death, and His Resurrection! We cannot be healed without meeting Him in God’s Word. No more waiting to be lifted into the pool. Claim your healing now! Take up your bed and walk! Amen~
God bless~
Cassandra♡
All rights reserved.

Motherhood and Wifehood: On Being Stewards of God’s Love

I hope all of you mothers who read this post had a joyous Mother’s Day yesterday.  I surely did and in the midst of celebrating being a mother, God called me to look inward and deeper at how He uses motherhood to mold mothers so our love looks more like Jesus’ love. On Mother’s Day, mothers rejoice in how their children and husbands honor them to show their appreciation. while I was rejoicing, God quietly interrupted to prompt me to take heed to my oldest child who neither honored me with a token of her thanks or said “Happy Mother’s Day, mom.” She was forefront in my heart and my flesh wanted to rail that she’s “just an unthankful brat!”, God’s Holy Spirit reminded me that He loves me when I’m unlovable.  He calls us to love the unlovable ones–not just the ones who do good to us and are easy to love. This is the note I wrote this morning on what He showed me yesterday:
“Mother’s Day was beautiful, and even moreso because I had some time to reflect on how God uses motherhood to perfect Christ’s love in my heart. It’s so easy to love the people who love you back and make life easier, more pleasant for you. The same goes for motherhood. Let’s be real because that’s what the Lord requires of us–be honorable and tell the truth, right? It’s so easy to love and brag on our children when they are obedient, make the Honor Roll, do good deeds and sit amiably beside you at church, but what about the children who are not easy to love and teach? The ones who challenge your rules, do the minimal to progress at school, and don’t believe in God or what you’ve taught them? I am blessed to have such a variety of personalities to mother and love. I’m blessed to parent fairly obedient children for the most part but have a teenager, in particular,who really challenges me as a mother. No, it is not due to the fact that she’s a teenager–always has been a challenge. I have taught well and press on in that. Yesterday, after hearing my spiritual father’s sermon at church, I let go. I let go of feeling responsible for her misbehavior and choices to rebel. She wasn’t brought up in the Lord, but when you learn to live right you start doing right from that point on and so she has been being taught. I feel blessed to be the mother who pours into her because I know that God picked me to do it bc no other woman in this world as her mother would’ve been able to reach her heart or be strong enough to bridle her or understand the strength of her will. I’m one strong-willed person and she has met her match in me because I don’t give up and I have God on my side 🙂 She has met the unyielding will of her Father through mine. The love that does not give up and is most lavish in protecting us from ourselves. God’s “No” protects and hedges us in from continuing on the wrong path. The same goes for our children. It’s a blessing to love this child of mine who has been so difficult to love. Many mothers would consider it a curse but God does not curse His children. He blesses us abundantly so that His will is accomplished in our lives. That includes blessing us with that which is uncomfortable or is a struggle, especially if it keeps us turning to Him. It’s easier to love her now not because she’s mine but because she’s His. I will love her with tough love until she is worn down from it and accepts my will. In the meantime,  I thank my Father because even though my daughter wants nothing to do with church etc., she just doesn’t realize she is more involved in God’s plan–a main factor as a matter of fact lol! He is using her to perfect the love of Christ in my heart♥  Jesus didn’t say to just love those who love us. He actually said in Matthew 5:43-48:  ” “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” So if you are blessed with difficult children, consider it an extra special blessing because while you are training them up, God is training you up in His love. Amen ~”
We experience this call to love the unlovable–those who are hardest to love–both in motherhood and as wives. As wives, we are called to love our husbands despite unlovable characteristics that make it difficult for us to even like them at times! 🙂 I pray that every role we are called to play that we will courageously do our parts to walk in truth and love as we seek God’s help to do His will. Have a Blessed day! ♥~Cassandra Salamone
Micah 6:7-8 “7 Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”
All rights reserved.

My Missing Glass Slipper

When I married my husband, I was looking to him to fulfill the empty places inside of my heart. I was like Cinderella missing my “glass slipper”–the missing piece to my attire of joy and wholeness. I believed that something in my marriage would recover what I had lost along my life’s journey. My glass slipper was my joy, the unguarded and carefree imagination to dream aloud, my zest for life that I’d left behind to escape time, fear, and painful situations the enemy planned to ensnare me and derail God’s purpose for my life. I saw all of those things that I’d left behind and lost in who my husband is.  When we first met, he captivated me with his charismatic vision and sparkling personality. No matter the trials that transpired in our marriage, I never was drawn away from his inner flame. But he did not have my glass slipper. No matter how much we looked for it together, it just could not be found.
My husband has a huge, gentle heart,and I know it devastated him when I began to blame him for my unhappiness. He wanted to be my all and tried his best to fill the shoes that could only be filled by the Lord Jesus. It wasn’t until I acknowledged that I was looking in the wrong places for my glass slipper and began seeking God’s help that He began to show me that although I once was lost, in Him I was found. Only Jesus could replace what had been lost. It was so much more than my slipper; I was lost! Jesus found me! When I realized that He is my everything, then my marriage, which had fallen apart, was restored as well.
I felt led to write this article tonight because many women make the mistake of seeking to be fulfilled by their man. No one but Jesus can ever fulfill you, restore you, and recover all that you’ve lost. Don’t put that burden on your husband♥ Your husband can’t do that, but Jesus can!
Psalms 16:11 ” You make the path of life known to me. Complete joy is in your presence. Pleasures are by your side forever.”
May every husband and wife walk the path of life and experience complete joy with pleasures by each other’s sides forever in Christ. Amen~
Cassandra Salamone. All rights reserved.

Cassandra’s Marriage Mints

Happy Friday everyone!
Although I will not be posting as often directly to my Facebook page, my ministry is still up and running! Praise God:) I’ve been doing some research and what I’ve found is that the Christian pages that do not mention the words  “Jesus”, “Bible”, “God”, “Lord”, or “Christ” OR lack Scriptures within their updates are the pages that Facebook does not hide. There is nothing wrong with Christian pages that are actually ministering and leading others to Christ, there is something wrong with those who do not acknowledge Jesus! I am thankful I have never watered down this page to simply be a podium for me to voice my thoughts and opinions apart from glorifying the Lord. I’m glad because I share the ministry of the Good News of Jesus Christ. This page too was once a page that rolled out pretty pics and headlining phrases to capture the eyes of Facebook members, but one thing I’ve learned is that if Jesus is not a part of it all, it is for nothing! So I will continue to teach the true meaning of marriage and share my love for the Lord! There are many who don’t want to know the truth;but there are some of us who do, and even if I can reach a handful of people, praise God! Facebook may not promote Cassandra’s Marriage Mints, but truly rewarding promotion comes from the Lord! Thank you for being a part of this page. I will not grow weary in well doing for I know if I press on, I will reap a harvest!
To those of you who reached out to me, Thank you! God is good!!! Marriage is a BEAUTIFUL thing, and I will continue to encourage. Please be patient. The posts may not be as frequent but they will still be substantial.♥
With Titus 2 Love,
Cassandra

S.P.i.r.i.t.u.A.l (SPA) GETAWAY!

The winter season has ended and I have often found myself longing for a spa getaway! I have found myself wanting to get away and recharge my soul. Sometimes we just feel a need to get away!
I want to share with you a FREE SPA GETAWAY that is available for you to enjoy everyday no matter where you reside. We don’t always have the finances or availability to board a train or an airplane and jetset to a luxury resort or spa retreat. And the wonderful truth is that we don’t have to because any time we like, we can make a decision to get away with the Lord! We can make time everyday to get away and refresh ourselves by spending time with Him in prayer and by meditating on His Word.
Let His bosom be your refuge and your place to find comfort and restoration. The benefits of spending time with God are:
◆He gives us rest from our burdens. Matthew 11:28-29 ” 28″Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.29″Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.…”
◆He refreshes us. Jeremiah 31:25 ” I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”
◆God leads us to find peace and tranquility. Psalm 23:2-3 ” He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.”
◆God exfoliates and cleanses us of our transgressions. We only need to tell Him with a contrite heart and He will remove the soil of our iniquities.  He restores our joy and renews our spirits in Him.
Psalm 51:7-12 “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”
◆We get God’s personal attention, for He promises: ” For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”~ Isaiah 41:13. We get the benefits of receiving therapy from the Lord to strengthen us where we are weakened by fears and doubts.
◆God softens our stony, calloused hearts that have become hardened from sin and trials so that we desire to do His will.
Ezekiel 36:26 ” ‘”I’m going to give you a new heart, and I’m going to give you a new spirit within all of your deepest parts. I’ll remove that rock-hard heart of yours and replace it with one that’s sensitive to me.”
◆The Lord just wants us to COME away with Him. He’s shouting in a whisper that it’s FREE! It costs us nothing to getaway with Him and drink of His water–His Word–and refresh ourselves! We can get drunk not on wine but from the lavish love Jesus has for us for FREE! We can getaway with Him and nourish ourselves with His milk–His promises! He just wants us to come to Him.
Isaiah 55:1 ” “Listen! Whoever is thirsty, come to the water! Whoever has no money can come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk. You don’t have to pay; its free!”
I don’t know about you my friends, but I am going to take advantage of this Free SPA (S.P.i.r.i.t.u.A.l) getaway everyday! I won’t need fresh cucumber slices to be placed over my eyes. I will not be weary from walking by sight because my SPA Therapist is Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit I am learning to walk by faith and not by sight! Amen:)
God bless you and restore you♥
Cassandra Salamone

“Cultivating A Fruitful Marriage”

Many have jumped onto the bandwagon that agrees with the culture of the world that a successful marriage is simply a happy marriage. I beg to differ and speak up to say that fruitful marriages do not necessarily indicate that husbands and wives are happy. The purpose of marriage is not as a means to our ends of achieving happiness. At least, that’s not why God designed marriage.  God designed marriage to glorify Him and manifest the eternal love relationship that Jesus Christ has with His bride–the church (Eph. 5). I believe that if a husband and wife are in agreement with God’s design and bring Him glory, there will be times of happiness. However, happiness is not the point; holiness is the point!
With such a focus on what is temporal, one has to consider that a husband and wife who are experiencing brokenness and dealing with being sinned against by their spouse in their marriage are blessed with something greater than mere satisfaction when they allow God to be glorified in their suffering. They may not have a marriage that appears to be successful because there is a lack of happiness; but a marriage in which God is at work because at least one spouse honors their vows, has eternal rewards to anticipate. 
If a couple has a happy marriage, by all means, they should give God the glory; but it is for naught if they only celebrate and announce it to give themselves a pat on the back. Truly, the marriage to be desired is one that is Christ-centered, in which, He gets the glory!
I embrace happy moments but do not make happiness the goal. Rather, I want a fruitful marriage that bears good fruit because I have chosen to walk in relation with Christ in His love. May God bless all covenant marriages and continue to be the Lifter of the heads of all those who may be suffering at this present time through trials in their marriage. Amen!

John 15, Message version :
” 15 1-3 “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.

4 “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

5-8 “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.

9-10 “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.

11-15 “I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.

16 “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
17 “But remember the root command: Love one another.”
Cassandra Salamone ♥

“Satan’s Trick”

Master of disguises
Pretending to be an angel of light
Except your light is darkness.
Beguiling hearts and sowing evil surprises.
Weaving your webs of distraction that
Tighten as you manipulate control
Like a puppeteer
You want to choreograph our
Every move to be a performance of sin.
But no one is throwing coins at you from
Heaven
Because your tricks are not new.
They are of old.
And the One who is GREATER than you,
In the hearts of His saints He abides within!
No one is delivering applause.
It is time for your knee to bow
And concede loss!
For your craftiness
Was not enough to thwart Jesus’ victory over you!
The crop of sin and death you planted with Adam
& Eve in the garden of Eden
Was plucked up when Jesus died on the cross!
In the name of JESUS
your web has been snipped!
Your talons have been clipped!
The very snare you had entangled
Around my flesh , I now use
As spiritual floss!
God loosed me!
The pain you caused
Is wisdom gained.
The time is drawing near
When Jesus will return,
It will be too late to wish that
With HIM in heaven you had remained!
Next time you face temptations, 
Tell the devil he is a liar!
Praise God! Hallelujah!!!
Jesus is Lord and Savior!!!
Bless our beloved Messiah!!!!!
By Cassandra Salamone. Copyright protected,  2014.

Keeping Perspective This Christmas

Everyone loves this time of the year! Families gather together to decorate their Christmas trees and string up lights! The sounds of Christmas music can be heard in almost every retail store! Stockings are hung! Children anticipate Christmas morning when they can unwrap their presents piled so neatly underneath the tree!
But is that what this holiday is about? Bright lights? Christmas trees? And giving and receiving presents?
This season heralds hope and belief in miracles.  The truest and greatest miracle has already been given. That miracle is Jesus Christ, and He gave those who believe in Him the gift of eternal life and redemption from the curse of sin. Jesus is the reason for this and every season; and to help you keep your focus on Him this Christmas,  I invite you to follow and join in on the Advent Study, which has already begun on my Facebook ministry page!
Each day leading to Christmas,  I will post Scriptures and readings from Kirsten Oliphant’s “Make Him Room”. It is my hope that you will join in and that amidst all of the hubbub of this commercialized season, you and your families will keep your minds stayed on Jesus. May God bless us all ♥
Cassandra